As Summer Wanes

It happened as I was driving to Albion after work on Friday to take the girls for a hike. I noticed the difference in the air and in the landscape.  The slight dulling of the green of the trees as they lose chlorophyll with the cooler evenings and as the darkness lengthens with each passing day.  The vibrant green of summer is quickly fading into fall.  The late summer flowers with their blooms dying, the slight yellowing of the landscape, and those dull green tree leaves slowly preparing for their autumn showcase before their long winter's rest.  It has it's own quiet beauty, and yet I am never ready for it's arrival.

I know that fall is quickly heading our way and the cooler temperatures we experienced last week made it feel like fall had already arrived.  But warmer temperatures returned this week to bring back summer for just a little longer.  I was happy the 70s returned this week, but I know that this beautiful weather won't last forever.  So we're going to enjoy it while we can!

It was so nice on Monday and I was happy to spend a peaceful evening at home.  I played ball with Mina, tried to get Peaches to play a little tug, spent some time in the garden, and even ate dinner on the patio.   

Then we sat outside and quietly watched the sun set at 8pm for the last time until next March.  It will take some time to adjust to the darkness as early as it is now.  It certainly makes the nights feel much longer.  

Tuesday, the girls spent much of the day outside in our beautiful weather.  Mina has a new favorite spot she likes to lounge and Peaches seems happy to wander around the yard.  With her anxiety issues, she rarely relaxes when she's out there though, so I make her come inside periodically for some short naps. But I know the colder months are coming, so I want them to spend as much time outside as they want.

After work and dinner on Tuesday, I took the girls to Island City Dog Park for a little fun.  It was empty, as usual, and we enjoyed having the space all to ourselves.  It was just what we needed.

We had another dog park visit on Wednesday, this time to Padgett Park in Dewitt over my lunch.  I had to get the girls out for a lunchtime adventure because I had our shelter dog walk after work and then had plans to get together with Vanessa, Katelyn, and Emmalee for dinner.  

Emmalee is in town from Chicago after finishing her residency at Nothwerten University Hospital earlier this summer.  It's crazy for me to think that its been 7 years since she moved there for medical school.  We haven't all gotten together in such a long time and it was so nice to spend time with them all.  We laughed and had such a great time sitting on the patio with some Mexican food and some drinks.  I was reminded of how important friendships are and I'm glad that we can stay connected despite all of our crazy lives.  

On Thursday I was happy to get the girls out for some fun after work  First, we visited the South Lansing Farmer's Market where I was able to pick up a delicious dinner.  We sat there while I ate, and afterwards, we made the drive to Old Town to visit the Old Town General Store to pick up a few items. 

Then we made the drive to Mason to meet up with a few fellow geocachers for a short event. We followed that up with a nice walk around Mason.  It was a really beautiful evening for a walk.  And on the way home, we stopped for some ice cream because we deserved a treat.

When Friday arrived, I decided to make the drive to Albion after work to get in a few miles on the NCT.  I knew I wouldn't have time for hiking the rest of the weekend, and I need to make some progress every week if we want to finish our 100 miles this year.

The weather was great and we really enjoyed the quiet time we had on the trail.  We finished our hike with 3.1 miles on the trail. I was very pleased with that.  I'm happy to report we now have hiked 63.6 miles this year and only need 11.4 miles more this month to get us back on track to reach our 100 miles by year-end.

Then we made the drive home for dinner.  Afterward, I had a few things to get done around the house, but shortly after dark I sat down for a relaxing evening while the girls napped.

On Saturday morning, Vanessa joined the girls and me as we made the drive to Chicago for the Illinois Shorthair Rescue reunion. 

Our drive went smoothly and we arrived early for the reunion, so we were able to get the girls out for a nice walk on the nearby trails.

As always, we had a wonderful time at the reunion with our fellow volunteers and all of the amazing brown and black spotty dogs.

There was food and treats, games and prizes, and of course the obligatory photo.  Before we reached the end of the day, Peaches was ready for a little break so she sat out in the car with Vanessa for a bit.  

After her rest, she joined us for the end of the fun.  Then we said goodbye to our friends and loaded up the car for some more adventures.  It was such a good day.

While it wasn't originally part of the plan for the day, we ended up in downtown Chicago to help a friend.

While there, we decided to stop in Wrigleyville and we ended up there after the Cubs game.   It was a cool atmosphere to experience, and I was happy we were able to get the girls out for a walk.

It was a nice little walk and we enjoyed some of the sights and sounds as well as a little geocaching. 

As we made the drive to our hotel after our time in Wrigleyville, we stopped nearby for dinner.  Then we took a short after-dinner walk with the girls.  It had been a full day of fun and we were all ready to get checked-in to our room for the night.

We all had a great nights sleep, and the girls even let us sleep in a bit before they woke me up for their morning potty break and breakfast. 

Our plan for the day was to slowly weave our way home while stopping along the way for some geocaching adventures. 

We found a nice little park which was home to the Ray Franzen Bird Sanctuary as well as a small dog park.  We enjoyed our walk along the boardwalk at the bird sanctuary and then let the girls burn a little energy with a run at the dog park before getting back into the car.

When we left the park, we were all ready for lunch, and Vanessa found a spot to get some Italian Beef sandwiches along our route.   

I had never had an Italian Beef sandwich before and I was excited to try it.  

After ordering our food, we got settled at a table outside on the deck so the girls could join us and eat their lunch too.  Of course they also each got a bite of Italian beef too.  

We all enjoyed this delicious stop!

After lunch, it was time to continue our journey.  We picked up a few geocaches nearby, then hit the road toward Indiana.

We had decided to make a stop at Indiana Dunes State Park so that we could stretch our legs and the girls could get a little beach time and a big drink out of Lake Michigan. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be near the Lake, especially since we're nearing the end of summer and beach season.  I was very happy to stick my toes in the Lake, too

We enjoyed some geocaching in the area as well as some nice short hikes.  It was great to be able to stretch our legs and enjoy this nice state park.  It was the perfect stop to add to our fun for the day.

Following our visit in Indiana. we were on our way to Michigan where we had one more stop planned along the way.  Since we'd be driving right past Battle Creek and had enough time, we decided to make a stop at Historic Bridge Park to make a little more progress on the NCT.  It was another perfect spot to stop and stretch our legs, and we ended up getting 1.5 miles on the trail to keep us on track tonreach our goal this month.  It was the perfect way to end our adventure filled weekend. 

We made it home before sunset, the girls had dinner and a quick trip outside while I unpacked, then I got cleaned up and sat down for a quiet night at home.  What a wonderful weekend we had!

We now enter our final week of summer and, thankfully, we have some fun planned.  It will be our last hurrah before fall arrives.  I can't believe how fast this year is going!  I hope you all have a great week!