Summer Vacation

This year we went someplace completely new: an old manganese mine! 

The mine itself closed years ago, and as soon as they stopped pumping out groundwater, the mine flooded, turning into a small (deep!) lake. 

Someone bought the property and decided to build a vacation home near the lake.




And then they added a boathouse with kayaks!

 And a firepit!




The interesting thing was that, unlike a beach trip where there are a lot of things to do away from the property, there was almost nothing to do away, but lots of things to do on the property.

They billed it as a "retreat" and it really was.

They were well stocked with games and puzzles, and they had a foozball table and two pool tables!

Best of all, because it was away from everything, it had a beautiful view of the stars and Milky Way!

We really had a great time, although I was still sick while we were there, so I didn't get to explore the woods and trails as I would have liked.

Although I did reread  six Jane Austen novels in three days, so I did enjoy myself quite a bit!

And we saw a lot of wildlife, including this fellow coming across the road... He turned out to be a rattlesnake, the only one I've ever seen in the wild!

It's not a great picture because I didn't want to get too close (as in, I stayed in the car!).

Hopefully we'll go back next year!