Family vacation 2024

I have yet to recover. I'm not entirely sure I want to.

We had a great week together with our kids, their spouses, and the grand kids. We rented a vrbo in Algoma, Wisconsin where the nine of us stayed from 7/13-7/19. This is where I had my morning coffee every day and exerted my only real effort: completing the NYT games I do (Wordle, Connections, Mini Crossword, Strands, Letter Boxed, and Tiles).

 The house was not the largest, but it had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, so it was plenty sufficient. It was also perfectly located directly across the street from the boardwalk along Lake Michigan. It was sort of the 'main drag' through town, but with only maybe 2000 residents it never got very busy and actually kind of gave us something to do in watching people go by.

Algoma is apparently a sleepy little fishing village that is everything you might imagine in the word "quaint." I did not drive once we arrived Friday afternoon until we pulled out late Saturday morning. We could walk to restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, parks, shopping, and, most notably, the beach.

The beach itself did have some rocks mixed into the sand but they were tolerable, and it was nice that - unlike many ocean locales we have been to - the sand didn't stick to you and get all over everything. The Lake Michigan water was also a tad chilly, but even in 70-degree temps it wasn't something you couldn't get accustomed to. The youngsters certainly didn't mind, and this old man even got in a couple times! It was a perfect place to sit in a beach chair and read or nap or just stare off into a daydream.

We only took two adventures while there. Tuesday evening everyone but Jane and I went to Sturgeon Bay. That is apparently where Door County begins. They went out to eat and visited Target for supplies.

On Wednesday we all went to Green Bay. The boys and the kids toured Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. It was actually quite interesting even though none of us are Packer fans. In the shortest of the tour packages (55 minutes) we went into a suite, under the stands through the players tunnel, and out onto the field. While we were there the other three ventured into town, then we all met up back at the Stadium and ate in their restaurant. Afterward we went next door to Titletown and hung out for a bit. We were only 40 minutes from where we were staying and it was super easy to get to. I had no idea Green Bay was such a small city. It was fun.

The only real "glitch" while there - other than one evening when Jane didn't feel good and one afternoon when Anna didn't - was Wednesday night. I had to be taken to the hospital in Sturgeon Bay. I had another AFib episode after we returned from Green Bay. It started around 6pm and I hoped it would just resolve itself. Finally around midnight, after we all got done watching a movie, and when I started sweating profusely, everyone kind of insisted I go. Fortunately Isaac drove us because while it was only about a half hour away, there were more deer along that road than I had ever seen anywhere. I was there a couple hours and the doctor said he could do a cardioversion (shock my heart back into rhythm) or as long as I felt okay I could just wait it out. I chose to wait it out. I was still out of rhythm when I woke up the next day, but after showering it finally went back to normal around 10am Thursday. I was pretty wiped out, but otherwise felt fine the rest of the time.

Other than that, we spent a lot of time just hanging out together. The kids went to the park several times to shoot baskets and whatnot, we went out to eat a couple times, cooked at the house most meals, played several board games, watched a couple movies, and there was a nice trail for running (which I didn't use as much as I would have liked - meaning, once). Isaac had to teach a couple classes and Drew worked some, but it was one of the most laid back vacations we've all had together. 

This was about as good as it gets for me. The weather was good, the town was great, the house was sufficient, and I rested to the point that I'm having a difficult time bouncing back! I don't know how many more of these family vacations we can all take together, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I think everyone else did too. Well, other than the traffic through Chicago. The trip home took 8 hours instead of 6 1/2. But otherwise... it was a great time, and I am happy about that.