Michigan is such a beautiful state! I find myself returning again and again for the incredible landscape and each time my Michigan bucket list grows longer rather than shorter.

A few years ago, I started to realize that I love winter in a way that most people do not. While bitter cold and dark days aren't exactly the height of joy, there is a peaceful magic in it that I deeply appreciate.  I notice it especially when I return home on a cold, crisp night. Standing at my back door in the dark, fumbling for keys, I will suddenly remember to look up and enjoy the night sky and the stars spread out above.

Monday, July 27, 2020
​I hurry to keep up with my trail angel, Flicker, as she leads me in from the parking lot to the Western Terminus. I don't want her to think I'm a slow poke, but I'm nearly in shock trying to take in the landscape. White pines tower on exposed cliffs over a swirling chocolate river. There are strange holes in the ground around me, filled with water and greened over with algae.

Friday, July 10th, 2020 (2:30AM)
I am awake because Matt is up and saying he doesn’t feel good. That he is nauseated. A pang of nausea hits me in the gut, too, and now my whole body wracks once with anxiety.

During the summer of 2020, I biked the 62 miles of bike path that runs along the Illinois side of the Mississippi River from Rock Island to Savanna known as the Great River Trail. I completed my journey over a series of trips beginning Memorial Day weekend and ending Fourth of July weekend.