It seems to now be tradition that we end up in a hot tub in the middle of the Shawnee National Forest in January.

Last year it was just Blademaiden, on the back end of a Reuzel teaching trip, but this time, the Beardsgaards did Shawnee together. And NOT for work. Sort of. You are reading this post, after all. One of these two has a little trouble shutting off.

For some, a vacation is going somewhere and doing nothing. For us, it’s going explorin’. If we need 10 layers of clothing because of the sub-zero temperatures, so be it. There’s magic to be found, especially when it’s awful out and no one else is around.

Lucky for us we had our topo map and know how to use it, because we let that big hunk of majestic rock lure us off the trail a little bit, and with the heavy leaf fall, we had a little trouble picking it back up again. And the sun was going down fast right about then on 3,30 acres of wilderness.

We did make it into the woods, and out of the woods, and home before dark, though. After a well-earned snack at sunset on a cliff’s edge. Then back in the hot tub again right after that.