Ready for Another Year of Farming…

We loved our time away in August.

This was our fourth year taking a long break from farming, and every year we are reminded just how valuable it is. There is something about stepping completely away from the farm routine — watching the weather, the schedules, the never-ending list of things that need to be done — that gives our minds a chance to rest.

And then, of course, we come home refreshed and ready to do it all again!

This year we had two goals for our trip.

First, we wanted to be less structured with our planning. That meant a little more spontaneity — including booking Airbnbs (no hotels for us!) sometimes just the day before. We also made a point of heading north toward cooler temperatures.

Second, we wanted a wide variety of experiences. Our kids made it very clear that this was not going to be a year of die-hard hiking as we’ve done before.

I think we managed both.

We watched the sunrise over Lake Huron and even managed to convince a very large barge to blare its horn for us. We crossed the border with our passports and spent some time in Canada.

We went behind Niagara Falls — at night, which was every bit as amazing as it sounds.

We traveled across beautiful rural New York, visiting with very special friends who we knew before we were married.

We spent a day riding roller coasters at Hersheypark, then turned around and spent days hiking and exploring Washington, D.C. We learned how to navigate the underground Metro, visited monuments and museums, and soaked up as much history as we could.

It was a phenomenal vacation.

We came home with a renewed appreciation for our beautiful country and for the life we have here at the farm.

Now we are ready to do farming all over again.