Nothing recharges my batteries faster than heading up north to spend a week in the wilderness. I spent a solid week hiking, taking photos, cooking every night over a charcoal grill, and exploring some really small nice towns.

I never fully get over how I can visit the same cabin, stay in the same town, hike the same trail every year, yet still find a new trail, a new town, or a new path I never knew existed there before! I get the feeling each time I walk these trails like I could do it over 100 times, and each time it would be a completely new hike!

One such hiking path we discovered was a bit more advanced. It felt like we were literally walking along the edge of a cliff for half of it, with nothing stopping you from plummeting fifty feet below. It feels just a little bit scary thinking back on it now, but at the time with the views alone, it was amazing.

The time away was also spent spending some time taking a final read-through of the proof copy for my first published book: Ben & Ally: Escape From Camp Buttercup.

I still feel like one week was not long enough. Sipping coffee on the deck of the cabin, surrounded by tall arching trees and the sound of birds in all directions... every morning should start like this!

I am glad to be back home and excited as I now launch my first published book this last week: Ben & Ally: Escape From Camp Buttercup.

As life returns to normal, the extracurricular summer activities now wrap up, and free time returns, I now look forward to the new projects I can begin as the fall weather begins to set in.