Travels Close to Home

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It's hard to believe I've been home for over 4 months now. I'm settling right back, but at the same time, the travel bug is still biting! 😊 I'm currently looking for a job in Colorado...but we'll see what happens with that. For the time being, I'm satisfying the bug by close-to-home travels, during my days off. Just thought I'd post some of my adventures here - to let people know that there are tons of places and fun times within a couple of hours drive!
Overnight, Colleen and I drove up to Michigan, along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Our first stop was at the Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo. It's a pretty new Casino, and was huge inside! Tons of penny slots, so that was fun. Neither one of us was super lucky, so I'm afraid you're not looking at the newest millioinaires, but it was still a good time. After the casino, we drove further north, to our wine tastings at Tabor Hill Winery and Round Barn Winery. Since it was a weekday, it was pretty quiet. I think we were two of only a handful of people visiting all day. Both wineries had some good wines, and it was tough to choose only a couple of bottles! We were spending the night in Stevensville, in a Comfort Suites I got my employee rate at. A newer hotel, it was really nice. The next morning, we went walking around the main street in St. Joseph. Some cute shops, but the weather was pretty sketchy - Col and I decided it'd be a nice town to visit in the summer. All in all, a nice little getaway for a day or two. Too bad Lake Michigan was still too cold for swimming 😊
Last week, I drove east to Starved Rock. One of my favorite destinations in early springtime, I can't wait till the weather turns nice and I can take a day and go walking at the State Park. Directly east, it's only about an hour and ten minute drive from home. The weather the day I went was perfect--sunny and in the 70's. There are always tons of trails to choose from, so every visit can be a new adventure! Dad happened to be riding his motorcycle home from Iowa, where he was watching Brett's team play baseball, so we met up for lunch outside at the Lodge. It was a great day!

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