A whole week off and somehow it still wasn’t long enough. Spent the vacation in Michigan, hitting Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island, which is basically Michigan’s way of reminding you that there are places where people willingly pay money to stand around looking at water. Took the ferry over to the island, wandered around, took in the scenery, and generally enjoyed not having to be anywhere at any particular time. No clock punching. No work. No rushing around. Just existing, which apparently is a luxury now.

We also spent time along the Lake Michigan shoreline looking for rocks, because apparently this is what I do on vacation now. Other people go shopping. Other people sit around a pool. We walk the shoreline picking up rocks like prehistoric treasure hunters with better shoes. Some were worth keeping, some were absolute geological garbage, and naturally we brought some of them home anyway. Because once you start looking at rocks, every weird-looking chunk suddenly becomes important.

Mackinaw City was exactly the kind of place where you can walk around, eat something you probably didn’t need, look at the water, and forget what day it is. Mackinac Island was even better because there are no cars, which means humanity briefly managed to remove one of its dumbest inventions from the equation. Horses, bicycles, walking, water, old buildings, and tourists wandering around trying to photograph everything they see. It was weirdly peaceful.

Now it’s over. Back to work Monday. Back to schedules, responsibilities, alarms, and all the other assorted garbage that comes with being an adult. Vacation always ends the same way: you spend a week remembering what it feels like to actually have time, then somebody expects you to show up Monday morning like you didn’t just discover freedom. Still, Michigan was worth the drive, the walking, the ferry rides, and the growing collection of rocks sitting around the house. One week away from normal life was pretty damn good. Normal life can wait until Monday.