We’ve been waiting until Dan’s busy season eased a little to take advantage of some days at Milford House. About 30 minutes drive from us, it’s a perfect distance for us to take a few days. We’ve been the before while Dan was doing photography work and knew that it is a lovely place but this was our first time there totally as guests.
On our first day there, immediately after unloading we headed out on a much anticipated canoe trip to our friends cabin on a nearby lake. We were perhaps a little too adventurous as it ended up taking a few hours more than we had planned but with a picnic lunch and our friends meeting us halfway in their kayaks, the beautiful scenery was more than worth it. And since they kindly took Dan back for our van, we only had to paddle one way and made it back in time for supper!
The rest of our days were much more low key although with plenty of canoeing and exploring the woods tucked in between lots of resting and relaxing.
On the day that we were getting ready to leave for Milford House, I woke up with a horrid headache and so didn’t exactly supervise the clothing selections. Generally the girls tend to go barefoot but on cold mornings Cecily pulled out her mismatched wool socks and golden dancing shoes that she packed special for such times.
Without any distractions of work, internet, or phones, Dan even had time to read a Narnia book while I did needle work. I’m pretty sure that we need to make more of a habit of doing things like this at home.
Aneliese especially thoroughly enjoyed canoeing and learning how to paddle. One of the highlights was definitely canoeing to the main lodge for breakfast and supper (did I mention that I didn’t have to cook even one single meal? That was a rest in itself!).
We spent some cozy hours by our fire, cuddling Tutti (Cecily’s kitten who couldn’t be left behind), playing find the acorns, and the girls made good use of the old cast iron tub in the bathroom.
The girls fell asleep quickly and slept soundly each night and I was happy to go to bed at the same time. Unlike Dan who got up in the middle of the night to put wood in the fire and take the following picture, I enjoyed the stars before going to bed.
On our last morning, Aneliese got her wish for an early morning canoe around the lake. Kathleen found a rock next to our cabin to sit and wait for their return.
And then we all took one last canoe ride to go for breakfast. I honestly could not have asked for a better three days of vacation. I didn’t realize how tired I was until we were resting and I had no idea how much I would enjoy having all our meals made and even our cabin cleaned each day. Milford House is uniquely perfect that way, it’s very, very rustic which we love but still has hotel like service that was exactly what we needed. A few days of just the five of us (plus Tutti & Molly) enjoying being together was amazing. It was a gift that has me feeling energized and more ready to “keep on keeping on”.
