When I first thought up this Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt thing, I was hoping to share my love-of-summer vibes with all of you. I wanted to encourage you to take advantage of the simple joys of a summer day, despite the heat and the humidity and the relentless drum of the upcoming election. And you know what? I think it kinda worked! I got little notes and emails (and even a postcard or two!) that thanked me for putting this together, letting me know that these silly lists were reminding you to have a little summer fun. And, of course, you guys responded in a big way by diligently submitting your entries.

The best thing about this summer blogging adventure for me . . . was being able to enjoy – vicariously – YOUR summer fun! I mean seriously . . . I got to go to baseball games and county fairs with you, I got to dip my toes in lakes and pools all over the country. And, heck . . . I even got to see Taylor Swift in Amsterdam. Not bad for a quiet summer in Michigan!

Although I do want to wrap this Summer Vibes thing up nicely and with a little flair, I also don’t want to ramble on forever (and you sent me enough stories and photos that I pretty much could). So here’s the agenda for the rest of this post: First, I’ll share a few interesting, behind-the-scenes observations with you. Then, I’ll announce the August winner . . . followed by the overall winners. And then I’ll share a little photo gallery. But . . . I am only sharing a smattering of the photos I received. (Because you guys! I got so many photos!!!) (So. Many.)

So we’ll begin with my behind-the-scenes observations:

  • Over the course of the summer, 28 of you submitted at least one Scavenger Hunt “entry.” I built a spreadsheet to track everything (because, really, I don’t think I could’ve made the whole thing any more complicated than I did) (I often get carried away with my ideas. . . ). I needed to set up special download files for your photos. It’s been . . . way bigger . . . than I thought it would be. Which is great. And I thank you all.
  • One of you . . . completed all 30 items on the list (you’ll hear more about that later in this post), and several of you came pretty darn close! One of you (a different one of you) sent a photo for each entry she submitted (you’ll hear more about that later, too).
  • Of all the items on the list, the most challenging items (based on the number of people who did-vs-didn’t do them) seemed to be: watching a parade, going to a summer concert, sending a postcard, watching a movie/blockbuster, and driving or riding in/on an unconventional vehicle.
  • The movies you guys watched included: Caddyshack, Closed for the Storm, Jaws, Dirty Dancing, Find Me Falling, A League of Their Own, Back to the Future, and Wicked Little Letters.
  • Which is a perfect lead-in to my behind-the-scenes “blooper.” My lists included two movie-related items: see a summer blockbuster movie (June) and watch a summer movie (August). Which was a mistake. I didn’t mean to have both of those items on the list, but I messed up the August list. So. There you have it: True Confessions. If you watched a summer movie and submitted an entry (which may or may not have been a blockbuster), I gave you credit for both items. And if you actually watched and submitted TWO movies, I gave you extra style points. My apologies. I tried to be fair.
  • So what, exactly, was an unconventional vehicle? Well that, of course, was entirely open to your interpretation . . . but the ones you submitted included a golf cart, a canal boat, a rented 12-person van, a boat, a ferry, and a trolley. (I happen to know that one of you contemplated riding your recycling bin down the driveway, but as far as I know, that didn’t actually happen.)
  • When it came to watching your favorite Olympians, the great majority of you mentioned Simone Biles and Pommel-Horse-Guy. One of you mentioned Katie Ledecky. And one of you cheered on a former student, Sabrina Ionesco of the US women’s basketball team.
  • Most of you responded to “start or finish a project” . . . with a knitting or crafting project. A couple of you, though? Not so much. One of you upholstered her dining room chairs, while another of you dealt with a nasty pest control issue.
  • And what kind of entries got my discretionary “style points?” Well, particularly colorful stories about your entries certainly did. Sharing an unusual or clever interpretation of an item did. Combining entries into one photo or one event could do it. Particularly adorable grandchildren or pets always earned style points. Doing something unexpected earned style points, too. (Frankly, it was one of those I’ll-know-it-when-I-see-it kind of things.)

Now . . . let’s move on to the winners!

I’m pleased to announce that Sarah is the August Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt winner!!!

Sarah . . . amassed the greatest number of Scavenger Hunt points on the August list by experiencing/doing 8 out of the 10 items. (The only things Sarah didn’t mention doing in August . . . were attending a festival or fair and eating a popsicle.) Sarah made stovetop s’mores for dessert one evening (she reports that they weren’t as good as the ones made over a campfire, but still delicious), finished knitting a summer sweater, and went to a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game with her family. Sarah says it was easy to go barefoot — because she does that all summer long anyway (she also sent a photo of her bare feet on a gorgeous rug that got me oohing-and-ahhing . . . ). Sarah enjoyed cheering for Simone Biles in the Olympics, watched a summer movie on Netflix – Find Me Falling (she reports it was “cute, but not great”) (I’d have to agree. . . ), drank some lemonade, and enjoyed a blast of cooler weather that made driving with her sunroof open comfortable and pleasant.

Sarah also caught herself up on some items from the June and July lists. While those “catch-up” points didn’t count toward her August winning total, they DID count toward her overall Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt tally. And, just for the record, Sarah is the viber who submitted photo documentation for EACH of her Scavenger Hunt entries . . . all summer long!

So please join me in congratulating our Vibe-iest Viber for August . . . Sarah!

But, of course, it’s also time to celebrate the winner of the Overall, All-Summer-Long Scavenger Hunt Extravaganza. Put your hands together for the Overall Summer Vibes Winner . . . Jill!

Jill . . . amassed the greatest number of Scavenger Hunt points over the course of the summer. In fact, Jill is the only participant to complete every item on the list! She fully embraced the joys of the season – and the scavenger hunt – by sharing stories and photos documenting her Ohio summer. It was so fun for me to get to know more about Jill this summer. I mean, I feel like I’ve kinda known Jill through the comments she leaves here on my blog. But now I know . . . that she and her family have a Christmas tree farm, and that her major summer project (completed, by the way) involved some rather involved pest control for some of their crop. I know she spent several days at the fair recently — and not just taking in the sights and enjoying fair-treats, either. Jill was at the fair to support her kids, who were at the fair to show their market hogs! And I also know that she drove with the windows open on a hot Ohio day. . .  in a truck . . . while pulling a livestock trailer. That all sounds like a lot of summer work to me, but Jill also had time to enjoy summer . . . with s’mores and popsicles and movies and parades and a road trip (in that rented 12-person van). Jill fully embraced the spirit of this Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt, and sent me these lovely words with her final entry . . .

“Thank you for this summer fun!  It pushed me to do some things I wouldn’t have otherwise, and was more intentional about some of the things that I would have done out of habit.” — Jill

And that, really, is what this Scavenger Hunt thing was all about! Please join me in congratulating our Overall Summer Viber . . . Jill!

But wait! There’s more! Other notable participants and runners-up (who will also be awarded prizes):

Sarah (2nd) and Carole and Karel (tied for 3rd) . . . were the runners-up in the Overall Extravaganza category. (Which isn’t actually surprising because each of them “won” an individual month in the Scavenger Hunt.)

Vicki . . . was the latest in/ALL in Scavenger Hunt participant. If you follow her blog, you know that Vicki had an action-packed summer, so didn’t have a chance to submit her entries until the end. But I’m just gonna say . . . Amsterdam. Taylor Swift. Drama skies. Style points galore!

Juliann and Kim and Linda and Kat . . . who consistently submitted entries and photos and stories all summer long — and fell into the close-but-no-cigar/honorable mention category every single month!

I also did a random “drawing” of all participants who submitted at least one Scavenger Hunt entry this summer, so . . . C’mon Down . . . Patty, Suzanne, Vera, and Mary!

And there you have it! The end of the Summer Vibes Scavenger Hunt. I thank you all for playing along and for sharing your summer with me.

I put together a gallery of August photo submissions for your enjoyment. Please remember . . . these photos represent only SOME of all photos I received.

Enjoy these Summer Vibes!