The last adventure for our Labor Day weekend was a trip to Michigan, just Shawn and me. Shawn has been doing a lot of traveling up his company's headquarters, so I wanted to check out the area and see what it was like. We left early Sunday morning to fly out of BWI. My Mom watched the boys Sunday morning and met Nonie & Poppy late that afternoon for the boys to spend the night with them in Reading; then they met again Monday night and my Mom brought the boys back to our house where she spent the night and got them to school the next day. My sister came late Tuesday evening to wait until our flight landed and we could get home. A big THANKS to everyone for caring for our kiddos so we could go away!
When we picked up our rental car in Michigan, it had California plates. Typically rental cars have local state plates so you blend in better, but not ours! We stuck out like a sore thumb. Who drives from CA to MI anyway?
We checked into our room. We paid for the first night, but Shawn's company paid for the second night since he was going to work on Tuesday (and Monday was Labor Day so it was a "fun" day for us).
Shawn booked a room with a jacuzzi in it! :) :) :) We don't get away too often...
We ate at some amazing restaurants in this little neighboring college town. One of the places (the HopCat) had just opened on one of his previous work trips, but the line was out the door so he couldn't get in. This time, we got right in and got a table and ate some AMAZING food. The next night we ate at this place that started with a "P" that just opened (can't remember the name now) and the outdoor atmosphere was great and the food once again was out of this world. I won't even tell you how much weight I gained this trip... it was insane. But, we had fun!
We passed this sign and giggled at the "exotic hookah." I looked it up later and it wasn't "hooker" but rather some sort of smoke thing. Needless to say, no matter what it was, we didn't go inside.
We drove around the different developments to get a feel for the area. It reminded me of Lancaster County 30 years ago. Much less congested, lots of farm land, and only one mall that isn't nearly as big as Park City. There was a Walmart, however.
On one of our drives, we happened upon a large family of deer hanging out. They were so peaceful! I snapped a few pictures as we were driving by.
We also went and checked out Michigan State University. They are one of the few universities that offer a doctorate in marketing, which is something I think I'd like to get. I wanted to see where it was and what it was like. The answer? HUGE! It is the biggest University in the US. But, it seems well run. And it makes the entire area seem a little more young and hip.
Shawn & I walked through the botanical gardens while we were there.
And he took a picture of me in front of the Spartan stadium for fun.
On Tuesday he had to work. So, I started my day with a run. The fall weather was BEAUTIFUL! I had my fuel belt and phone under my jacket when I took him to work in our rental car. I navigated back to the hotel by myself, which was my starting point for running. I had "mapped my run" via a software to give me just over 4 miles. I had to choose between 4 and 8 based on the roads that I knew, and I thought 4 was safer with how much time I had. I did some elliptical machine in the hotel after I was done.
I must say that Michigan roads all seem to have running trails next to them. It's wild! They all (or at least most!) have a safe path to run or bike. And we constantly saw runners using them. For as cold as this area gets, they are certainly runner-friendly. After exercising, I got a shower and then checked out (again, by myself!) and then went back to Michigan State hoping to do a tour. Instead, I listened to a lecture meant for freshman undergraduates (SNOOZE!) and left before the tour started since it was of dorms and things that had nothing to do with me. (I even told them my purpose when I called to schedule it, but such is life.)
After leaving there, I navigated back to a little coffee shop/bookstore that's attached to the mall. I got a big chai and opened this GMAT math workbook since I would need to brush up on my math knowledge before taking the GMATs (which a high score would be required even to get admitted into a doctoral program). I thought I would breeze through the front of the book (since it was to get progressively harder) but never got past the section of basic math facts. My brain was spinning from remembering simple things like "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" for order of operations and finding the least common denominator for solving fraction problems. You would never guess that I tutored kids in Honors Calculus II in college! My memory is rusty, to say the least. I wish I would have bought the book, but I figured I could probably find a used one online and I'm not even sure it's something I'm going to pursue.
It was time to go pick up Shawn from work shortly thereafter, so we could make our flight on time. It was supper time, but we decided to eat at the airport just to make sure we arrived on time and could return our rental car, etc. The airport that we left from was very nice and small (like our local Harrisburg). We flew home without a problem, and I was SO excited to see my kids. Thankfully we had gotten to facetime with them one night when we were away, but I was missing them fiercely. It's always nice to get some alone time with Shawn, though.
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