Last Travels of the Summer

Since we got out of school on June 7th, I have only been home for 24 days – I just counted. Most of those were only one or two days here or there. Most of the time I have been traveling. I have already written about my trips to Maryland, Long Island, Costa Rica and Lake Placid, Montreal, Quebec. Since then we have been back to Brooklyn, Long Island, Michigan, Indiana, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and New Hampshire. Have you figured out why we have not gotten any work done around the house?

We returned home from Montreal at 12:30 am on Friday, July 31. We slept until late that morning and then had to clean, do laundry and pack before leaving for Long Island that evening at 9:30 pm. Shortly after leaving home, I called my brother to see if he wanted us to pick him up in Brooklyn. He convinced us to spend the night. I should have taken some pictures of his new apartment because it is gorgeous!

The next morning we left for Long Island. An hour into the horrific traffic on the LIE, we realized that Douglas did not have his wallet and had to go back to get it. We arrived shortly before Christian and Crystal’s engagement party. It was a lovely evening.

The following morning I went to the beach with my brother, cousin and his girlfriend. Douglas ran to meet us there. I left my new camera at my mother’s house, so all I have are a couple that I took with my cell phone.

That evening, Sunday, August 02 we returned home, where we did more frantic cleaning, laundering and repacking before leaving early in the morning on Wednesday, August 05 to visit Douglas’ family in Michigan. Halfway across Pennsylvania on I-80, I was dozing when Douglas started screaming. Other than the F-word, the only legible word I heard was bikes. I looked back to see that our bike rack was no longer on the car. There were over $7000 worth of bikes on that rack. F… is right.

 

Douglas quickly pulled into the median and got out to see what had happened. I sat in the car with my heart pounding, trying to see what the expression was on his face. He did not look good, but he was not moving. After what seemed like forever, but in actuality was probably more like two minutes, I climbed over the driver’s seat to check out the damage for myself. I was certain that there would be shards of carbon fiber all over the place.

Miraculously, our bikes were only slightly scratched. The bike rack had dragged behind the car at 75 mph for a couple hundred feet, with semis in front, beside and behind us, but had managed to stay upright and keep our bikes off the ground. The bottom was worn almost completely through, but we were able to reattach it and drive the rest of the way without our bikes falling off. It took the rest of the day before our heart rates returned to normal, though.

Finally, we arrived at the lake. No matter what happens on the way, you cannot beat life at the lake. Crème and Kahlua were happy to finally be out of the car!

We spent Thursday, August 06 in Michigan and Indiana. Douglas’ parents live right on the border of the two states. We had lunch with his parents, sister and two of our nieces, took a bike ride and went for a walk with the dogs.

That evening, we went to visit a friend that Douglas had not seen since high school. We met at the Draft Horse in Orland, Indiana, but I did not get any pictures.

The next morning, Friday, August 07, we left for Wisconsin. We stopped in Chicago to have lunch with Michael and Mason. Mason is the adorable baby from the wedding we attended in May. It was great to see them again, but unfortunately, once again I failed to take a picture. What a bad blogger I am! Regardless, it was wonderful to see those guys again so soon.

That afternoon, we met up with our friends Susan and Jack, who gave us a tour of Milwaukee. I left my camera in the car! At least, Susan took one picture of Douglas and I in the Milwaukee Public Market. There is proof that we were there.

Saturday, August 08 Douglas participated in the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship. He was thrilled with his performance only two weeks after competing in the Ironman. Look at that big grin on his face as he was coming into the finish line in the last picture.

I was pleased to have company for the race. Normally, I am sitting all by myself. This time I had friends to keep me entertained.

After the race, we had dinner with Jack and Susan before getting back on the road. We were hoping that we could make it back in time for Douglas’ 30 year high school reunion in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but it was not meant to be. We went back to his parents’ house instead.

We spent Sunday, August 09 at the lake. Besides Douglas’ parents, his two sisters, one brother in law, five nieces and three nephews were there. Our friends Mark and Carri also stopped by for a while. There are no pictures. That evening Douglas and I took another walk with the dogs.

On Monday, August 10 Douglas and I went to the Branch County Fair with his sister and nieces and nephews. I did not take many pictures, but I at least have one!

That evening we visited our friend, Jon, at his house on a neighboring lake.

While we were at Lake Pleasant, I was fascinated with the rainbow and the sandhill cranes. They are impressive birds.

We spent the following day at the lake. First we went for a swim and then gave Kahlua a bath. Have you ever seen a more miserable dog?

She perked up once she got out of the water.

After that we went for an eighteen mile bike ride.

That evening we took a boat ride with John and Bibi.

There were three sandhill cranes on the far side of the lake. They let us get pretty close and did not fly away. I guess they knew that we could not get the boat up on shore.

We left Michigan on Wednesday, August 12. It took us eleven and a half hours to drive home – almost an hour more than normal due to traffic. It was a tortuous day trapped in a car with a miserable dog and cat. At least, they did not complain much and our bikes stayed on the new rack attached to the car for the entire trip. Sometimes you have to celebrate the small things in life.

We were home for  a couple of days more of cleaning, doing laundry and repacking before taking off again on Saturday, August 16. This time Kahlua and Crème stayed home with a friend. I was almost jealous that they did not have to get back in the car.

That day we drove to Boston. The trip was supposed to take three hours, according to Douglas, but it took almost five. I was never so happy to get out of the car! We spent the evening with Darinda and Alex. It was great to see them again. We had not seen them since we dropped Alex off last August. Once again, I forgot to document the trip in pictures.

On Sunday, August 16, we took Darinda and Alex out for breakfast before leaving for New Hampshire. The purpose of this trip was to meet up with our friends Natalie and Carolyn to go to an OAR concert. Before the concert we went to the beach and out for dinner. We stopped at an arcade before the concert. We took pictures in a photo booth.

The concert was good. It was general admission, so it was crowded and hot, but we enjoyed it. Douglas took a couple pictures with his cell phone. I am going to have to start doing a better job with the pictures.

We had a good breakfast and hung out for a while the next morning before leaving for home. I would have liked to stay longer, but we had to get home to the animals. Finally, at 6:30 pm on Monday, August 10 we arrived home and ended our summer migration.

It has been bitter sweet to be home. Douglas started work on Tuesday, and I have gone into school a couple of times to get work done. I also resumed tutoring on Wednesday. I should have been doing more work in the house, but I am having a hard time getting back in my normal routine. I do not want my vacation to end! I can tell you that I did paint something yesterday. Hopefully, I will finish the project so that I can tell you about it next week. In the meantime…

Happy Homemaking!