It has been a long time coming, but I finally got to go home after 26 years! No, not the psychiatric hospital, that may happen next year. I got to take my family back to the state where I was born...good old Michigan! However, this being a Moore vacay, it wasn't a simple point A to point B thing, we always have a few surprises coming our way.
Our new buddy Vanessa took us early to McCarran, we got checked in at Spirit and deposited our 1 bag. Simple, right? We waited until it was time to board, we boarded, and we took off for a 4 hour flight. How easy is that, right?
We land, get to the gate, wait an undue amount of time to get out, then head to the baggage claim...only to learn that our bag DIDN'T MAKE IT!! Not that this hasn't happened before, but this time ALL of our clothes were in it! After making the proper complaints, we headed to the rental car agency we'd procured.
Now, for all of you fellow space travelers who want to save money on car rentals, avoid companies that have words like DOLLAR or LESS in their titles, there ARE hitches! In this case, we'd arranged for a $343 fare and had saved for it. When we got to the desk, they wanted double that for a deposit! The luggage thing already had us stressed, now it seemed like we'd be carless. Luckily, the agent was quite sympathetic and helped us get a rental with a company with a Federation ship name. The key here was having a return ticket home, apparently that's a problem in Detroit rental-wise! What was even better was that we got the car for a flat $314, $30 less than at the "economical" company!
We got into our SUV and headed north. It was already 7p.m. and we were starved, so we got off I 275 and had a much needed quick bite at Arby's. What makes this one so neat is that the Arby's was a brick structure, a rarity in the desert. We then proceeded north until 275 ended, then took a series of local roads via Aunt Bonnie's directions and got to their house in Davisburg a little after 9:30pm. An interesting thing about Michigan summers: it stays light until after 9! We finally got a bigger meal at Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Chris's home, chatted a bit, then headed to bed.
The next morning, we got up and had a pancake breakfast, followed by a trip to the Detroit Zoo. During this day, we finally got to meet little Riley, my cousin Chris's 3 year old jewel. At the zoo, we saw penguins and all sorts of animal fare. Happily, the zoo was better protected than Cincinnati! Afterward, Bonnie took us into Royal Oak so I could take pics of both my grandparent-sets' homes, a mere 5 minute walk from each other. It had been 26 years since I'd seen either house, so it felt a bit strange.
The next day, we headed to Marquette to visit with my cousin Craig and his family. Marquette is in the U.P., which means Upper Peninsula, which means a LONG-ASS DRIVE FOR ANYONE IN THE GREATER DETROIT AREA! However, I was excited for this adventure. I had only been up I 75 as far as just north of Bay City, so I was about to see unexplored territory! It was quite a day. 75 heads NNW to Flint, Saginaw (with a nice high bridge over the not-so-nice Saginaw River), and Bay City. It then gets pretty rural for 170 miles, although services were pretty common and the freeway went through some beautiful country that I could only imagine gets more gorgeous in September! The rest stops were also quite nice, the desert rest stop builders could use an architecture lesson!
Our favorite town/county name: Cheboygan! Sounds like something Curly Howard would love to say.
We finally hit a major jewel: the Mackinac (pronounced MA-ki-naw) Bridge. For $4, you get to cross right between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, 2 VERY blue bodies of water. There was construction, but that was ok, it just extended our wonderful time above the water!
The next day, we said goodbye to the Marquette clan, raced across the U.P., had another great drive across the Mackinac Bridge, and headed to Grand Blanc where the rest of the family were gathered for cousin Lacey's birthday party for 2 of her girls. I also got to see cousin Michael there with his wife Carrie and kids, as well as Lacey's husband Eddie. We had BBQ pork, slaw, and beans for food, and played yard yahtzee with large wooden dice! Quite an experience!
Monday was our last full day. Uncle Chris had to drive to Indianapolis, so we said goodbye to him that morning. Since Bonnie had to work, we took a little excursion through Pontiac (not the prettiest place), and into Royal Oak so I could drive the old streets myself. We raced back to Davisburg and took Bonnie out to lunch at good old Big Boy.
There's just something comforting about that restaurant. I miss the old comics they used to give to kids, and the menu's been streamlined a lot, but comfort food is comfort food. We came back home and I took a little nap while Bonnie and Natalie played a killer game of Monopoly. Shortly after, we had leftover BBQ and then went to Fenton for frozen custard with cousin Mike and his kids.
Tuesday was departure day, sadly. Bonnie hung with us as long as she could, then headed to work. We finished packing, then headed out, taking a detailed roundabout route to the airport to avoid construction. On the way we filled up in Ypsilanti (pretty easy to say!), where the cash price is also good for debit (hear that Nevada?), and then turned the car in. We grabbed lunch at a Coney Island eatery once checked in and anal-probed at security, then flew out on time.
As trips go, this is one of our best, ranking up there with Tennessee last year. It is making me realize there are better places to live and work than Las Vegas. Lots of people warn me about winters, and they know because they came from wintry homes. What they don't get is that SO DID I!! What they also don't get is that my move out west 24 years ago was involuntary as I was just 19, and I've been missing snowy cold Christmases for a very long time. So I will be looking out for opportunities quite doggedly from here on in....one thing is for sure: I can and will go home again more frequently!
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