It's all good...: dad

We (G, me and M) were thinking of heading to Florida for Michael's spring break this year, but Gary had training at work that he couldn't miss. I had a little bit of cabin fever, so I planned a little excursion to Michigan (the Northern Woods, as the locals call it) to visit my great aunt and uncle, Sarah Catherine and Charles (whom she fondly calls "Oppy"). I had not seen them in almost 20 years and they had only seen pictures of Michael. I planned on taking the boy along thinking he might enjoy the trip, but I couldn't do the trip without help. My dad has been doing lots of traveling, visiting friends and relatives that he was unable to see while caring for his wife Margi for almost 10 years. So, I asked my dad to join us and he readily agreed!

We drove the 7 hours on a rare, beautifully sunshiny Wednesday at the end of March. We got to our hotel, East Bay Lodge on Houghton Lake, around 7pm, ordered a pizza from Buccilli's Pizza (voted people's choice awards for the last 6 years, and it was very GOOD), shopped for breakfast foods that the hotel owner said he'd cook up for us the next day (are you kidding me?? What kind of hotel offers that kind of service with such a LOW room rate [$34/night]?!).

The hotel itself was old and creaky, but it was also a very laid back, comfortable place...perfect for us. The view was outstanding.

Michael did great during the 7-hour drive, but I was completely surprised that he didn't fall asleep until after midnight. He was so excited and bouncing on the bed...lots of energy that was bottled up during the car ride. Oy vey, was I tired the next morning.

We met with Sarah and Oppy in the morning (an hour late because of the sleep issue I just mentioned) and had a lovely visit. Michael was getting a little fidgety (okay, he was VERY restless), so we left and took him on a hike at a nearby park called, Marguerite Gahagan Nature Preserve. The parking lot to the preserve was completely empty except for the 4-5 used condoms by the trail entrance. OMG--eeewww (we didn't have the heart/nerve to tell the Oppy's about it...but other than that, it was a lovely walk)! We didn't stay there long; only to do a quick loop around the shortest trail. We drove back to our hotel to eat a quick lunch and to change Michael. He seemed to do much better once we were on the move again.

We went back to the Oppy's and they had a private dining room set up for dinner. Their daughter-in-law, (Mary Jo) and her two kids (Rachael and Nathan) joined us for dinner. Great conversation, lots of reminiscing, and we really enjoyed meeting them.

Lots of talking and storytelling going on...

Took pictures of pictures-which seemed so wrong, but I didn't have a scanner and wanted to capture them somehow.

After dinner, Mary-Jo had us follow her to Higgins Lake so we could talk some more and Michael could get out and explore. To heck with the swings at the sandy park, he headed straight to the water...of course. I was a little worried about how cold the water would be because the last of the lake ice just melted the day before. Luckily, with the sunshine and the shallow area of the lake we were at, it actually wasn't that bad. He had a blast playing in the sand and splashing in the water, while us adults had a good time talking.

After we left Higgins Lake, we drove back to our hotel and I was able to capture the sunset on Houghton Lake. The boys waited in the car patiently.

The boy went to sleep at a decent time the 2nd night, so I was able to relax a bit with my dad and get some shut-eye myself, but I woke up at 1:00 am to some guy chopping wood DIRECTLY outside my open window. Are you kidding me?!?! Who does that?? Apparently, the owners and all their friends were getting ready for the dog trials/camping that started the next afternoon...but still...at 1:00am?!?!

I made breakfast in their kitchen (the hotel owners left and we were the only ones left at the place...that's how laid back it was), while my dad did his best to entertain Michael. We then headed back to Sarah and Oppy's to visit one last time before hitting the road. (I wish I had set my f/stop correctly so we could all be in focus, but I'll blame it on being in a hurry and not paying attention.)

On the way home, we stopped by Frankenmuth ("Michigan's Little Bavaria"). I'd heard great things about this little town and couldn't wait to see what it looked like. It's been described to me as visiting Germany without leaving the country. Since I was born in Germany but left before I was a year old, I really wanted to check this place out.

My dad had talked and talked about this famous chicken that I just HAD to try. Well, we get to the restaurant and my dad says he'd rather eat at McDonald's (like he requested for most of the trip - he really likes their coffee).

My guess is that the restaurant was so good because of the great memories he had with Margi (my step-mom) and he decided to keep those memories rather than make new ones. And that's okay with me. She was sick for almost half of their 23 year marriage, so he doesn't have a lot of happy memories at the end.....he can keep this good memory for himself. Plus, it's sometimes a crap shoot eating out with Michael.

This sign says, "Saying hello brings happiness in", or something like that.

The drive back home was pleasant and uneventful, except for the blasted seizure Michael had at a rest stop in Bowling Green. It was nice to spend some time with my dad and especially cool to watch my dad and Michael together. My dad loves to make silly faces and crazy sounds...and Michael enjoys it to say the least!