Freaking Long Post
Sit back and let me tell you the blow-by-blow story of our trip to Michigan.
It all started Friday night with Christmas Sushi and a few early presents between Kathryn and Myself.
Saturday morning we woke up early-ish, packed up the car, and started off toward Chicago. Everything went super-smoothly until the last two hours or so when we finally hit snow and traffic. We slowed to a crawl, missed one turn that took a little while to recover from, but finally made it to Sarah and Bryan’s. They ordered deep-dish pizza, and after we ate and recovered from the drive, we headed to the basement of an out of business Payless shoe store for a BYOB show. Being tired, we left after the first band, but it was still good times.
The next day, we braved 8-degree weather and headed downtown to explore a huge art store, then we moved on to Navy Pier for lunch. Sarah had problems with air in her mouth, and Kathryn had her first booger freezing experience, but it still a fun day. Later that night Sarah and I braved negative 28 degree cold on our way to the store to buy cheese for Fondue with Alan and Amanda.
Monday morning Sarah headed off to work and Kathryn, Bryan, Grody, and myself packed up and started off to Potterville. We got to give Kathryn her first experience of pushing a car out of the snow. Maybe next year she’ll be behind the wheel and we’ll teach her the fine art of rocking it out. Anyway, on the way home we stopped for gas station cheeseburgers, which I have to admit come a super close second to gas station hotdogs. Kathryn and I also got too-sweet gas station crappuccino, and Bryan got mustard on Kathryn’s car and Grody’s coat.
I never thought to put the deicer washer fluid in Kathryn’s car, so the solvent lines froze and as the salt splashed onto the windshield, it became more and more impossible to see. I developed the sure fire method of driving too-close behind semi trucks so their spray would wet down the windshield and allow the wipers to work. Also, when we stopped at a rest stop I rubbed snow on the windshield to wash away the salt. Probably not the safest methods ever, but we arrived in Potterville safe and sound.
Tuesday afternoon, my parents, Kathryn, Bryan, and, of course, myself, went to the park so Kathryn could experience sledding. We bought two saucer sleds and for a buck, rented a tube. The four of us spent and hour or two trying to discover all the various ways we could slide down the hill.
Later that night we ate at Joe’s and a bunch of friends showed up. I wish we could have stayed longer, but after sledding and still being worn out from the trip, we had to call it an early night. Bryan had a little trouble in the driveway so Kathryn got her second experience of pushing a stuck car.
Wednesday afternoon we went to Grandpa and Nana’s house for Christmas Eve bisque. Sally, Trent and Sally’s son Ryan were there too. Later Dad, Sarah and Mark would all join. Christmas Eve proper was spent on the couch watching A Christmas Story and Gremlins.
Finally Christmas morning arrived and we celebrated with the Jamros traditional mimosas. Then we went back to Grandpa and Nana’s for ham and what will live on as the best damn corn ever. Later that night, I took Mark into Lansing and then the family once again gathered around the family room for a night together.
Friday we had lunch with Pa and Maggie. Pa ate a huge burger while I felt slightly inferior with my three little sliders. Later that day Bryan went to Pa’s and helped him build a web page. Let me say that again. Pa, who is 92 years old, just built his first web page. Amazing.
Saturday was bead making for Sarah, mom, and Kathryn, and the gun show for Bryan, Dad, me. After a quick nap when we got back, I got a little father-son bonding time out back while we shot the hell out of some clay pigeons hanging on dad’s new target holder. Being awesome as I am, I managed to hit the new target holder and bent it a little out of shape. But it’s still good.
To cap off a great week, Bryan and I headed to Riedy’s and ordered a pizza with DOUBLE EVERYTHING. Everyone basked in the glow of the massive pizza while we sat in reclining leather couches and watched Die Hard. It was like a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.
First thing Sunday morning we loaded up and started the long drive home, which was uneventful save for the hour spent in a traffic jam. Just outside of Memphis, we called in a take-out order. We picked up our food, unloaded the car, pet the cat, woofed down our Chinese in front of Family Guy, and went to bed early thus ending a great vacation.
