Last weekend Mer and I finally decided to get away for a fast weekend. It was the first time we have traveled for pleasure since moving into the new house last July. We decided to go see Mom and Marc in Michigan. So, we zoomed off in the car on Friday, and took our time getting to Mom’s – we stopped for supper and later for ice cream (at Dairy Queen), so the five-and-a-half hour drive became six-and-a-half and we got to Bridgman about 11:00 at night. Mom and Marc were still up, and we chatted for awhile, and then went to bed about midnight.

I love the basement rooms at Mom’s – they are quiet and really dark. Mer and I both slept until 9:00, and I would have slept like a rock had I not still been slightly congested from a cold that I had earlier in the week. I then got to take a shower in the best shower on Earth – it is about two feet over my head and has a huge spray area and lots of hot water. I love that shower.

Mom was out and about and when she came back she brought doughnuts to “tide us over” before we went to breakfast. After Mer got out of her shower, we all piled into the car and went to a nearby town to a little breakfast place that was small but crowded. I had a very average hot chocolate, good toast and good breakfast-style fries, and a pretty good ham-and-cheese omelette.

We then went back to the house via a quick trip to the beach where we were fascinated by the graded and combed beach – wherever there was a small ridge of sand, it would collapse as you walked near it. It was a strange effect to have these little (less than .25 inch) ridges of sand rippling for several feet around where you walked.

Mom and I then went for a walk back down to the beach for exercise, and then went back to the house. We joined Marc and left Meredith to grade papers. We went to a cute nearby town that has a nice walking area, and we window-shopped (and I bought a very good brownie). Mom and I then walked down to the beach to the pier while Marc got the car. I’m afraid we inadvertently left Marc behind – I pressed on thinking he needed to catch his breath in the car, while I think Marc wanted to join us on the beach after he moved the car down to the beach area. I felt bad about the misunderstanding.

While we were getting near the pier, we saw a wedding party having photos taken in a gazebo. That was nice. Mom and I wandered out to the edge of the pier and watched a few boats coming in. It was a pretty day to be outside. We then meandered back to find Marc and went home via a grocery store to pick up burger supplies.

I squeezed in an hour nap while Mer graded, and then Mom, Marc, and I played “Adventures in Maine,” a tongue-in-cheek trivia game about Maine. I’m ashamed to say that Marc won, although the best moment of the game was when Mom misheard a question about where a balloon crossing the Atlantic landed, and she picked Bermuda over France. That was fun.

We had a grand supper of Marc’s excellent burgers, and then we chatted (while Meredith graded). We went off to bed around 11:00. The next morning was fairly brief as we woke up around 9:30 and were on the road about 11:30, but it was a good time to see Mom and Marc.