Anyway, on to the main topic of the (probably fairly lengthy) post. From the 8th to the 17th I was on my summer vacation. I'm really hoping this isn't the only vacation I get this summer because it was short and that'd be lame (I don wanna grow up! Waahhh!). The 8th was a Friday.
Friday:
I got up, got my crap together, and left about an hour after I'd planned to. I don't really remember specific timing, but I think I left either at 10 or 11 when I'd meant to leave at 9 or 10. I got home about 40 minutes after I'd planned to. Basically this means that I plan for about 1 1/2 hours to 1 hour and 40 minutes for the trip when it only takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Good deal. Podcasts and music were listened to.
I got home, had some lunch, and hung out with my mom/was a lazy bum around the house until my dad got home. I had sent my mom one of those edible arrangements for Mother's Day because with our initial plans we weren't going to be home on Mother's Day. Turns out plans were changed and we WERE home, but she got the arrangement on Wednesday before Mother's Day anyway. It apparently looked like this (you can always click on the pictures for bigger versions):
and it supposedly tasted quite good. It had pineapple, strawberries, apple, and grapes I think with some chocolate coated and others not. My parents had eaten it all by the time I got home (my dad took some in to work too... I guess even the small sizes are pretty substantial. Good to know). Once my dad was home, we drove to Albion. I think it took about an hour and 40 minutes (total travel time so far: 3 hours). We met my brother and his girlfriend at a Mexican restaurant for dinner (it was, and still is, my favorite restaurant in Albion. It's also the only restaurant I've eaten at in Albion). She's a lovely person and, while I had met her before, my parents had not. It was a good meal and a good way to start things off. From there we went back to my brother's apartment and then to the baccalaureate (hey I spelled that right on the first attempt!) service. I was fairly promptly astonished by the variety on the program.
Three different religions AND a non-religious speaker?! Heresy! At Hope we were lucky to get speakers who were only mildly fire-and-brimstone, but they get four separate viewpoints? Needless to say, his baccalaureate was a lot more fun and a lot more memorable than mine (and I think it might replace mine in stories I tell, if it ever comes up) and the speakers and music was all really good. I think after this we basically just went back to the hotel and slept until...Saturday (I promise they won't all be this long):
This was the day of the actual graduation. The weather looked like it might hold and the announcement was made that the ceremony would be outdoors, so of course we brought umbrellas. We were told there would be breakfast on campus, so we skipped the continental breakfast at the hotel and headed over. We got to my brother's apartment and headed over to where breakfast was, only to see a really freaking long line. We ended up going back to his apartment and cobbling together breakfast from a frozen pizza and some eggs. It was pretty all right, considering the cobbled-togetherness of it. Also, the apartment was pretty much a mess, which was to be expected considering the number of guys living in it, but not considering the fact that they (supposedly) had to be out by 5 or 6pm. Then Kris (my brother) headed over to get set up for the ceremony and we (my parents, Kris's girlfriend Addy, and I) made our way across campus as well.
There was a fairly brief stop at the building where breakfast was and the lines were gone so we got some orange juice and coffee. I still think it was a good idea to eat at the apartment because it was basically donut holes and mini-muffins for breakfast, which would NOT have filled me up (I remember being strangely hungry considering how relatively early it was). Then we headed over to the ceremony. I think it started at 10:30 and the goal was to finish by 1 or 2ish. I don't really remember timing that well, but it's been a while, so... yeah. Anyway I think it was about this time that it started to rain. And get cold. And the wind picked up. Overall the ceremony was remarkably good, with two really good speakers, one a Holocaust survivor with a cool accent and a good message (and only slightly depressing) and one the CEO of Dominos pizza. All of the grads got a coupon for a free pizza meal.
Again, I feel like it was better than mine and we had great weather, maybe even a bit hot. Kris's was an adventure that chilled you to the bone if you weren't careful and had tales that took you through the murky parts of recent history and showed the triumph of human determination. All I really remember of mine is that it was hot, I somehow found my parents and brother in the bleachers in the stadium (during the ceremony), and we had water bottles under our seats instead of free pizza coupons. Oh and I apparently get more photogenic when I have to be in a hurry. Anyway, back to Kris. I didn't take any pictures with my phone so I don't have any to show, but he has a nice little album to remember the day. After the ceremony there was much jostling as we found Kris, then made our way to a meet and greet to meet his professors. They were pleasant people. We walked back to the apartment (by now it had pretty much stopped raining) and helped Kris pack up and clean up the rest of his stuff. He'd done a pretty good job with what he could before we got there so it went pretty smoothly. I'm really not sure how the rest of the guys got out of there at a decent hour, though. (Note from as I'm writing this: strawberries get REALLY good if you cut them up and sprinkle a bit of sugar on them then let them sit in the fridge for a few hours. They aren't a very good blogging snack, though, since they pretty much tie up your hands. In fact, I'm not sure there IS a good blogging snack.)
We left town and stopped at a really good sushi place on the way out. I'd say Sansu in East Lansing has it beat, but that may just be personal bias. After another hour and 45 minutes of driving we got home (total time: 4 hours 45 minutes) and just hung around for the evening.
Sunday:
I think Sunday was just hanging out around home and taking Addy to see the sights. Kris did most of the work there, I was basically just there when there was food. Apparently they went to places I've never been, though, so I should probably check those out at some point.
Monday through Wednesday:
We got all packed up and drove to Bay Harbor in the northern part of the lower peninsula. We dropped Addy off at her apartment on the way and ate lunch in the area at a sandwich shop with a heck of a variety (and good food). After a total of about 5 1/2 hours in the car (plus the break for lunch) we got to the resort/hotel/Inn at Bay Harbor (total travel time: 10 hours). I'm pretty sure it's a nice summer resort because it's right on the lake and there's a nice touristy downtown and a golf course, but we were there kind of on the off season and only for a few days, so for us it was basically just relax-time. We wandered around, had dinner, and got a feel for the place, then just put in time for the evening. The next day we had breakfast at the hotel then walked around town for a while (it's a nice place, good variety of shops) and walked out to the docks where people supposedly park their boats (yes I know that's not the right terminology, but it sounds like something my dad would say, so it's staying).
Again, nice place. I think I need to live in a place near water eventually. Part of the reason we picked this place is that we booked a room there for the time and then got the same amount of money back to spend on spa stuff. All four of us got massages and my mom got something else... a facial I think. Good deal. We had some local pizza for dinner (kind of a family tradition when we travel) which was really good and did some more relaxing before going to bed. Wednesday we had breakfast with Addy and her mom and step-dad at the hotel (she lives near there and drove up after we dropped her off) then headed home. Five hours later, we were home and, once again, just kind of hanging out (ttt: 15 hours).
Thursday and Friday:
were pretty uneventful, but that's how I like my vacation time, so that's good. We went out to eat a few times and did family stuff, basically.
Saturday and Sunday:
Saturday we headed up to Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada to visit family. Twelve freaking hours of driving for about 10 hours of extended-family-time. (ttt: 27 hours) It was definitely really good to see everyone that we saw, though, and we only rarely get to actually see them (MAYBE twice a year, on a very good year) so it was worth it. After we got home, I got unpacked then repacked and drove back to campus (1 hour 20 minutes more, final ttt: about 28 hours 20 minutes). I know I forgot stuff, but oh well, that's what I remember and I don't really want it to be longer anyway. Overall a very good week! So good, in fact, that I actually went back home this weekend =P. But that's a different post.
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