Michigan

So the red eye birthday flight took us directly into our Michigan trip.
We landed in Detroit at 6:00 am after not really sleeping through the four hour trip. We got our rental car, drove to Ann Arbor, ate breakfast, parked close to the stadium and fell asleep in our car for a few hours.



The nap was just what we needed and we got going to the stadium in good time. We happened to walk in the student entrance and followed their procession into the stadium. The Michigan fans seem to be all in. Everyone is wearing the colors and gear and that giant stadium was full.

A co-worker of Jake's generously gave us his season tickets to the BYU game and we sat in a sea of Michigan fans in some great seats. It was tense at first. We were cheering as the Cougs ran on the field and the Michigan fans were cheering as their team entered and there wasn't much chatting going on.  But, sadly for us, as the game wore on and they could see that we weren't a threat, our neighbors started opening up, chatting and telling us about all the things their towns had to offer.

The game leaves nothing to speak about so I'll end there.

Luckily, we didn't go on this trip just for the game, and had the next three days to sight see around Michigan and enjoy a few days on our own.

We spent the next day in Ann Arbor and went to church, and toured around campus to get a feel for the place. It is a beautiful area and the leaves were just starting to change color and there was a nice cool undercurrent breeze in the air. Leaving 100 degree weather we were grateful for the climate change.



We drove out to Grand Haven in the afternoon, but stopped by Grand Rapids on the way. We saw the downtown and the river running through the city and got a peek at the Gerald R. Ford presidential museum. It was interesting and checked another museum off of Jacob's bucket list. He loves presidential museums and would like to see all of them, and with our last two football trips he have two more under his belt.

 

Grand Haven is a little resort like town on Lake Michigan and we stayed there in a bed and breakfast. We were the only occupants, which was a little strange, but nice to have the place to ourselves. The host was very nice and their food was amazing and it was a good change to stay in more of a home like environment.



Since we were there in the off season, it seemed like we had the town to ourselves. We spent all day Monday outside. We went on a little hike through some beautiful woods to the sand dunes near the lake. Then we went over to the pier and found a nice place to sit on the lake. We each had a book to read and spent the whole afternoon eating apples and almond butter, napping, reading, talking, and just being outside. It was amazing being by the water all day and the calming lapping of the waver were so soothing. The weather was gorgeous- overcast with the sun breaking through from 4:00-sunset. We had no plans or agenda and really and truly relaxed. We ate some amazing Mexican food that night and then packed up to leave in the morning.

Tuesday we ate breakfast and then hit the road to head back to the airport. We did a driving tour of Detroit on our way and got lunch at a highly rated deli downtown. I didn't realize that Detroit is on the Canadian border and it was nice to get a sense of that town. We made it to the airport with plenty of time (not my usual way to travel, but necessary with Jacob's medial device in tow) and enjoyed a nice plane ride home.

My mom had been here watching the kids while we were gone and we came home to cookies, fall decorations, monster hats, and some happy and well loved grandchildren. We are so grateful for her service in watching our kids and for all the things she did to make the weekend special for them so they wouldn't miss us too much.



We've always loved trips as a couple and fortunately have been able to take one a year for the last 5 or 6 years. I love being with Jacob and am grateful for the memories we made in Michigan.