My 1st Michigan Trip!

This past weekend Paul & I racked up a whopping 1800 miles on Blue. We drove him through Missouri, up into Illinois & Indiana. Then we by-passed Chicago, & up to a little hole in the trees to peek at Lake Michigan! I fell in LOVE! It was gorgeous.

After I played in the chilly water for a while we headed 3 hours into the High Five state to Ann Arbor, where we met up with some of Paul's buddies. We had some beers at Ann Arbor Brew Pub, which were delish. Food was on the mind though & their line was too long, so we headed over to The Blue Tractor. More beers & dinner were in order. I had an amazing BLT made with a fried green tomato! YUM! The boys caught up with shots while the fiance's talked of weddings.



in Ann Arbor



Paul & I in Ann Arbor... of coarse I had to represent K-State @ least one night!!!



The next day, Michigan took on Nebraska! We missed tailgating but viewed the game at another one of Paul's groomsman's houses. Which of coarse followed with some get-to-know-ya-catch-up beer pong/flip cup.



Some of Paul's good friends!

Finally, on Sunday we were able to catch up on some sleep only to wake up to meet Paul's aunts, uncles, grandparents, & cousins. The meal was great & the people were very welcoming & nice. It was also my first experience with a grandparent with dementia. Different, but just something you have to cope with. After supper I had a dejavoux. We were sitting around the table & his other grandpa was telling stories, only the way he talked sounded exactly like my grandpa that passed away back in 2000. It was hard to hide my emotions. That night we met up with another groomsmen & his sister that actually live in Colorado but are from Michigan.

Monday morning, Bob Evans called us for breakfast with his family. Then we were off on our 13 1/2 hour drive back to Topeka, KS. This time we dropped down through Indiana, the corner of Illinois, & through St. Louis into KC. It misted on us the whole way back which made for a good photo in St.Louis (if only it was lighter).

 

the SWEET tote Paul's mom made me for my birthday!



The view of St. Louis Monday night from in the truck on the bridge

 I met some great new friends, new 'soon-to-be' family & saw some great places!
I can't wait to get back & see more of the state, maybe even cross the pond, Canada!!!

Crack! Boom! Wheewww-Pop!!

4th of July! Independence Day! America's Birthday!... One of my favorite holidays!!!

Ever since I could remember this day is in my top 3. Good food, friends n family, & fireworks!!!
Sometimes camping and a lake (only not this year...at least the puddle in my driveway isn't big enough for a boat).
When we were little there were always BBQs & partys that our parents were dragging us too. Partys where the older guys would be making "bombs" during the daylight, then draggin out their Wyoming bought fireworks as soon as the sun dropped. It was a blast! I would always beg my mom, "Can we light them now?" "How about now?""Is it time yet?" It would be like 1pm. So, she made sure to always get snakes, smoke bombs, and party pullers for daytime then "the works" for dark! hello Sparklers!! An all-time fav!
Then it became tradition to to to a lake! McCounahay, Nebraska... Horsetooth, Colorado... Glendo, Wyoming...Greyrock, Wyoming...Milford, Kansas...but we always found ourselves back at Glendo. Those were some GREAT times!
Unfortunately, I haven't been to Glendo since 2004 :( It's hard to get off and be able to get home during the summer. However, last year I was able to talk my family (-my bro) to come out to Kansas. They brought the boat, so we hit up Milford. Then of coarse a party.
This year.... I'm collecting that holiday pay & working. My friend had a get-together. I drank, swam/water fight, played beer pong & ate plenty of food. Tonight I had a whole date night planned for Jorge and I... So far it was on hold because of the rain :(

..... For the 4th, Jorge and I ended up going into Manhattan in the rain, hit up a couple firework stands. I love everything from the little dorky stuff - like the chicken who "lays" fireballs - to the artillery shells! After spending some money, dinner was at dairy queen, I had some killer acid reflux so ice cream was my food while Jorge enjoyed his Flamethrower. Then we went home and acted like little dorky kids playing with our sparklers, tanks, fountains, firecrackers, and cherry bombs!