I got up with Sascha to get things started.\u00a0 I needed to make sure she went out and came back in to eat before we left to drop her at the kennel.\u00a0 Unfortunately, she was spending a few days at the kennel while we went to Michigan for Zurek Christmas.\u00a0 I knew she wouldn\u2019t be happy about it, but at least she would be safe.\u00a0 The kennel treats her pretty well, but not as nice as she would like to be treated.\u00a0 They also don\u2019t have a big red chair for her to take over at her will.<\/p>\n
Rick and Rich got moving and we started packing the car.\u00a0 Now Sascha is aware that we are leaving.\u00a0 She just isn\u2019t sure how far she is going on the trip.\u00a0 Not far.\u00a0 I finished getting things taken care of and Rich got Sascha into the car.\u00a0 Now we were on the way to drop off Sascha.<\/p>\n
I pulled into the kennel and Sascha got a little worried.\u00a0 She is always happy to get to the kennel and have everyone greet here.\u00a0 She just isn\u2019t happy to stay.\u00a0 When it came time for her to walk to the kennel from the office, she jumped on me and held on for dear life.\u00a0 Poor baby.<\/p>\n
After dropping Sascha off, we headed on to breakfast.\u00a0 I wanted to try out a restaurant in Palatine before we got onto the highway.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Route 14 Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 The food was OK, but nothing spectacular.\u00a0 At least I know now.\u00a0 After breakfast, the road was calling our names.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been going down 53 to 355 and then to 80.\u00a0 This takes me out of the way of some of the major traffic.\u00a0 The ride was smooth and not too many cars.\u00a0 We stopped at the Lincoln oasis just before the Indiana state line.\u00a0 The weather was beautiful.\u00a0 Hard to believe this was Dec 26!<\/p>\n
Back in the car, we keep moving forward into Indiana and then into Michigan.\u00a0 We head to South Haven so we could visit with Rich\u2019s grandmother.\u00a0 Busia is 92 and still going pretty strong.\u00a0 We had gotten kishka and halava for her as a gift.\u00a0 I was bringing what I thought was Zurek soup to her as well.<\/p>\n
We arrived at her house and tried to raise her.\u00a0 She was telling us to come, but we just couldn\u2019t hear her through the door.\u00a0 Her voice isn\u2019t quite that strong these days.\u00a0 Once inside, we hugged and wished each other Merry Christmas.\u00a0 We sat around the kitchen table and talked about the current state of our lives.\u00a0 She was getting us caught up on some of the other family members around the country.<\/p>\n
I gave her the presents we brought.\u00a0 She wanted to try the soup right away.\u00a0 After I had it out, we discovered it was Rich\u2019s mushroom gravy!\u00a0 He had rummaged through the refrigerator last night and moved things.\u00a0 This displaced the containers I had arranged so I didn\u2019t have to think about it when I went to pack things.\u00a0 In all fairness, I didn\u2019t even look at the container.\u00a0 I grabbed the one where I had placed it for packing.\u00a0 Good news, she has mushroom gravy for dinner.\u00a0 Bad news is Rich lost his mushroom gravy for when he gets home.<\/p>\n
We soon said good-bye to continue our travels to Holt.\u00a0 First, I wanted to go by the beach to check out the view.\u00a0 The waves weren\u2019t too high and people were walking along the pier to the lighthouse.\u00a0 We went by the cemetery to say hello to Rich\u2019s mom.<\/p>\n
As we were waiting at one of the traffic lights, I got honked at by a motorcycle because he was afraid I wouldn\u2019t go when the light changed.\u00a0 I do have Illinois plates and he just figured I was another tourist.\u00a0 Funny thing was, he got behind me again after we left the cemetery to get gas.\u00a0 Stupid guy.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t honk this time though.<\/p>\n
We got gas and headed back on the road.\u00a0 Along the way, Rich was playing with his new GPS.\u00a0 It has a lot of cool features that the old one didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He was playing with the connection between the GPS and his Smartphone.\u00a0 They just don\u2019t stay connected.\u00a0 We noticed that the GPS also tells when there is a delay expected on our route so we can take a detour, if we choose.\u00a0 That will come in handy.<\/p>\n
We got into town and to our hotel.\u00a0 During check-in, we found out that we had been upgraded to a suite!\u00a0 That\u2019s so cool.\u00a0 So it\u2019ll be like a honeymoon for Rich and me tonight.\u00a0 So home for the next few days would be very nice.<\/p>\n
On to Alex and Kelli\u2019s house.\u00a0 They were waiting for us.\u00a0 Alex was actually in the process of making a cheesecake.\u00a0 He\u2019s a great cook.\u00a0 We toured the new basement area with new floor and completed walls.\u00a0 Alex had gotten his bar into place.\u00a0 It all looked really nice.\u00a0 Of course, Rich and Alex had to have a drink at the new bar before we could leave for dinner.<\/p>\n
We make a decision on where we plan to eat and then we gathered everyone up.\u00a0 Rich, Rick, Joe, and I headed out for Famous Dave\u2019s.\u00a0 Joe navigated to get us there.\u00a0 We arranged for a table to fix 8 for dinner.\u00a0 Alex, Kelli, Erica and Greg arrived behind us.\u00a0 We had a great dinner, joking around, and enjoying a leisurely dinner.\u00a0 Erica decided that the kids should all go out for ice cream at the MSU store in Mason.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure the guys had the opportunity to say no or not.<\/p>\n
I believe Greg said he would pay for ice cream, but he said it right when the bill came.\u00a0 I started to hand it to him, but he quickly retracted the statement.\u00a0 Oh no, he couldn\u2019t afford that!\u00a0 It was worth a try.\u00a0 Alex and I split the check.\u00a0 It seemed fair.\u00a0 Of course, I had to get the money out of Rich since I didn\u2019t have any.\u00a0 Alex and Rich had to finish their beers before we could leave.\u00a0 I think the waitress was worried that she still needed to do something for us.<\/p>\n
Back at the mansion, we settled in to talk as Rich and Alex continue to enjoy libations.\u00a0 Pretty soon, it was getting late and I was tired.\u00a0 We said good night to Rick and everyone who normally lives in the house.\u00a0 We headed over to the hotel to settle in and get some rest before the celebration tomorrow.<\/p>\n
First, we decided to go and look for an open store.\u00a0 We found a Meijer that was 24 hours.\u00a0 There were few people out tonight.\u00a0 I went to look for bubble bath to use in the in-room Jacuzzi.\u00a0 Rich forgot his Christmas shirt and didn\u2019t really have anything to wear for the day tomorrow.\u00a0 We found a nice red and green plaid flannel shirt.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Lions stuff right next to it.\u00a0 We have a t-shirt and some refrigerator magnets.\u00a0 A little poorer, we got out of the store and on our way to the hotel.<\/p>\n
Good night, all.<\/p>\n
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I got up with Sascha to get things started.\u00a0 I needed to make sure she went out and came back in to eat before we left to drop her at the kennel.\u00a0 Unfortunately, she was spending a few days at the kennel while we went to Michigan for Zurek Christmas.\u00a0 I knew she wouldn\u2019t be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3437,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions\/3437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}