And...It Is Over...

Saturday morning Claude and I hit the road for the return trip. Well, at least part of the return drive home. Our destination was Chelsea, Michigan.  We made great time and the car, bless it's little pea-pickin' heart, didn't give us one minutes worth of trouble.

We stopped for gas and lunch in Gaylord, Michigan. While leaving the parking lot I noticed a sign for the Quaker State Motor Oil/Lube station. The bottom portion was in those black letters and said "Chicken strips $6.99".  What is up with that?  I haven't figured that one out yet.

We got a call from Katelyn as we got on I-96 in Lansing, Michigan. They were on the road from Muskegon, Michigan. This would put them in Chelsea around 7pm. The original plan was for us all to go to Joe's Crab Shack.

As we drove along, Claude suggested we might want to just order pizza and stay at the hotel so the kids could enjoy the pool a bit.  We were concerned it might be difficult to get a table for 6 at a later hour. That is what we ended up doing.

We also alerted Katelyn to tell Nissa there were construction alerts on I-94 and she should probably take I-96 and then take Exit 122 (Michigan Hwy 52) on into Chelsea. They tried to do that, honestly they did, but they missed Exit 122. They drove on over to Hwy 23 and took it south to I-94 and then back west to Chelsea.

That would not have been so bad except they unloaded their car and went to the 3rd floor of the hotel to room 300 and couldn't find us. They called on the cell phone. Claude answered. They were at the Holiday Inn Express and not the Comfort Inn. Oops!!  In all fairness, we have always stayed with them at the Holiday Inn Express before, never at the Comfort Inn.

That corrected we all met in our room in the Comfort Inn. Pizza had been ordered. We determined sleeping arrangements between the two rooms. Luggage was placed in the appropriate room. Paul filled all ice buckets. Nissa and the kids went for bottles of soda pop. Then we all settled in to visit and have dinner together.

I made winter scarves for everyone and Jake modeled his for me.  Nissa took Todd's to him. Todd was sick and couldn't come. But Nissa sent me this picture of Todd modeling his.

After dinner we headed to the swimming pool and hot tub. Paul and Aubrey made friends with another families kids and they all had a great time in the pool.

While the kids swam, Uncle Jake headed to his apartment to fetch a birthday cake he made for Claude and milk to wash it down. Claude is not a dessert eater but he does like a good chocolate cake with no icing. Jake baked a chocolate cake and put icing on most of it for the rest of us but left a strip with no icing just for his dad. Now that is a clever son. He is also a good cook because we all totally enjoyed this moist cake.

The spot in the middle is where the cover for the cake pan stuck to the icing.

Claude is turning 62 and suggested the candles say 26 instead. Jake bought a '2' and a '6' candle. We put them on both ways so we could get pictures both way. When we sang Happy Birthday Claude held the cake so the 26 showed. It was a fun pre-birthday dessert. Thanks Jake for making a great cake and gathering all the stuff needed to do that right.

We enjoyed our evening visit so much we gathered again this morning for breakfast at the hotel. Then we got late checkout so we could visit until noon. It was a short visit but when a family lives this far apart we treasure every time we get together. The kids enjoyed playing our new Thumbpiano.

I asked the front desk clerk to take a picture of all of us before we headed to our various homes.  From left to right they are:  Jake, Aubrey Anne, Sandi, Paul, Katelyn, Claude & Nissa.

Claude and I are now home. The suitcases are unpacked. We have each called our respective parents to be sure all is well on their home fronts. Now we are going to enjoy a peaceful night's rest in our own bed.  It is funny how you need a vacation after a vacation!?!?!?