So, yesterday my Uncle Duane (Dewey), had a bone marrow transplant for his cancer treatment. My mom kept me posted during the day to let me know how everything went. Well, it was a success!! How crazy that there are people in the world that can figure out how to do treatments like that! And how awesome that God puts his hand over all of it! Such a relief that Dewey has now safetly climbed over that hurdle. Whew!
So, the rest of my travels went well. Wednesday was my busy day. I had 2 high schools to visit, then I met at Culvers with one of my applicants and his dad. After this I drove down to Fort Wayne for the college fair. On the way there I saw a semi with it's wheels on fire, some flooded fields, a llama farm and I almost hit a hawk that swooped down in front of me, but I made it in time! After the fair, I drove to Cold Water, MI to hunker down in my hotel for the night. The next day I drove up to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park to visit a really cool enivronmental school up there. I love going there and the students are a great fit for Northland College. Then I hopped in the car to head to my hotel in Mackinaw City. I was exhausted from all the traveling and was really looking forward to getting a pizza and relaxing in the hot tub with my book. I have been to Mackinaw City many times and always love to hustle and bustle of all of the summer tourists, however, I have never been there in the winter. It was almost creepy! All of the stores were closed up and the streets were completely bare. I drove into my hotel parking lot to join the 2 other vehicles parked there. When I went to the lobby door, I soon realized it was locked and all the lights were off. Keep in mind, this was at like 6 at night. I then located the sign that said, "Guests staying at the Comfort Suites, please check in at the Hawthorne Hotel down the street." Finding this a bit odd, I got back in my car and headed to the hotel down the street. I got to the front desk and told them I was checking into the Comfort Suites. Apparently, this hotel is the only one that mans the front desk during the winter months, so they check in all the guests for the other hotels. As I was checking in, I asked if where a good place to order pizza from was. The front desk guy said, "Ohh, it's Thursday, so I don't know if any place is open." What?! Yeah, so then he handed me my towel for the pool at my hotel and said I would need to check out back at this hotel in the morning and that this hotel was also where continental breakfast would be. He then gave me a maze of directions for how to find my room. It was all a little weird. I then headed through the maze of my hotel to try and find my room. It was a little spooky walking through a huge hotel and not seeing another soul! I finally made it to my room, called my dad to relay my weird experiences to him, and found a place that would deliver pizza even if it was a Thursday night. I also knew there was a water park in the hotel somewhere. So, after my pizza, I threw on my suit and ventured out. I could hear the water pouring down and kids shrieking, but it took awhile before I found it. The pools in the other hotels in the area were closed for maintenance, so all the other guests came to use the one at our hotel. It was a pirate themed water park that was definitely meant for little kids. I decided to utilize the HUGE hot tub and read a book, although it was a little hard with all the noise and splashing. There was even this huge pirate bucket that would fill with water and about every 20 minutes or so it would dump and splash water everywhere. After watching this happen several times, I was really tempted to stand under it so I could get soaked, but I didn't want to look weird, just standing there waiting. So, I decided to watch from the hot tub until it got almost full and then I hopped out and "happened" to stroll past it as it dumped, but it missed me and I was still dry. Dang. So, I waited again and this time joined some parents who were standing with their kids waiting to get splashed, but as soon as the bucket was about to dump all the parents left, and I was the only adult standing near by and again, the water missed me. Crud! By this point, I was feeling a little ridiculous trying so hard to get splashed by some stupid pirate bucket, but I was also determined to do it. It just looked like so much fun. I waited one more time and then stood directly in the line of fire with two other parents and down the water came in all it's pirate glory, soaking me to the bone. It was all worth it. I went back to my towel and book, dried off and called it a night. :)
Friday I got up at 6:15 and headed towards the U.P. just in time to catch a glorious sunrise over the frozen lake. I stopped at one more school in the U.P. before heading back to Ashland to make my shift at the gym.
Friday night, a friend came to pick me up in Ashland and we drove to their parents house for the evening. It was such nasty, slushy weather, that we didn't get there until almost 1 a.m. Needless to say, I was exhausted! Saturday morning we got up and drove to the Twin Cities. We went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and had a blast checking out all the crazy paintings for 3 hours! Then we headed to a Greek restaurant, since I adore Greek food. It was amazing!! And then, my favorite part, we went to the Orchestra Hall to go and hear the Minneapolis Orchestra and two of The Irish Tenors for their St. Patty's Day concert. I love Irish music, so I was super excited!! It was fantastic. Those guys can really sing!!! The only weird thing was that they ended the concert by singing "God Bless America" and the tenor told the audience to stand and "raise the roof" by singing it together. Hahaha. Interesting song to end an Irish concert with. But it was a blast. Such a great day. Then we headed back to my friend's parents house and the next day, back to Ashland. It was a great weekend.
Sunday night, I headed over to Claire's to get ready for a baby shower we were hosting for our friend/ co-worker, Patti. We decorated the cake and made sure all the last minute preparations were finalized. Last night we threw the party and it went great! We had some good food and fun games and Patti loved all her gifts. It was fun to get together with all my female co-workers and just have a good time.
After all the craziness of the past week, I am feeling a bit tired today and a bit overwhelmed thinking about the next few weeks. I am here in the office for this week, but then next I head on the road again, although I get to see my grandparents, so I am excited. Then I am back here for another week and then I leave for Maryland! I cannot believe how fast time is flying by!!
No comments:
Post a Comment