On Thursday and Friday, I was in Alma and Mt. Pleasant (Michigan). Thanks to Jamie & Chris for their hospitality on Thursday evening, and thanks to the Stack family for hosting me on Thursday & Friday night. Although the trip was pretty quick, it was fantastic seeing such great friends again. Marty Stack was visiting from Japan, so it was really fun getting together again. Jamie treated me to dinner on Thursday at Freddie's Tavern and then a giant melting ice cream cone at Doozie's Ice Cream. Later that night, I caught up with Marty and friends as they were wrapping up role-play gaming (oh the memories!). Marty and I headed back to the house and caught up for a few hours. I slept with a very affectionate gray kitty cat Thursday night.
On Friday, the weather cooperated for Jamie and I to play 18 holes at Riverwood. In between nines, we had lunch with Jim Kridler at Bennigan's. It was a real treat both seeing "Dean" Kridler again, and also having the absolute best Monte Cristo sandwich ever! I think Jamie and I have both played better golf, but it was fun. Marty, Jim, and I had dinner on Friday night at the Braveheart's Pub--I ate fried mushrooms and actually enjoyed them! After dinner, Marty drove me over to the Alma College campus so I could gawk at the "new" residence hall, Wright Hall.
Of course, it would not be a trip to Alma without Pizza Sams! I guess I can add this to the "time is now" tour for me--my first Sam's pizza with anchovies (and without cheese if I remember correctly). We also visited the local 7-Eleven for a six pack of Killians. Mmmm, beer and pizza!
On Saturday, I drove to Ashland, OH to celebrate the wedding of Kathy Reynolds and Mark Crites--you can see pictures of the location (private residence) at their site. It was fantastic--sunny (well, by the time I arrived), excellent food, and good times! It was also great catching up with Jennifer Schreer and Dustin Brentlinger--too long between visits, way too long. The wedding was the day before, so this party was a casual "loudest shirt" event. If anyone sends me pictures, I'll post them here. (I'm so sorry--my roadtrip gear bag was not prepared for this pre-tour). Oh, I do have a picture of the bride and groom:
Since then, I've been packing. Keep in mind that "packing" also means stuff like cleaning up 3 years worth of financial documents in a box. My parents came today and helped me pack--mostly the kitchen which is a HUGE chore. I love my parents, and I was very fortunate to have their help today! We had Domino's Pizza for dinner--yum! I'll snap some packing pictures tomorrow before the furniture movers arrive on Wednesday. I disassembled the entertainment center, so the TV is disconnected. The stereo is still running, though, and I still have the internet up and running.
Sad to be moving, but excited for the tour to begin!
Dave - Thanks for including me in the Pretour! It was great reconnecting with you and actually reconnecting to others through you via Facebook Friday night! And for the record...the Sam's Special we had DID included cheese...I was bad, but thank the gods for Lactaid!
ReplyDeleteYay for cheese! Yay for Lactaid! Yay for friends!
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