legs and arms akimbo

So, we've made it to Utah. But as you can see--this post is about Michigan!!!This means we've already taken the airborne journey from LGA to TVC (LaGuardia to O'Hare to the Cherry Capital Airport, which looks like an enormous tiled hunting lodge--). We flew in fine and rented a lovely vehicle which the Budget Rental Car attendant herself referred to as looking like a hearse. I think it looked like a hearse for midgets, excuse me, little people.
We got in around 3pm and drove up the Old Mission Peninsula, but because of a xanax induced subduction, the usual excitement with seeing the blue, cobalt, azure and glass white waters of the bay didn't thrill me. We found Logan and asked if we could sleep there. He put us up in the train room-and at 8pm I finally succumbed to the xanax fog and didn't wake up until 7am the next morning. Travis tried to wake me sometime around 9pm, I am told, to come with him to pick up Linda and Deb at the airport...didn't happen.

The next day Travis and I decided to take the time to race out to Empire and the Western Shore of the open Lake and take pictures at Otter Creek and Sleeping Bear. And as you can see from the amazing pictures, it was a clear, bright and blustery day. WOW.


On Esch Road we found an "on your honor" asparagus stand and bought four pounds for 1.25 each. Later on that night we ate it as part of the Brickman's annual pre-Bayshore pasta dinner.

Coming back from Empire we stopped in town and ate at Hanna so Trav could get the best lobster Bisque. He says he can't find anything like it in NYC. We went to pick up our numbers at Traverse City Central High School and met Linda there. They wouldn't let me upgrade into the half-marathon, so thus began my plans for infiltration. It began with Travis' suggestion that we use Scarlett's tie-dye color to turn my 10k white bib number to the sky blue of the half marathon bibs. We called Scarlett on the way in, and she said whatever she had was ours. When we got there however, Scarlett had a better plan: Her daughter Tiffany and their neighbors, Karen and Mary Kay had registered (on time) for the half marathon. Sadly, Karen had recently torn her Achilles tendon and was unable to even walk it. So, Scarlett suggested I use her number--all that was printed on it was the number and Karen's last name Creazer. I was about to use the timing chip as well, when Linda and then Travis (Travis Sobrowski-Scarlett's Travis) pointed out that I could end up winning or at least placing in the 45-49 women's age division and it would appear rather suspect when I crossed the line or tried to accept the medal, and OKAY--it would also be unfair...

So at 6:20 we all loaded into Karen and Mary Kay's Explorer and went down Sleepy Hallow to where it meets up with Bausch and Bluff to start the race. I got separated and ran the whole thing alone--my time, the best I could tell, was 1:37:11. Checking my pace by the man who I was neck and neck with, I averaged 7:26. I was the first of our group across and I think I ate up all the cookies they had--I tried to stick to the bananas and orange slices but the cookies were calling in all their cookie abundance...

I began to worry about Trav, his IT band has been bothering him alot and he was even considering not running--but everyone at Old Mission rallied behind him and shared stretches. Karen even gave him one of the bindings off her walking cast to use after Travis Sobrowski, the ultra-marathoner, explained some possible treatments. Travis, my Travis, finished in just over 2 hours...very good for being in as much pain as he is.

The rest of the day we rested and took another trip into Hanna. Grandpa Ed was up with Rebecca and Dave for the week-end and it was great to just sit with Grandpa on the beach while Dave and Rebecca were on a walk and listen again to the story of how he acquired the cottage and the lots at Old Mission. Now I pay attention to the stutterings, the pauses, the cadence and every intake of breath that leads to a stumble in his narrative. I love that story. I can't count how many times I've heard it.

Trav worked on Linda and Deb's boat and then they were nice enough to take us out to the Grill and we had a great dinner and talked. It started pouring in that familiar Old Mission summer evening way and we raced to the car, drove back up Center Road, up Sleep Hallow and then down Forest Avenue, dropped Deb and Linda off, hugged goodbye and went back up to Logan's to pack and have a farewell sauna with Logan before we went to bed, exhausted, at 9:45 pm.

We were up at 4:10am and flew out of the Cherry Capital over the open vast blues of Michigan as the sun rose and the rain clouds parted.

We're in Utah for Andy and Sarah's wedding. The next blog...