Tuesday, August 17th—Day 3

Chicago Day!

While in South Bend, we decided to visit Chicago. Neither Michelle nor I have ever been there before. We only stayed for a few hours and below are some of the different places we visited.

Monday, August 16th—Day 2: Post 2

We Made it to South Bend, IN somewhat behind schedule b/c of a ridiculously long wait for the lease application to go through. 


Still, we made fairly good time. We were very excited to arrive at Neil and Brian's home.

 It has been too long since last we saw either of them. Unfortunately, we missed Neil this time b/c he has just left to do some research on mosquitoes: very sad.


We found Brian in great spirits (though the camera blurred the moment).

 Michelle was clearly overwhelmed with joy, also!

We had a great evening. Brian took us to a local establishment on the river, which was called:

Mr. (or Mrs.) Hensell seemed to be very concerned about his clientele's capacity to successfully put one step in front of the other.

Dinner was great: Typical Great American, Midwest grease food (wings, burgers, fries), and we loved it. Afterward, we drove back to Brian's place and crashed, exhausted from only the first 2 days of our road trip.

Very interested to see how we fair even 5 days from now.

Monday, August 16th—Day 2

Today was busy - but no frills. The number one goal was to find an apartment for M and Lilian, M's new roommate and colleague in the 2D Design program at Cranbrook Academy. 

Lilian

(Will soon nab a photo of Lilian's partner, Dave, b/c Michelle and I somehow forgot to take one on either of the two days we hung out with them in MI...ridiculous) (update: Photo Nabbed)

Dave

In any case, M and Lilian both now have an apartment about 15 minutes off campus. No frills really - but should do the trick. (Photo Pending)

Dear Lilian: It was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Congratulations again on both your recent marriage as well as your acceptance to Cranbrook. P.S. Hope you don't mind I nabbed your photo - it really is a very nice one :) 

Dear Dave: I had absolutely no expectations prior to meeting you (or Lilian for that matter) - but I am very happy that we did meet. I tremendously enjoyed our conversations, and look forward to more in the future. Oh yea! Congratulations to you too—I guess you also got married! :)

Total Mileage: 368.8

Sunday, August 15th—Day 1: Post 2

Cranbrook’s campus is spectacular! Artistic pleasures abound! We began exploring on the south side of campus at the 2D Art Studios. From here we moved east into a small tree covered and nameless nook of campus. Here we found a quaint pond, yet imaginative little pond that surprised us with its own hidden waterfall. After pausing here to take some photos, we doubled back only slightly to move north past the Triton Pool. The trees lining either edge of the water have already begun to turn color for the impending autumn; bright, burnt orange leaves had dropped along the grey of the cement walkways.

2D Design Studios

Courtyard of Design Studio

Nameless Nook

Courtyard of Design Studios

Pushing ever onward, we chose to walk east toward the House and Gardens. Our path slunk downward via a worn and aged cobblestone foot trail. Our uneven step lead us through a darkened patch of oaks and maples and pines, of which, the needles and leaves were so deep in color you could smell the richness of their green.

We emerged from these to find ourselves in an open field, looking upward at the House & Gardens. We came upon the gardens first with the brilliant backside of a cherub’s bottom as he stood holding an eagle atop a fountain; one of many we would find in out pleasure hunt.

The gardens themselves mostly matched the palette of the surrounding ecology: greens and whites with bursts of reds, yellows and purples. The House was a magnificent Tudor mansion. The most dominant impression was green, green, green and between the lens of my camera and M’s, I think we still only soaked up an infinitesimal fraction of the experience.

Still, in our meager attempts we have captured pieces of a beautiful day.

Total mileage:  368.8

Sunday, August 15th—Day 1: Post 1.

The day started out a bit behind. Neither Michelle nor I got enough sleep. As usual, for any trip that involves packing or planning of any type, we found ourselves working down to the last moments of yesterday evening to make sure that we had the essentials packed and that the house and dog were in good enough shape to be w/o us for a straight 11 days.

Anyway, whereas we had planned to be in bed by 10, we didn’t make it until 10 past 12.  Add to that the anticipation of our departure and of course neither of us slept for more than 5 hours. When we woke up at 6 we went right back to sleep until 7am; we never left until 9:30. Still, we made great time and were in Bloomfield Hills, MI—where Cranbrook Academy of Art is located—by 2pm.

'twas the night before leaving...

The monotony of packing is always irritating. I never feel like I have enough, which is a ridiculous contradiction because for me, that's the point: get by on as little as possible. I'm a minimalist, and I simply do not need things weighing me down on the road.

We—Michelle and I—even did all the laundry and most everything else (we thought) that needed to be done. Still, there is always something.

In any case, it is now 11:30pm, the car is half packed. Clothes still need to be thrown together. Hudson is hypersensitive to our impending departure. I am exhausted (48 hrs of bacchanalian behavior) and fighting off a sore throat and runny nose, to boot.

Brilliant!

OK—So it's not the ideal evening prior to the start of such an impressively aggressive road trip, but it will have to do.

Now, bed.

L.