Fireworks and Cherries... July 4th in Michigan

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First of all, I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to get down to writing this next blog, since leaving Ohio I've only had sporadic internet connection, and even now there is no usb hub to hook up my camera, so fotos will have to wait for a while I'm afraid.

Anyhow, I left Joanna and Columbus bright and early on July 2nd. Too early if you ask me, and I'm sure Joanna will agree.. but I'm forever grateful for the 5.30am ride to the Greyhound station. I was going to spend the July 4th weekend with Michelle, my roommate from my TEFL course in Thailand, and was meeting her in East Lansing, the capital city of Michigan. Unfortunately for me there was no direct bus from Columbus to E. Lansing, so I had a stop-over in Detroit. Luckily though, I managed to get 2 seats to myself for pretty much the whole trip, so I just put my ear plugs in and put on my eye mask and slept pretty much the whole way!

Michelle came to pick me up from the bus station and it was so good to see her!! We hadn't seen eachother since October of last year when she left Thailand to go to Beijing, and whilst we had kept in contact, it's never the same as catching up in person. We talked pretty much non-stop the whole drive to her Mum's condo, where she is currently staying, in Haslett, just outside E. Lansing. Her Mum Linda was there to meet me with a platter of snacks. As were sitting talking, we saw the clouds gathering on the lake out the back of the house. Before long the heavens opened and there was one huge thunderstorm... it seems I bring the bad weather with me wherever I go...

That evening Michelle and I went out to dinner with Tasha, one of her friends from High School, and apart from dodging the rain every time we went outside it was a really enjoyable night. And after hearing some of the stories Tasha was telling from Michelle's younger years, I got to meet a whole different side of her!! As Michelle and Tasha had been drinking I drove home and we had a very entertaining drive home discussing various US and UK boybands of our youth whilst listening to the New Kids on the Block's newest song.

By the time we got home I was more than ready for my bed, but unfortunately my slumber was short lived as I was awoken by a hammering on the front door. It turned out that Michelle had put the dead-bolt on the front door, forgetting that her mum was still out, collecting her twin sister Shannon from the train station. So in a zombie-state I almost fell down the stairs to open the door before going back to bed... I'm pretty sure I was already asleep before I even got back to my bedroom!!

The next morning we all had a lie-in, except for Michelle who had to be at work for 8am. When the rest of us awoke, Linda took us all out to breakfast at this cafe not far from the house. I had what the Americans call an English muffin... which is unlike any kind of muffin I've ever seen back home, but tasty none the less!! By the time we had finished it was nearing noon, so we headed back to the house, as Michelle was due back from work, and her Dad was also going to meet us, as we would drive up to his family's Cabin in Northern Michigan, where we were going to spend the holiday weekend.

July 4th Weekend

The cabin was about a 2 and 1/2 hour drive north of Lansing, near a town called Gaylord (which amused me endlessly). The drive was quite pleasant, although Michelle did crack me up by pretty much repeating the conversation we had had the night before almost word for word without even realising it....
When we arrived I realised that what is commonly referred to as a cabin was indeed a huge 5 bedroom, split level house with private mooring onto the lake. Not Lake Michigan, but another one of the million lakes in Michigan. Apparently (I'm quoting Michelle here) in Michigan, wherever you are, you're never further than 6 miles from a lake. And I was going to be spending the weekend on one. After dumping our bags and just relaxing a bit, Michelle's dad David took us out to dinner in a restaurant in a village nearby, on yet another lake!! When I saw Fish and Chips on the menu, I was intrigued, as I'm adament that you can't get proper fish and chips outside of the UK. It actually turned out to be really good... not bad for an American attempt anyhow! And the fish was freshly caught in the lake, so it even tasted of fish... When we returned to the cabin we watched Jumper on DVD, and I've now decided that if I could have a superpower, it would be to jump!!

July 4th we woke up late... very late... but it was nice to be lazy!! After breakfasting on leftovers that we had brought back from the restaurant the night before (yes, I had cold fish and chips for brekkie) and devilled eggs that Shannon made, we put on our bikinis and made our way to the club house that served the area and spent the day lazing by their swimming pool. Whilst it was gloriously sunny and hot, the pool water was still quite cold, so it was a case of jumping in to cool off and getting out again as quickly as possible!!

In the evening we had hot-dogs on the barbecue in traditional yankee style. We were supposed to have bratwurst... but they got a little too cremated... Afterwards we went out onto the lake in their little motorboat for sunset, which was beautiful. As we waited for the sun to fully set we sat down on the little pier and watched some private fireworks that were being let off, as the big fireworks party in the area wasn't until Saturday.

On Saturday Michelle and I were up far too early as we had arranged to meet up with Jordan, another friend from Thailand, in Traverse City, which was about 90 mins south on Lake Michigan. I should explain here that Jordan in New York born and bred who had just moved to Northern Michigan to work on Barack Obama's electoral campaign, and as this was the furthest west he'd been in the US, poor Michelle felt like she had 2 foreign tourists with her!! The holiday weekend in Traverse City was extra special as it also was the start of the National Cherry Festival. Michigan is the number 1 US producer of cherries, and every year they have a festival to celebrate this, regardless of the fact that July is too early for the Michigan cherry harvest, so most of the cherries on sale had been flown in from California. We didn't spend too long at the festival, just long enough to pose for fotos by a giant plastic cow called Ruthie, to buy a Cherry pie for Linda, and for me and Michelle to get free cherry tattoos. After walking through Traverse City, and seeing the cinema that Michael Moore bought, we headed back to the car to drive further down the coast to a place called Lighthouse Point.
I was quite disappointed by the lighthouse, as it was more of a house with a light than a lighthouse, but it's real claim to fame is that it is on the 45th Parrallel, exactly half way between the North Pole and the Equator. As Jordan was keen to point out, this is obviously a good parrallel to produce wine, as Northen Michigan is big vineyard country, and the parrallel also passes through Bordeaux, Italy... and Mongolia. After posing for obligatory fotos, we headed down to the little beach, where we spread out a blanket to lie on in the shade and proceeded to right the worlds wrongs!! There were also some swings nearby which entertained both me and Jordan for a while. However, we eventually bored of doing nothing and decided to head back to Traverse City.
We arrived just in time to catch the Blue Angel's airshow. These are the American equivalent of the Red Arrows, and were amazing. The fotos I took barely do them justice, and the sound of their jet engines was just incredible. Jordan wasn't so enamoured as me and Michelle, and was muttering something about them being a waste of the tax-payer's money. However, not being a US tax-payer, I wasn't in the least bit bothered about this!! After the show ended we headed to the beer tent. After being informed by the lady checking the IDs that I was the 3rd brit she had met that day, Michelle and Jordan sampled Cherry Beer, which apparently was quite nice.
Before we left to drive back to the cabin, we decided, well Michelle did, that we should taste her mum's Cherry pie... just in case there was something wrong with it!! I then drove us back, and we arrived just in time to put some warm clothes on and head out to Gaylord for the fireworks. The fireworks were pretty spectacular, and being over a lake the reflection was just as good. The family sitting next to us had a little toddler who gave us the funniest commentary during the show, which meant that it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. Tho I hasten to add, that I wasn't really celebrating the fact that the US gained independence, rather the fact that us Brits and got rid of them...

The next morning I woke up early-ish, partly because we had to drive back to E. Lansing, but mainly because it was the Wimbledon Men's final. I was able to see Rafa take the first set before we had to set off. Which meant Kevin had to keep me updated during the drive home!! Luckily for me, the rain delays meant that when we arrived back at Linda's house, I was able to see the 4th set tie-break and the beginning of the 5th. I say luckily, it was pure agony watching Federer save one of Rafa's Championship Points. Just as it was time for me to catch my bus to take me to the airport in Detroit rain interrupted play yet again. After Michelle took me to the bus stop and we said our goodbyes (and made tentative plans to meet somewhere in South America next year), I sat on the bus, waiting anxiously for Kev's texts and eavesdropping on my neighbours phone conversation, who was trying to sound knowledgable about European sport when he actually knew less than nothing... but I prudently decided not to point this out to him, and instead had my own private celebration when I received the text saying that Rafa had ended Federer's reign as Wimbledon Champion.

The bus ride to Detroit was smooth enough after that, and after a slight wait to check my bags in I was ready and raring to go to Vegas. I was flying with NorthWest and like many cheap airlines in Europe you had to pay for food. Michelle's mum had packed me a huge packed lunch, so I just opted for a small snack on the plane. The plane itself was totally full. Some people were returning home after the holiday weekend, others were jetting off on holiday. I was sat next to this lesbian couple, and something obviously pissed them off, or maybe I smelt, as they spent the whole time giving me dirty looks and muttering under their breath...

After a 4 and a bit hour flight I arrived in Vegas 1 hour after I had taken off and collected my bags, ready to get my first taste of the South West America...

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Photos

Me and Michelle
From Thailand to Michigan!