The great midwest adventure of 2011!

When we begin a journey or visit people, Eric and I usually talk about what we want that trip to be like or what we want to create, and one of the words that came up for us as we set out for Michigan and Chicago was adventure. We wanted to view all the parts of our travels as adventure and to create adventure with those we would visit. Well, we got what we wanted! The beginning may appear to be uneventful, but things pick up :)

After a late arrival and a good night's sleep at Scott and Hilary's, we cruised down Lake Shore Drive in our rental car and headed to Holland. Oh, Chicago.


It was wonderful to spend some good days in Michigan, our first time back in about 2 years! Could that be? It is always a gift to be home with my family, the people who know me best.

One of our first visitors was Michelle, my roommate at Albion for 2 1/2 years. She's not from Holland, but she and her husband live just a few miles away from my parents now, so I get to see her when I'm home--yay!

My mom and I took Eric to see Albion for the first time, which was great fun. We stopped downtown and crossed Superior St. to grab some coffee at a bookstore, and I told them how, many years before I was there, Albion's town motto was "Our Main Street is Superior." Har.

Lewis hooked us up with an actual tour guide so we could hear all about the most recent additions and other new happenings. She left us after a while and we continued to wander around long enough that Lewis called us, concerned that we'd gotten lost. We walked through the Dow athletic center and even poked our heads into Lower Baldwin, where, in my day, I ate many a bowl of oatmeal and prepared countless tasty treats at the waffle bar. Love this place.

Lewis and Dory prepared a delicious meal and we had a wonderful time catching up with them, Maddie (and her sweet daughter, Lucy), and Lynsey, all Albion folks who are in the area.

to be continued....