Where was I? Oh Yeah, Lachine...

First order of business- once again a significant post has snuck by me. This is my 201st post. Impressive, eh?

Now, back to Michigan. We arrived in Lachine in mid-afternoon. The farm we were at is a working farm. The family lead us back past a house half under construction, and another, very obviously lived in old patchwork of a house, to the barnyard. They introduced us to Elmo's father, mother, sisters and brothers. They had around ten horses there, all Suffolk Punch. Three of them were babies, one of them only two weeks old. They were adorable. I took a lot of pictures, but they were of course, with my sisters camera, so you will have to go to her blog if and when she posts them (I might post a link). (No pressure LEK, I know you are busy). They also had an adorable rabbit, cute little cows, and a wide variety of chickens. On the way out we found a barn cat eating a bird whole.

Elmo was a very good boy. He had never so much as seen a horse trailer, but it only took ten minutes or so to load him. It could have been much much worse. I remember watching my mom and sister trying to load a horse for an hour or more. Anyways, once they were in we did not dilly dally around, and headed out again. The whole day, before and after the Lachine stop, I road in the center of the bigger rig, the pickup truck pulling the horses, between my sister (who was driving) and my Mom. We had some quality girl time you could say. We also, in our family tradition, ate our way north. Snaps, Nerds, Fig Newtons, cheese and crackers, beef jerky, Bit'O'Honey.. and that was all from just one stop! After we left the farm and had our food, we drove up through part of Michigan I have never been to - the North East corner and coast of Lake Huron. It was pretty, relatively rural. It kind of felt like one of the bigger cabin lakes in Minnesota to me, with all the driveways and varieties of types of house, yet general rurality. Eventually we made it to the bridge. It was a beautiful day to cross! Clear and sunny, blue and teal waters, a big boat going underneath us. On the far side of the bridge we had to stop at the lifestock station with the horses. The guy who "inspected" us was very laid back and nice. We still had two hours more to drive (or maybe a little less, but this of course seemed the longest part of the day). As usual, the sandy beachy shoreline of Lake Michigan are beautiful. It is something I have not seen in quite a while, so it was good to see it.

We eventually made it to Manistique, where we were stopping for the night. The farm where the horses were staying is owned by the parents of someone she stayed with when she did a clinical rotation up there. They are an old couple who loves horses, loves their lifestyle, and loves the U.P. It was a very nice atmosphere needless to say. They have a cute little barn and a nice arena. While Laurelyn settled the horses in the rest of us worked on repacking things in the cars for the next day and such. We were their a bit longer than expected, but it wasn't bad. When the cars were all packed we made our way into town, where we stayed a the Grey Wolf hotel. We enjoyed a late dinner at Big Boys, and then, setting aside some interesting and hilarious antics in the hotel room, we all crashed. Those antics include me pulling my poor back that was in bad shape after the day's drive (don't worry, its all better), and then LEK freaking out over a tiny spider, me smashing it for her, and her being upset that there were spider guts. Yes, this is the new Vet who does surgery and deals with rotting horse teeth and all sorts of things. God forbid she have to deal with spider guts.

Monday morning we had to get up bright and early. LEK and FBIL headed off to the barn to start prepping the horses for another day of travel while the rest of us went to a nice sit down breakfast at a local diner. Our waitress was amusing and the food was plentiful. I also took a moment to run down and enjoy the beach in front of our hotel. Then we headed to the stable. The horses had loaded almost perfectly and everyone was ready to go, so it was time to part ways. My parents, FBIL, and his parents all were headed to Duluth, MN with the horses, while my sister and I had to turn around and head back to "real life" - me, back to Columbus, and LEK to work her first week as an Veterinarian (intern), in Burton, OH. The drive back down went really quickly, and once again it was a beautiful day to be driving along the beaches of the UP and crossing the Mackinac Bridge. We headed south, back through Gaylord and Grayling, back onto 127, and eventually back to Lansing. It was such a fast drive. Sisterly gossip has a way of doing that. Back in Lansing we picked up my car, and then headed to Brighton, where we planned to look at jewelry for LEK's wedding. Unfortunately, it being Monday, the bead shop was closed. So, we headed down to Toledo, where we drank coffee and spent a last hour hanging out before seperating my ways. Then I headed back down 75, and she headed east on 80.

I got home around 9pm, and I have to say, I was exhausted! It was a really fun four days. This email doesn't even touch on the good conversations and fun laughs I had, it just is an overview.

Now you should be back in Columbus with me, I hope I did not leave you stranded in Lachine too long. I am here for three days (until tomorrow night), and then its off to Arizona. Other interesting happenings here - book club, an impending job interview, and a plethera of ideas and conversations. But alas, they shall have to wait, as I need to actually get some work done!