Friday and Saturday and Lansing, MI

Friday, September 27, 2024

Terry came to Marilyn's about 10:30 a.m., and we packed Marilyn's car, and then picked up Ida at 11 a.m.

We headed toward Lansing, with a stop at a McDonald's for lunch.  

We later stopped at Cracker Barrell to use the washroom and bought some M&M's, and a little gift.

We arrived at the Hyatt Place Hotel in East Lansing (where they charged $10 for parking in their garage).

We rested in our rooms and then met to go to dinner at Mitchell's Fish Restaurant, in the shopping center across the way. We met our cousin, Bill Molner, and his lady friend Lisa for dinner.  Everything was delicious, but we forgot to take a photo of the group!  Our bad!!!!  This photo is from Bill's Facebook post.

Back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday, September 28, 2024

After sleeping only fair, we met Ida for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and had a nice breakfast.  They had a nice buffet and the breakfast area was not crowded.  MSU was having a football game later that day, so some of their fans were in the hotel.

We left the hotel, packing up the car, to go to Stateside Deli to meet Martha Smith and her friend Lee, for brunch at 11 a.m., in Okemos, Michigan.  They had driven in from Mt. Pleasant.  Lee had been President of the Reading Association of Michigan and knew Rick's first wife, Susan, and Susan's sister who both were past presidents of the National Reading Association.

L TO R:  Ida, Marilyn, Terry, Lee, Martha

After leaving the Deli, we stopped for gas and headed home. Along the way, we stopped at a rest area for a break, and then made our way on I-94, into the Indiana Toll Road, and then the Skyway to take Ida home.  We dropped her off and then stopped in Lincoln Village at a Panera so Terry could use the washroom.  Terry then put her luggage in her car, which was in Marilyn's parking space, and headed home.

HOME

 We left Elizabethtown about 8:30 after a nice breakfast of waffles.  There were not a lot of people in the hotel and it made for a nice, quiet breakfast.

It was clear sailing for most of the trip.  We stopped at a Love's for gas and they had a Hardee's Restaurant so we had chicken sandwiches there.

We stopped at a McDonald's for a break and when we got back into the car we were rerouted over to the Calumet Expressway into I 294, because of lane closures on 80-94.  It was an interesting ride into Will County and then on I 294, which is still under construction.

Dropped Terry off and then Marilyn came home to a light drizzle, but parked in the driveway so the suitcases could be taken out of the car without any rain affecting them.

On the road - Day 2

The beds were comfortable at the Hyatt Place in Smyrna,  GA, however the room configuration was not to our liking.  They made changes to the room that we disliked.  The interior designer should be shot at dawn.  The mirror over the sink where the bar area was is missing., as is the sink  The desk used to be spacious - now it is a mini desk. The area is now a mirror, a lot of wasted space, a two drawer dresser which is inaccessible, and hooks above for ????  No door on the closet either.

We then went down for breakfast = there were only a few tables and they were occupied.  Also, they had run out of plates and there were a lot of people waiting.  We each finally got a plate, grabbed a bagel and some peanut butter and jelly and took it up to our room.  What had been our favorite chain is no longer our favorite.  I complained that when I made the reservation they did not mention that they were under construction.  The clerk who checked us out, gave me 2000 Hyatt points - but no change to the rate.  We may try the Holiday Inn Express across the way next time.

We went to a I-Hop for lunch and came just in time to beat the crowd.  

Traffic was moving steady throughout the day.  Except early in the trip, just outside of Atlanta, I had to swerve to miss a bicycle on the roadway.  Scared Terry as she was looking down and did not see what I had swerved to miss.  We saw a car over on the shoulder that had one bike on it, which probably lost the one on the roadway.  Hope there was no accident because of it.

We got to the La Quinta Hotel, in Elizabethtown, and have a room with two sinks outside of the toilet and shower, a sofa and two TV's.  A refrigerator and microwave are also in the room.

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Great dinner - too bad we are traveling would have loved to have taken the leftovers home.

Throughout the trip, Terry has admired these purple flowers.  Since we were moving, she took this photo which really did not show them off.

On the Road

 We left the house at 8:15 a.m.  Fortunately, it did not rain so we were able to get Terry's suitcase into the back seat after moving the car onto the driveway.  The garage is too narrow to open her side backdoor.

We left the towels and sheets on the washing machine and texted Shirley to let her knew that we had left.

Stacy will be upset, because we had lunch at McDonalds.  It took two of us to order using the kiosk.

We had a little rain early, but then it cleared up.

Our GPS took us out of traffic, which we appreciated.

We got to the Hyatt Place Hotel in Smyrna, GA to find that the front door was closed as they are under construction.  We did find the correct door for entry.  As we arrived so did the police.  There was an altercation and the front desk called them.

We came upstairs and rested for a little while, and then walked over to Carrabba's for dinner.  We shared a chicken parm and Terry had a salad and Marilyn had a soup.

We came back to the hotel and sat on the couch and both promptly feel asleep - nice nap!

Packing and Tossing Out

 We both did laundry and then spent the morning packing and loading the car.

Even a 500 pound person would not have helped close suitcases- just too much stuff from our three-month stay and marathon shopping.  Not everything fit into our suitcases, so extra bags of stuff are piled into the car.  Do cars have to be weighed - or only trucks?

We are eating the last vestiges of food and will be ready to leave in the morning.

Tomorrow our computers and our hotel suitcases will go into the car.

We plan to go onto our Temple's service tonight.  Our only excitement of the day!

Politics, Packing Up, Diane and Tom, Animals

Happy 116th birthday to our Dad, in heaven.

After breakfast, we both went on the Zoom with Sally to discuss politics.  Marilyn in the lanai and Terry in the "office."

We finished packing the box that we leave at Diane and Tom's and have a list of things that we will leave in the house.

We went to the postal station for our last time this trip and then went to The Resale Shoppe to donate some "hats" that we bought and did not wear to the Chicagoland  Ladies Tea.

We then recycled our newspapers at St. Tim's Catholic Church.

We came home to relax and then went to Diane and Tom's with our box and then all went to R.J. Gators for dinner.  We ate inside as it was too long of a wait for an outside table.  IT WAS COLD in the restaurant but the food was good.

Tom and Terry walked to get the car while Diane and Marilyn waited - listening to the music at Sumter Square and talking.

When we left the restaurant there was a man with two parrots - Terry only got a good photo of the one bird.

In the neighborhood, there is this "puppy" who gets decorated and he is ready for Easter.

Packing Up, Book Club, Downloading Forms, RAC Program

What would Wednesday morning be without some Des Plaines Post Office drama?  For the first time since we have been in Florida, Terry got a text with a tracking number for a premium forwarding package from her post office.  ONLY PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THAT NO PACKAGE WAS TO BE SENT AND HER MAIL WAS TO BE HELD.

It took multiple tries to get in touch with the post office and they found the package, fortunately, it had not gone out as yet, and will be held!  At least, we hope that is the case.

We spent some of the morning packing up the box that we leave at Diane and Tom's and also left some things in the house.

We went on the Sisterhood Book Club, that Janet Levine conducted as Hedda Schless just got out of the hospital after some surgery.  Hedda was on the Zoom!

After lunch, we ran over to Laurel Manor and Terry was able to download the program she needs for doing personal taxes.

We also stopped for gas and the prices went up again.

Shortly after Jeopardy ended, we listened to the RAC's Program 

Every Voice, Every Vote: Take Action