Travels

It’s a minute till midnight, and I’m starting to overcome the buzzing sensation I get from being on the road too long.  Quick math: 361 x 2 (to Syracuse and back) plus 190 x 2 (to Ann Arbor and back) = just over 1,100 miles since very early morning Wednesday.  The wife and I, plus one of our pack, Riley, have gotten very well acquainted with the upholstery of our Durango.  With Waze and Spotify as our constant companions, we made it through.

Outside of the obvious stresses of the road, and the less obvious ones related to another round of infertility treatment the need to be ‘on’ for a Wordcamp, it’s been a pretty good week.

Syracuse

As with all things infertility related, the trip to Syracuse was a constant battle between hope and excitement on one side and ragged need and the possibility of failure on the other.  We are immensely appreciative of the tons of people that offer us constant support- my brother and our roommate taking care of our pack in our absence, and the myriad others who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers.  After what we hope turns out to be a successful transfer, we sat down to be interviewed by someone for USA Today, which was kind of a trip.  I hope I didn’t get caught nodding off while on camera, but after a six-hour drive and two hours at the Clinic, and all on two hours of sleep, I feel no shame if I did.

Beyond the renewed possibility that my wife could be knitting us a child at the molecular level,1 the highlight of our trip was a stop at Dinosaur Barbeque, which is always amazing.

 

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Ann Arbor

We head to “That Other State” every year for Wordcamp Ann Arbor.  Not only is it a great Wordcamp, but it is organized by some of mine and Angie’s favorite people on Earth, and, truth be told, we would drive the three hours up there just to have dinner with them given the chance.2

We left home a scant nine hours after having arrived home from Syracuse.  In that time, I managed to grab four hours of sleep, which was just enough to get me through the three-hour drive.

Once there, Riley went from backseat travel companion and fertility charm to the star of the show.  After a half-day of Wordcamping, we took her with us for a solid six hours of shop-hopping.  Between the beautiful weather, the open atmosphere, outdoor seating arrangements, and friends both foreign and domestic3, we managed to blow through 16,000 steps and about 500 people telling us how beautiful our dog was.

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This was HALF a sandwich at Zingerman’s Deli. Yea, I ate the whole thing. #thisiswhyimfat

We turned in to our pet-friendly Motel 6, which was surprisingly on-point.  The room was very modern, if exceptionally cheaply furnished.  It was well above our expectations, though, for an $80 pet-friendly room.  Bottom line, it was clean, it had great water pressure, and there were a ton of easily accessible power outlets.  Oh, and Riley approved of the bed!

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On Day Two, we slept in a bit (accidentally!), caught a few great sessions, had a fantastic lunch at Hopcat, and took the pooch around for a bit more touristy stuff.  We spent more money than we should have, we ate a TON more than we should have, and we had to say goodbye to friends we see far too infrequently.  On the way south, though, we finished off our (word)camping trip with a stop at the Dundee Cabella’s, which is always amazing- and even more so when you get to watch your dog stare in wonder at the stuffed wolves…

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A mural on the back wall at Cabella’s

The ride home was blissfully uneventful, and, while I’m dead tired, I’m still riding that high you get by having been out in the world just ‘doing’ things.  Oh well.  I guess I’ll drop some pictures in here and get to bed =)

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Angie selecting some wares from one of our favorite shops, Cherry Republic.
The menu board at Zingerman's. We were in line for about 35 minutes to get to this point.
The menu board at Zingerman’s. We were in line for about 35 minutes to get to this point.
The venue for day two's sessions.
The venue for day two’s sessions.
A rather vertical building on campus.
A rather vertical building on campus.

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