After 1750 miles (in addition to the 670 from LA to SLC), I am finally “chillin” in Michigan…both literally and figuratively. Actually, the weather has warmed up a bit, so it’s a balmy 31 right now. Our apartment won’t be ready until January 18, so we are basking in the generosity of the Pearce family from our new ward. We looked for deals on extended stay motels, temporary rentals on Craigslist, and options with people we barely know in far-off corners of the Detroit-Metro area. After a few weeks of looking, nothing was panning out. Last week I got in touch with my new RS president, who helped set us up with a family in our ward that could host us for two weeks. They are totally generous and lovely, and living in their house feels like I’m playing “house” as a child again. The beds are more comfortable than I’ve ever owned, the theater room rivals any one I’ve ever visited, the three fridges are stocked with goodies from Costco, and the house is just amazing. It’ll be hard to move back into our painted-cinder-block-wall apartment in two weeks.

Today I’ll be attending church in the Plymouth Ward, and this evening I’ll pick Taylor up from the airport for his next 3 days off. Rosie will be signed up for school tomorrow, and we’ll find a bank account to open (with access in CA, UT, and MI…none of which BofA, Wamu, or Wells Fargo can offer) I’m signed up for intermediate algebra, statistics, quantitative reasoning and writing…and will order my books this week and start with coursework.

It’s been so nice to have a couple weeks off. I’m glad the roadtrip is over…and Michigan is ending up to be nicer than other peoples’ predictions. There’s my update.

Just a little update….Taylor did it! He passed his O.E. That means he’s a REAL employee, done with training with Pinnacle. But that also means that we’ve decided to move to Michigan. The next month or so will be an adventure, but it means so much to me that Taylor’s achieved a lifelong dream.

Motown, here we come!

I never really finished my account of my Michigan trip. I was lucky enough to get my first-choice flight home on Sunday. I also got an assigned seat when I checked in, which typically doesn’t happen when flying standby. Not a lot was significant in the last day and a half…just some apartment hunting, shopping, and having a night alone at the Clarion. But these following topics were curious enough to bring up in my blog, since I’ve been thinking about them for the last week.

Blinking red light left turns – In the left turn lane at stoplights, it threw me off to see a blinking red light. I thought Taylor was running a red light. Instead of having a solid green light when yielding to oncoming traffic, the red light blinks when it’s time to yield. Most lights give you a protected left turn arrow at the end of the light cycle, but some just go to solid red and you have to wait to turn in the next cycle. The stoplights are also big yellow columns that have lights for all 4 directions of traffic.

No right turn lanes – So much congestion on side streets would be eliminated if there were right turn lanes. Instead, traffic backs up and random people slam on the brakes because nobody uses turn signals. It’ll take some getting used to.

Rest stop between airport and Canton – Detroit Wayne Metro airport (DTW) is about 25 miles west of downtown Detroit, and Canton is about 10 miles north of the airport. It was funny to see a rest stop in between DTW and Canton, because you don’t have to drive too far from the airport to feel like you are in a forest. Hope that my bladder is never weak enough that I can’t make it home from the airport without stopping.

Colorful houses – Not many stucco or brick homes in Michigan, but lots of colorful painted homes. People are more adventurous with color there than I am used to. It reminded me a lot of Martha’s Vineyard. I saw plenty of Blue and Gold homes in Ann Arbor, which made sense for UM. But seeing a pepto-pink gabled home with plum trim? I guess in the snowy winter whiteouts, you do what it takes to find your home.

Value City – After driving by three or four times, Taylor and I were curious about a store called value city. The best I can compare it to is Big Lots meets Ross meets K-Mart meets Payless Shoes. Very bizarre combination. Prices were pretty cheap, but the only thing we bought was a pair of gloves for Taylor. We didn’t venture into the Value City furniture store next door. I can only imagine…

Meijers – You know how some movies and tv shows will make up their own version of a warehouse store or chain grocery store? Meijers is Michigan’s version of the Walmart. The signage, store layout, products offered, and general feeling was the same…but the lines weren’t long and there weren’t as many screaming kids as Walmart. The best part was their international foods section. I will enjoy having easy access to several of my hard-to-find favorite confections.

I-94: Detroit or Chicago – I’m used to seeing Ogden, Pocatello, Provo, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego on freeway signs, since I’ve driven I-15 for the past 11 years. But it was a trip to see an interchange where my options were Detroit or Chicago. Oh, the places you’ll go!

Smoking section restaurant selection – I don’t think I’ll ever be used to having a waitress was me “Smoking or Non-smoking?” I’m glad I’ve lived in states that have had smoking banned for years. Going into a restaurant that allows smoking is never very pleasant, but I was happy to be in the far corner away from the smokers. And on the topic of smoking, it was crazy to see the Speedway Gas station chain advertising cigarette prices on the same sign as the gas (Unleaded $3.19, Premium $3.39, Marlboro $4.87)

Grits – I finally tried grits. Erin made grits on Saturday morning. They’re kinda like cream of wheat. But instead of adding sweet stuff (brown sugar, honey, ice cream, etc) to bland hot cereal, the base flavor tastes like chicken broth. Added on top was a mixture of meat, eggs, and salsa. It was different, but I liked it.

I’m not sick anymore. I’m happy about that. Z-Pak, popcicles, and a day off work helped me recover from tonsillitis and an ear infection.

Halloween was full of lots of candy. And Rosie was a major flirt.

Right now I’m blogging from Canton, MI. I was lucky enough to get a seat on a totally booked flight from LAX yesterday. Sure, I missed the first flight at 5:00 PM (which consequently had 3 seats left, but I didn’t get on the flight due to a broken printer…WTF??) but I did make it on the 10:00 PM flight. It was just over four hours in a cold cabin between two snoring businessmen. I arrived at 5:00 AM, Taylor picked me up, and I crashed on the couch at Mike and Erin’s about 6:00 AM. After 3 hours of sleep, we had breakfast, played with adorable 2-year-old William, then headed out. We had lunch at Panera Bread (mmmmmm) then drove to Ann Arbor. I’ve been looking into jobs there at the University of Michigan. But after driving out there (20 miles on the freeway = 35 min with very little traffic) and going through crowded one-lane streets through Studentville USA, I decided I should be looking at other locations than just UM. It’s a cool town. I’m sure that if we move out here, I’ll go out and enjoy it. We probably won’t venture into Detroit proper on this trip, but it’s been interesting to get a taste of the area.

Oh, and we saw “Dan in Real Life.” It’s great…I recommend it.

p.s. Taylor’s still not done with O.E. He’s nervous…he has an appointment with a higher-up in Pinnacle’s training department on Monday. Hopefully it won’t be a pink slip…..