Road trip home

July 4, 2012

After my going away party I had one more day in Austin. I went to work and said bye to all of my coworkers, picked up the U-haul trailer I’d be towing all my things in, moved everything and packed it all once again, and took in my last night in Austin sitting on the porch with my dad and Katie. It was nice to have the last night be sort of quiet and reflective. It was perfect.

The next morning I threw the last few items in the car and said a quick goodbye to Katie so I wouldn’t get too sad and my dad and I were off, on our way back to Michigan. It took us 3 days driving about 8-9 hours per day. I say us but I should be saying my dad since I didn’t do any of the driving. When I wasn’t sleeping though I provided some company. We listened to books on tape, ate really awful road food, and I worked on some knitting projects. All of the motels we stayed at were dog friendly which was good since my dad’s German Shepard Mago was along for the ride. Surprisingly, despite being right off the freeway, they weren’t so bad. The first one had a little lake behind it with a trail. It’s called Mammoth lake since apparently they found a Mammoth there while building the freeway. The second, in Cloverdale, IN, looked out onto some sort of farming field. It was pleasant.

Despite the fairly smooth drive and not so seedy motels after 3 days we were more than ready to be at our destination. We celebrated by having some Michigan wine out on the porch and listing to the whippoorwill do it’s thing.

Going away party

July 3, 2012

I am safely in Michigan now but I will get to all that later. I first want to tell you about my going away party.

I wasn’t even sure I was going to have a going away party, or rather, hadn’t even thought of it. A few friends of mine asked if I was going to and that’s the first time I had really considered it. I was so preoccupied with Walker leaving and his going away things that it just didn’t occur to me. I’m glad my friends brought it up. I chose a day and let everyone know and I was blown away with how many of my friends and came to wish me goodbye. I don’t think you realize the impact you’ve made in a place until you’re leaving. I was so touched and felt so blessed to have made so many wonderful friends in my time here.

Despite my best efforts I couldn’t quite express to everyone who came how much it meant to me. I found myself mostly flitting about making sure I as least said hello and goodbye. There was a nice trickle of people coming in and going out. This way I could say hello to everyone and I never got too sad since people were leaving a couple at at time and there were still friends there. This was to be the last night I would see most of my friends so there was potential for me to be really sad but I was mostly just really happy to see everyone. I loved seeing so many people I care about in one place.

My friend made a delicious and super fresh peach pie! Yum! We devoured it through the evening. I sure will miss his cooking. Maybe overnight food care packages will be in order? Maybe?

Eventually there was just a small group of us. We dragged the night on just a little bit longer and then the night was over. Good thing I was too exhausted to get all weepy.

Thank you dear friends for making one of my last days in Austin one of the best. I will miss you all so much!

Perfectly timed ben kweller concert

June 29, 2012

A few weeks ago I said to Walker, I would really like to see Ben Kweller play one more time before I leave Austin. That same day in the car they announced on the radio the line up for Blues on the Green and guess what?! Ben Kweller was to be playing on the 27th of June-3 days before my departure date!! What?! I really couldn’t have planned that better if I tried. I like to think it was set up that way just for me. Did you know this year marks 10 years of my listing and going to Ben Kweller concerts?

But of course being Austin the day of the show was blazing hot so after biking there and then sitting in the sun Katie and I were sticky!! Can you see the sweat about to drip in my eye? Once the sun went down it was a bit better though. The show was so much fun. It was a bit weird looking at Ben with greenish blue hair (get it blues on the green) but that was only distracting for the first few songs. Then we just sang along and danced and had the best time. Until we had to bike home that is (it’s all uphill and I got a flat about a mile from home but we played in some sprinklers so it wasn’t all bad).