Sunday was our last day with judiang. So sad! We went back to the cafe we first ate at this trip (it’s called Howies) and had breakfast. I got a breakfast bagel (egg, cheese & bacon) and hashbrowns, plus apple juice. Good eats. Took some pictures (which I still need to download from the camera) of the girls, too. Then we loaded up the car with Judi’s shit & with Lance and headed back to Judi’s old place. Just as we were to turn onto Roosevelt, we discovered our turn was blocked. We turned the other way and realized that there was a foot race going on. elsaf turned onto Lakeshore Drive and we saw a sign advertising the Shamrock Shuffle. Um, it’s April folks, not March!

So Elsa drove up Lakeshore Drive and we kept looking for a place to turn to get towards State Street. But there was more race. And more. And we passed downtown and got to the hoity toity part of town. But eventually Elsa could turn left and we headed for State Street. We drove south on State, only to discover that it, too, devolved into this “Shuffle.” And so we had to go further out of our way. And just when we found a road going south that wasn’t involved in the race, it was blocked due to a farmer’s market!

By sheer luck and intuition, we finally found our way to Judi’s old place. Judi & I dropped her stuff (and Lance) off at the apartment and I did a search on the web for the Shamrock Shuffle. Judi found us a way back to the new apartment that didn’t require a half an hour (it’s usually a 3-5 minute drive!) and we returned to stuff OUR stuff into Elsa’s car. Lots of hugs transpired, then Elsa and I headed south towards Chinatown and then towards I-94. Then it was East all the way, baby!

We stopped at Big Boy for lunch (not Elias’ Big Boy or Frische’s Big Boy, just Big Boy) and I discovered that, whereas all Big Macs are made the same, not all Big Boys are made the same. Still, the food was hot & tasty & filled us up. I drove for the next leg of the trip, and several miles down the road I realized I’d left my journal back at the restaurant! Shit! I had a couple of trips in it, plus notes on my upcoming Italy trip, plus Judi’s paint swatch numbers, and some other odds & ends in it. Bugger, bugger, bugger. Still, it wasn’t worth going back for, so I just kept on driving. (Perhaps, had we not had the morning delay already, I might have been tempted to go back. But it’s well that I didn’t, as we were later to discover.)

After an hour’s worth of driving and a bit, Elsa took over again to get us through Detroit. But as we neared our final destination (well, her final destination, my next to final destination) there was a detour! Bugger! And what’s worse, once you got on the detour, they suddenly decided we didn’t need detour signs to keep us going in the right direction. Somehow, Elsa managed to get us back to her place, but it was at least 20 minutes longer (maybe more like 30 minutes) than it should have been.

I gathered all of my stuff up and stuffed it into my car. Said “Hi” to Elsa’s doggies. Hugged Elsa. Then started the 3 1/2 hour drive home. I had figured originally that I’d get home around 8:30pm. With our two major detours that day, however, it was quarter to 10 when I arrived. Leo was thrilled to see me. 🙂 No new Doctor Who for us that night, but I figured I could show it to him the following night. Then it was bedtime and my vacation was officially over. So sad!

Thanks to Judi for hosting us and to Elsa for taking me there and for both of them & Emily for the good friend times. I had a blast! I love you guys! 🙂