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Wait, zero frequent flier miles after all this?

Last week was our annual summer vacation to Ohio and Indiana (or vowel states as Dan Dunn calls them) to visit our family and friends. We really enjoy the chance to catch up with many people we haven’t seen for a while and hopefully escape the recently abysmal New England weather.

This year our adventure started early on. We arrived at Logan early to fly to Detroit. We knew there were 2 hour delays but this is why I booked the 6pm flight instead of the 9pm flight. By arriving early we also got to relax in the Harpoon Brewery pub in the recently built Terminal A. I’m always thinking ahead.

Just as I started on my tasty beverage, my mobile phone rang. It was an automatic voice message from Northwest Airlines. I already knew the flight was delayed so I was tempted to hang up, but the pleasant voice announced that our flight was cancelled and that we had been rebooked at 12:55… (I’m thinking after midnight so we’ll be tired but still get in) …in the afternoon the following day.

Well, after some discussion we decided an 18+ hour delay to travel 750 miles was unacceptable. The main reason we flew is that we had a tight schedule to keep with family members and I wanted to get back so I could race in my first triathlon without being tired from a long drive.  I called the airline but the best they could offer was a refund or keeping the next day flight. I have little confidence in the ability of Northwest Airlines to get me to my destination in a reasonable amount of time and little confidence they would even get me back in time for my race despite booking a flight early in the day. I’ll leave the complete rant about how terrible airlines are for another time.

Since we were already packed and ready to go we went to the parking garage, hopped in the car, and started driving west on I-90. A mere 11 hours and 40 minutes later we were pulling into my mom’s driveway at 5:45 am after a lovely night battling thunderstorms across New York and Pennsylvania.

We grabbed a short 3 hour nap and hopped back in the car to see my Grandma Krueger who is in a nursing home out in Swanton. Also joining us were my aunt (in from Houston), my cousin and her daughter (in from Oklahoma), my other cousin (already in Toledo), my other aunt, and some significant others. Grandma was much more active than our past few visits despite having had hip replacement surgery since we last saw her at Christmas. It was very good to see her gathered with so many family members.

After that visit we headed back to my aunt’s place for some tasty lunch and some time splashing in their pool. Despite the fact it was only 70 and the water was cool we couldn’t keep my little cousin Aubrey out of the water so I had to take a dip as well.

On Saturday, Su and I hopped in the car with my mother to head out to Edon, OH for the annual Holliker campout/barbeque/3 day party. We saw all the usual suspects as well as my cousin Eric and his wife Celia. Su hasn’t met either of them and I had never met Celia.

Susan, Brian, Barb, Emily, Greg, Eric, Celia

Susan, Brian, Barb, Emily, Greg, Celia, Eric

Late Saturday we continued our journey on to Fort Wayne, IN to spend some time with Susan’s folks.  Sunday was a nice, slow day that offered a chance to relax a bit and just catch up with my in-laws.  Susan got to enjoy a trip to her youth church to see both the old and the new.

Monday, we were back on the road again with a trip to St. Marys, OH to visit Su’s grandmother. She wanted to go out to lunch and the Buick needed to be driven so we fired it up and headed into Celina for lunch on the lake at Pullman Bay Restaurant. After lunch (and a piece of pie) we drove to K.C. Geiger Park to visit Grandpa’s tree.  Grandma and the rest of us were in high spirits after such a nice day.

Susan’s father acquired an old Corvette several years ago that he is in the process of making roadworthy. Most of the body work has been done and he dropped it off on Monday for brake work. Since the garage was in Decatur on the way back from St. Marys I got to pick it up and drive it home. I could get used to having such a good looking car.

Allans Corvette

Allan's Corvette

Tuesday was our day to visit old friends. For lunch we headed out to Grabill, IN to meet Su’s oldest friend Dawn. She works as a librarian in the Grabill branch and we got to enjoy some home cookin’ at the Grabill Inn.

After lunch I went for an open water swim at Fox Island County Park. On our way to dinner we stopped in to visit Susan’s friend Miriam who is in a nursing home in Warren, IN. Miriam seemed pleased to see us, especially when we told her we were going to her favorite restaurant for dinner. We are always thankful for a chance to visit with her when we’re in the area. After leaving Miriam we headed down the road a bit further to Ivanhoe’s Drive In. We met Hans, Dawn, and their 3 boys for a quick dinner and a chance to catch up on what they’ve been doing since their visit last year. Of course after dinner I got one of their 100 tasty shakes for the road. I think that may become a regular stop on the way south from Fort Wayne in the future.

On Wednesday we bid adieu to the Woodmansee clan and headed back to Toledo for a chance to see my family a bit more. I managed to resurrect my mother’s computer that had acquired a nasty suite of viruses which was easily the most painful thing I had to do all week.

Thursday we started our trip back to Boston stopping for dinner in Buffalo in a restaurant that happened to have one of my favorite beers on tap. On Friday we completed the drive, stopped in Boston to pick up my rental wetsuit from the tri shop, headed to Amesbury to pick up my race packet, before finally heading home to unpack and have dinner.

WordPress says my current word count is over 1100 words which is 1100 more than the number of frequent flier miles we received for this surprise driving vacation. It was a fun week and although I’m glad to be back home, I’m looking forward to seeing our midwestern family and friends again soon!

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