A Thank You Blind Date

As a thank you to Adam and Rachel for hosting us in our homelessness once again, we took them out to dinner. Adam and Rachel are aware of our tradition of blind dates, and Rachel took us up on our offer to make our evening out similar to a blind date. It was a lot of fun. And, I think Rachel had enough fun that Adam is going to have to plan a blind date for her in the future. 

Rachel in the car waiting for the blind date to commence

We started out by driving to one of our favorite dinner spots in Holland, the Itty Bitty Bar. They call themselves a "five star dive bar", which we feel is pretty accurate. It's a bar setting, but the food is nothing like what you would expect from a bar. 

Adam giving Rachel instruction and leading her into the restaurant

Brandon secretively ordered our favorite appetizer for all of us, so that, despite not being blindfolded, Adam would have a surprise too. Rachel kept the blindfold on as Adam ordered a surprise entree for her. She continued to be a great sport and tried the appetizer and a cider without having her sense of sight either. After she guessed the appetizer and drink correctly, we let her take the blindfold off for the rest of our time at the restaurant. It was a tough guessing game as well as the appetizer was a rather complicated and unexpected combination: Garlic mashed potato, pulled pork, and goat cheese quesadilla topped with an apple, jalapeno chutney. Delicious. 

Trying the surprise appetizer

We all enjoyed our entrees and had a great time conversing throughout dinner. It was so fun to share one of our favorite Holland spots with friends. After dinner wrapped up, we had one more place to go in Holland. Rachel put her blindfold back on, and after a short drive we led her out of the car and onto the beach. We let her take her blindfold off pretty quickly to let her see the sunset. 

Adam and Rachel at the beach at sunset

We then all took a little beach walk to the end of the pier and enjoyed being at the lake. Lake Michigan and Holland were definitely putting on a beautiful show that evening. 

Picturesque sunset complete with seagulls and sailboats 

And that was our thank you blind date. Thanks again Adam and Rachel. We hope you had as lovely of an evening as we did. 

August Events

August went by quickly as all the summer months do. For half of the month we visited our friend Kirk in Florida, which we have several posts about. We spent another full week in the Quad Cities along with a quick visit to the Iowa State Fair. I guess it's good that August is a long month with 31 days, because somehow we fit the following in as well. 


Visiting grandparents

It had been too long since we'd seen my grandparents in Kalamazoo, so we made a trip down there to see them. It was nice to catch up while sitting on the deck and then over lunch. 
When we visited the Quad Cities we were able to see both of Brandon's grandmas and catch up a bit as well. 


A stay at the Blanski's 

We were able to house-sit the Blanski's house for a few days and water their plants while they were away. Really they were just being nice to us, since we're still homeless and need places to stay. It was great to be back in the neighborhood, and I must say that Alex's kitchen set-up is very well thought-out and perfect for guest use. But, we really missed hanging out with our friends while staying at their house. It wasn't the same without Alex, Tabitha, and two little girls. 



Continuing to climb, climb, climb

We've continued our climbing training in anticipation of a trip to the Red River Gorge in September. We even found a great deal at a Florida climbing gym and kept up our training during our two weeks there. I'm sure our normal climbing partners in Grand Rapids will be happy to have us back though. Honestly, not being able to climb with them consistently throughout the year has been one of the toughest things about being nomadic. 


Colin visits Brandon in Grand Rapids 

Brandon got an unexpected call from a Chicago friend who was driving through Grand Rapids on his way up north. They were able to meet up for a couple hours and catch up on life, which was a welcome surprise. 


A wedding dress search 

My mom, sister, and I went on a quest for a bridal gown for my sister's upcoming wedding in December. We discovered that apparently looking for a bridal gown in August for a December wedding is nearly too late due to ordering, alterations, etc. Who knew? Not me. Brandon and I did our wedding in a rather non-traditional fashion. No worries. My sister found her dress and will look beautiful as always. 



The babies keep getting older

Our friends babies just keep getting older. I had to miss out (bridal dress shopping), but Brandon was able to attend August's 1st birthday party, eat delicious birthday donuts, and hang out with friends. 


Meeting up with friends over food

The sushi place in Holland knows our friend Zuri by her voice when she calls for take-out. She's the person to have sushi with. It was wonderful to meet up with her and catch up on life. 
That same day we were able to spend time with our friend Jack over Chinese food. He always speaks such encouragement and wisdom into our lives, and it's always fun to hear what he's doing in retirement. 
I also got to see my friend Kendra on her lunch break and finally hear about her May honeymoon. 


Hitting up some Holland favorites

We made it to the beach a couple times, and Lake Michigan never fails to impress. It's so beautiful. We're definitely going to miss living as close as we were. We also had to stop at Taco Fiesta and enjoy their al pastor tacos. These al pastor tacos are seriously the best...we would know. Unfortunately, also in August, an attempt on our part to try to replicate the al pastor meat and flavors failed miserably...we'll keep trying. 

Enjoying the lake at Saugatuck Dunes

Appreciating Lake Michigan

Taco Fiesta's al pastor tacos

Canadian Lakes with the Barnetts 

The Barnetts rented a cottage on Canadian Lakes and invited anyone in our friend group to come out for a couple days. Being homeless, we happily obliged. We had a great time enjoying the lake, drinking wine, spending time around the fire, watching Olympics, and just hanging out with great friends. 

Three men and a baby

5 year physical therapy class reunion

It's been five years since I survived and graduated from PT school. It was fun to meet up with some former classmates at a park and hear what they're doing now. We should probably meet up more often then every 5 years. 


Quad City visit 

We spent about a week of August in the Quad Cities. Besides spending time with family and going to the Iowa State Fair, we were able to catch up with friends and eat quintissential QC food. We met Auzzie and Kristy and their boys for time in the park and some Whitey's shakes. We had a good time grabbing Hungry Hobo's subs and Whitey's with Mike and Anna and bringing it back to their place to watch some Olympics. We tried to go to Habanero's with Christian and Liz, but it's closed on Mondays, so we tried out La Rancherita #2 which turned out to be a delicious decision. And, we still got our Habanero's fix in with Matt and Rose. 


As aforementioned, for more on the Iowa State Fair and visiting our friend Kirk in Florida you can check out some other blog posts. And, that was August! 

SUP in Florida

Kirk wanted to try stand up paddle boarding (SUP for short), and Katie and I had been out a couple times in Michigan. So we were the perfect partners in crime to help him check this adventure off his bucket list. Katie scoured the internets for a good deal. We eventually found a place that'd give us 2 hours of paddle board use for $20 a person. This was technically a Groupon deal, but we've learned over the years that if you just mention their Groupon deal they'll often gladly give you the rate since it means more money for them.

We made our way to Madeira Beach, but not before getting stuck at the Johns Pass bridge coming from Treasure Island. The bridge went up just before we got there. We were probably fourth in line or so. But when the bridge went back down the gates never opened. We waited for a good 15 minutes or so before police showed up to turn traffic around. Luckily there was another way around.

The next adventure was finding the place with the boards. We had an address and assumed there was a shop right off the road to pick up the boards. But as it turns out it was just a guy sitting out under a beach umbrella with a bunch of boards. Once we called him up, he was pretty easy to find. So finally, even after all the delays we got our boards and set out on the very warm gulf waters. 

Kirk and Katie SUPing like champs

One of the highlights was watching Kirk try and try again to stand up on the board. It's not as easy as it looks at first. And even once you do figure out how to balance and stand up, it is tough to get comfortable enough to stay standing for a long time while you paddle your way around. Kirk had many ungraceful falls, but that was better then those who barely stand up and just jump off. Kirk kept his feet on until the last possible second. As a result, most of the time we were out Kirk just used the board in a sitting, kneeling, or laying position. But he did finally get it the second time out right before we were done.

Kirk trying to stand up on his board

After many falls, he was finally successful

Another highlight was while we were coming back from our first round of going up and down the coast, we saw a manatee swimming under the water! Katie and I followed it around for a while and watched it come up several times for air. Given that manatees are such a big deal in this part of Florida, it was really cool to be able to see one.

Proof I was there with Katie

Proof I was there with Kirk

We did take a couple breaks. It is tough to stay standing and constantly paddle your way around. The beach wasn't that enjoyable because it was so crazy hot. But we did have fun playing in the shallow swimming area with a Waboba ball. 

And that was our Florida SUP experience.

Our Friends From Honduras

One of the perks of summer is that we usually get a chance to hangout with our good friends Jake and Rachel. They live in Honduras and work at a school out there, so it is always a special treat when we get to see them. I was a little worried that our time back in Michigan wouldn't overlap with theirs, but things timed out perfectly.

We got to hangout with them twice over the first couple of weeks of July. The first time we met them at one our favorite Grand Rapids sandwich spots, Two Beards, and then made our way out to Tunnel Park in Holland to spend the afternoon at the beach. The second time we met up at a park in Hudsonville to play a little disc golf and get ice cream. It was wonderful!

The four of us atop the dune at Tunnel Park in Holland, MI

I can't say enough good things about these two awesome people. The work they do is super cool. They are easy to talk to and insightful. Our time with them is always too short, but I suppose that means that we always look forward to the next time we get to see them again.

If you are interested in learning more about what they do, you can check out their school's website or facebook page. I have had the privilege of going down to Honduras once to help with a build project for a week at one of their schools, and since then Katie and I have sponsored a couple of kids so that they can attend their school. We're hoping one of these years to make it down there again, even just to visit our friends in their new city where they just started up a new school location in the past year. 

A Sibling Tour

After spending time in Nebraska with Brandon's brother and his family we went to visit my siblings in Minnesota and the U.P. Our time with my sister was short, but we were glad to spend a Thursday evening with her at Roca, the rock climbing gym in Rochester, Minnesota. We've climbed there several times now and have grown to thoroughly appreciate it. 

Friday morning came quickly, especially as we had a nearly 7 hour drive ahead of us to my brother in Houghton, Michigan. And, we had already done a 6.5 hour drive from Nebraska the day before. But, all travels went smoothly. We sure were happy to see my brother on Friday evening and stretch our legs by walking from his apartment to downtown Houghton for dinner. We were also looking forward to spending the whole 4th of July weekend with him, so we wouldn't have to do a long road trip again until we returned to the Lower Peninsula on the 5th. 

On Saturday, we had a great day exploring some of the Keweenaw Peninsula. We started with hiking a trail loop to Bare Bluff on Lake Superior somewhere near Lac La Belle. One side of the loop was super easy, and the other part involved some more adventurous hiking through a steep seasonal stream bed. The views from Bare Bluff were absolutely gorgeous. 

Of course this picture doesn't do the view of the Lake Superior shoreline justice

Me and Tim taking in the views

Brandon on the edge

After the hike we made our way towards Devil's Washtub to cool off with a jump into Lake Superior. On the way, we stopped at a scenic pull off on Brockway Mountain Drive. There we got a great view of Copper Harbor and more of the Keweenaw. 

View of Copper Harbor from Brockway Mountain Drive

Brandon and I had gone to Devil's Washtub last year during our time at Gitche Gumee, and we really wanted Tim to experience it. It's an area where the shoreline that has been carved into a rocky bridge structure that you can jump off, swim underneath through a tunnel, and climb back up the other side to do it again. We only did it two times each because Lake Superior was much colder than last year. Our bodies numbed up pretty quickly in the lake water, but the warmer air temperature heated us up again. 

I was the first to jump into the icy waters

Brandon went next

We must not have looked too cold, because Tim braved the jump and lake water as well. Look at that jumping form! 

After that freezing/refreshing experience we headed back to Houghton and Tim's apartment to make dinner. We did a lot of delicious cooking throughout the weekend, including chicken bagel melts, sweet potato black bean tacos, and southwest turkey burgers. Tim shared his tortilla recipe, and having delicious, hot, homemade tortilla shells took the tacos up another notch. 

We got in quite a few board games we well, such as Acquire, Pandemic, and Risk. Brandon was quite the hotel tycoon and dominated in Acquire. I was scarred by the cutthroat nature of Risk, and despite winning, I don't think I can play again for several years when I've forgotten all the rules again. 

We went to Tim's church on Sunday morning and then relaxed and took naps before doing more activity. This time we headed to Lower, Middle, and Upper Hungarian Falls. The hike to and between the sections of the falls was easy and shaded. We made it more interesting by slowly making our way down a very steep ravine to the base of the large, lower falls. Brandon and Tim stood under the powerful fall for a good, cooling soaking. Climbing up the ravine was much easier than going down, and we continued on to the middle falls. 

The ravine was a steep descent

View of the falls on the way down

The falls in their full glory with Brandon for perspective

Me and Brandon posing for a picture at the falls

Tim, our excellent U.P. tour guide

The three adventurers 

More perspective shots with me up on the cliffside and Tim at the base of the falls

Tim braving the rushing water

Brandon had to go in too

Brandon found a cove to go all the way under and behind the falls

The base of the middle falls was much easier to access. There was also a nice pool of water that formed under the falls that would be fun to jump into if it was deeper. I stood under the middle falls to get just as soaked as Brandon and Tim. 

The middle falls

Me cooling off in the middle falls

The upper falls were the smallest and more like a naturally formed dam than a waterfall. We didn't even bother to take a picture of them. But, now we can say we've seen all three sections. 

When it finally got dark around 10:30 pm we were able to see the fireworks display in Lake Linden. I have never seen so many cars in the U.P. at once. It seemed like the entire Keweenaw Peninsula had turned out for the fireworks show. The show had a lot of neat fireworks, but the spacing was strange. Sometimes multiple fireworks would go off at once and other times we waited for what seemed like a couple minutes for the next firework. There were a lot of false endings which made the finale rather anti-climactic. The whole thing was rather amusing. 

Happy Birthday, America! (almost...not quite the 4th yet)

On the 4th of July the three of us played some soccer together in the morning. It was fun to get out and kick the ball around on the Michigan Tech fields. Unfortunately, Brandon and I also managed to get multiple, incredibly itchy mosquito and fly bites while playing soccer. Apparently that field was more filled with pests than the wooded areas we had hiked in. A week later, we still have some of the bites. 

We then partook in the small town 4th of July festivities of South Range, just south of Houghton. Keweenaw Brewing Company's brewing facility is located in South Range, and to add to the celebration they were giving free brewery tours and beer between 12 and 2 pm. Yes, all was FREE. They passed out free cans at the entrance, and then gave out free cans fresh from the canning line that the lid hadn't even been pressed onto yet. It was awesome. Between the three of us we tried at least six different beers. 

Keweenaw Brewing Company (KBC) facility 

Cans ready to be filled with beer

The cans entering the filling station

Workers on the canning line who offered us beer fresh from the line stating that Brandon must be over 21 in order to have such an impressive beard 

Putting plastic rings around the cans to form six packs

The can straight from the line didn't have its top attached yet

Brandon tempted by the switchboard of brewing controls

Enjoying our beer among the mash tons

A collection of stickers from various breweries at KBC 

The cold storage room which felt great as the day heated up

Enjoying our brews with hundreds of empty cans behind us waiting to be filled

Cheers! 

After the tour and free beer we checked out the South Range 4th of July Parade. It was definitely a small town parade where the local marching band played, obscene amounts of candy was still allowed to be thrown at children, and some of the floats circled around twice. Amusing times for sure. 

We had seen fireworks the night before and Tim had to get up early for work the next day, so we skipped out on fireworks the night of the 4th. But, we felt we had done the day justice with the parade and KBC. 

Tuesday morning Tim left for work in Escanaba, and eventually we packed up and headed for Grand Rapids. There were a couple construction projects turning two lanes into one lane roads, but other than that the 8.5 hour drive went well. At one of the construction stops we felt fortunate to at least be able to enjoy some great views of Lake Michigan from the car while we waited. We were happy to reach the Mackinac Bridge and know that over half of the drive was over. And, we were oh so happy to reach Grand Rapids, which we kind of consider our home despite not having a real home currently. 

The Mighty Mac

We're looking forward to spending some time with our friends the Horos' who have kindly taken us in for about two weeks. And, at some point this month we'll have to finish our sibling tour and get out to see Brandon's sister and her family. 

Valencia and the Mediterranean Sea

We had seen a lot of Madrid and Pauley really wanted to see the Mediterranean Sea, so after much deliberation we made a day trip to Valencia. Valencia is a coastal town east of Madrid which you can reach by speed train in 1.5 hours or by car in 3.5 hours. Unfortunately, the speed train is expensive and even more exorbitant when you make spontaneous plans. Over $100 per ticket? Yikes! 

So, we rented a car with a GPS for around $20 plus gas. It was so cheap, because it was a manual economy car, a Toyota Yaris I believe. I don't know how to drive a manual, and Brandon wasn't comfortable with city driving, so that left the driving to Pauley. So, now he can cross that off his bucket list. Drive a manual car in a foreign country. Check. If it was even on his bucket list. Probably not. Thankfully, Spaniards drive on the same side of the road as Americans. We had that going for us. 

The man at the rental car company told us we were crazy to drive to and from Valencia in one day. We assured him that a drive of this length is normal for the United States, so it wouldn't be a big deal. He still seemed very skeptical and gave us a lot of advice. We were planning to park outside the city and ride the metro in to avoid traffic. He set up our GPS and re-routed us to an area in the city with free parking, saying we didn't have enough time in the day to park outside the city. We decided to take his advice and see how it went. He was probably still shaking his head at us while we were driving away. 

Three crazy friends road-tripping in Spain

Spanish town on the way to Valencia

Spanish countryside with wind-turbines

Tunnel through some red cliffs

Aqua blue reservoir

We made it to Valencia and found parking pretty easily. Pauley did have to swear a bit as he maneuvered the traffic circles in the city that seemed to have a no lanes marked and a free-for-all mentality. However, I'd say that overall all went smoothly and Pauley was a valiant driver. 

After parking we walked a couple miles to find Valencia Central Market, that Pauley had read about. The building was beautiful. I loved all the painted tiles and ironwork. We were hoping to pick up some lunch there, but the marked contained more raw food than prepared dishes. On the way to the Market we had spotted a craft beer restaurant called Birra & Blues, so we decided to try out the menu del dia there instead. The portions of the menu del dia were large and filling, and it took us nearly 1.5 hours to eat lunch. Yes, 1.5 hours. It was classic, slow paced Spanish time. 

Valencia Central Market

Busy, busy, busy market

Brandon's taco 1st course and our double red craft brew

Brandon wanted some Valencia orange juice before leaving the area, so we went on a mission for that. He had fallen in love with it when he was in the Valencia area of Spain several years ago. We believed him, since there were orange trees lining many of the city streets. By the time we got out of lunch, siesta or nap time was in full swing, so many of the cafes with orange juice were closed. But, we managed to find one and satisfy Brandon. It was delicious, and tasted to me like a cross between tangerine and orange. 

Brandon happily sipping on his Valencia orange juice under an orange tree

With much of our time taken up by lunch we decided to just hit a couple highlights around Valencia. Pauley had done some research on things in the area, and hadn't found much that interested him other than the Mediterranean. I really wanted to go to Museo Fallero, because of Brandon's description of the giant, several building stories high floats for Festival of Las Fallas when he was there in March several years ago. To save time, we took the metro back to the car and then drove to the museum. The Valencia metro was much more confusing than the Madrid one, but we persevered and figured it out. 

Hanging out with orange juice in the Valencia metro

Pauley survived parallel parking near the museum, and we went in to check it out. The fallas museum shows a piece of a float (or falla) that has been pardoned in the festival each year. All the rest of the pieces and floats are burned during the festival. The fallas started out to be moral in nature, with the burning symbolizing destruction of vices. Now there are both satirical and more artistic displays. You can read more about it here or just google images of the event. 

Pardoned figures from a falla

The full size falla that the figure above was pardoned from. Look how the falla is taller than the building. Later the whole structure will be burned. 

Picture of another full size falla with a creepy cat

Grumpy, old men

This one was pretty funny

The figures are so detailed, and they're just made out of cardboard, wax, foam, and/or cork...very flammable materials for the eventual burning. 

A favorite of Brandon's 

I can relate to this one... thanks mom.

In honor of Jacques Cousteau. Look at that cute little penguin. 

A poster advertising the festival

After the museum, we headed to the Mediterranean Sea. We found parking and a park to access the beach. It was a beautiful, warm day, but the wind from the sea kept the beach quite cool. We put our feet in the water, and enjoyed the fresh salty air. I think Pauley would say he was a bit disappointed by the Mediterranean. It didn't look more special than other bodies of water, and the sand is not nearly as nice as that of Lake Michigan. But, he can say he's been. 

View of Valencia from the beach

View down the other side of the beach

Candid shot

Pauley preparing to dip his feet in the Mediterranean

Feeling the cold Mediterranean water

Things are getting crazy

The wind was intense

Standard Moonrise Kingdom pose

Pauley's "By The Sea" glamour shot

Good times

Before making our 3.5 hour drive back to Madrid we stopped back in the city to check out some cool, modern architecture we had seen near the fallas museum. I think it looked like something out of one of the new Star Trek movies. 

Valencia architecture complete with palm tree

Modern bridge and the Agora, a building for exhibitions, sport events, and concerts

Red birds kept in a sphere

There were a ton of pools around the complex

Doesn't this look like something out of the Star Trek films? 

A Vulcan salute seemed appropriate

Wide walkways between space-like buildings

Star Trek continued

Despite the skepticism from the car rental guy, and admittedly some on my part too, we had an adventurous day in Valencia and made it to and from without any issues. In fact, as Brandon pointed out, it felt just like a road trip in the United States. Just three friends driving down the normal side of the road and into a big city. It's true. I think Spain was starting to feel less foreign to us at that point. Vive la adventura!