Our Return to Michigan: The End of the Winter Road Trip

The end of the winter road trip was drawing near. We left the Quad Cities on Monday morning to make our way back to Michigan. On the way, we stopped in Joliet to visit Brandon's Uncle Don and Aunt Barb. It had been at least three years since we'd seen them, which was far too long. We had a nice time conversing for a couple hours over some lunch before heading on our way. 

At last, with great delight, we reached the Michigan border! We finished the drive back to Grand Rapids and arrived at Carolyn's. It felt good to be home. Well, of course, we don't really have our own physical home, but we do call Grand Rapids and Michigan our home. 

Pure Michigan

As we were unpacking the car and bringing things into the house we realized that the house was colder than expected. Despite being set at 55 degrees the thermostat registered 47 degrees. Uh oh. We called Carolyn, and as we waited for her return call we went Cherry Deli for delicious sandwiches and warmth. Upon her call, she instructed us where to find the furnace manual and to read it for any helpful instructions. We did so and reset the furnace hoping the pilot would re-ignite itself. Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, it did not. 

There was a local furnace maintenance company listed on the furnace, so Brandon decided to give them a call. Surprisingly to us, we were able to get a repairman out in the next hour! In the meantime we went over to visit with our friends the Blanskis just down the street. One of the best things about staying at Carolyn's house is being able to walk down there and hang out whenever. It's one of the best kinds of welcome home. 

When the furnace repairman arrived he assured us we had gone through the proper procedures, but that something else was wrong. He did his repairs, which thankfully required no new parts. The heat returned, and he was on his way. Quite an adventure for our first night back! But, we're glad we were around to handle it and the temperatures didn't get low enough for any pipes to break or other catastrophes to occur.  

So we're back from our winter road trip! The time sped by, especially with visiting such good friends and family. 

Our odometer reading after the winter road trip. We posted an initial reading in this post. Since then we've traveled approximately 7768 miles!