Originally written 4/9/07

There were a couple of trip ideas in the works for March that didn’t pan out. This year is flying by too fast, and life is just too busy to get these trips in! There had been talk of visiting Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL to relive the college days with J and a few of our friends. I was looking forward to this because I have only spent a few hours in Macomb and was hoping to stay the night and get a better feel for college life there. It turned out, though, that one of my Board meetings was scheduled for the weekend of the Macomb trip. I couldn’t skip the meeting as there are only 4 meetings per year and I had already missed the first one while on the NYC trip in January. I didn’t miss out, though, because due to any number of reasons, the others didn’t do the Macomb trip either.

I created a plan for that very same weekend to visit Madison and be back in time for the Board meeting. I planned to drive up with Sasha, visit Katie, and check out a roller derby bout while we were there. All was well until Sasha’s bf underwent a more invasive surgery during the week than expected, and Sasha needed to be home to care for him. I decided not to go up solo because driving up to Madison with Sasha was going to be part of the fun. I realize now that I should have gone because I still need to get a solo trip in this year.

March was not a wash.  I was able to visit J’s family for a weekend. It’s a trip I’ve taken a few times, but it’s always a nice getaway. The weekend was particularly special as we celebrate her dad’s birthday with bowling and a Nintendo Wii! I tell you, I walked away from the weekend more sore from the video game bowling than from the actual bowling. Each time we visit, her brother and sister-in-law have made new improvements to their recently purchased house. On this trip they were completely without a kitchen, so we spoiled ourselves and ate out a few times. The weather was decent, and many people were out and about in an area called “The District”. The first night we were in town, J and I settled in for a long night at a wine bar, which is pretty nice. This was after a disappointing visit to what I think is usually a dance bar. Sort of in the mood to dance, I was bummed that it wasn’t packed.  The following night the four of us went to see a metal show at a very sketchy corner biker bar. It was great. It reminded me of the bar I had to go in to when I was young when my friend Renee had to find her parents. Mom will know the place I mean.

 No photos to post from this trip.