My wife and I drove across the country bottom to top and back down again last week. We went from Texas to upper Michigan over the weekend before July 4th and returned on the weekend following, a grand total of about 2500 miles. Our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were over from Japan for our granddaughter’s third birthday. We contemplated flying, but since we were going to end up driving around a lot once we got up there anyway, we decided to make a trip of it.
We stopped overnight twice on the way up, in Arkadelphia, AR and in Holland, MI (the third or fourth Holland we encountered on the trip) in addition to meal stops at a place called Boomtown (world’s biggest fireworks mall) near Sikeston, MO and an Andy Griffith-themed restaurant in Manteo, MI. Our iPod was loaded with songs for the road, and we only got mildly disoriented once (each way, admittedly).
We stayed in a house on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan that had a northern view (see above). The amusing road sign in the image to the right was one of two we encountered not far from the house.
The sun was deceptively bright despite heavy cloud cover the first day and I managed to sauté my nose and forehead, which meant I spent the rest of the week lurking in the shadows.
One of our daughter’s suitcases went astray for a couple of days. They’d seen it in Chicago, so we knew it made it that far, but after that, puzzlement and confusion. American Airlines couldn’t say with any degree of certainty where it was. We were told on Sunday that it was on the next flight to Traverse City, an hour from where we were staying, so my wife and I went over to get it but…no joy. It was finally delivered to the house the next afternoon. Made us really glad we didn’t fly.
Lots of family time, including the big birthday party and a July 4th outing, although we didn’t stay up for fireworks. I also got to watch the first four episodes of season 3 of Stranger Things with my daughter. The first evening someone was testing out their fireworks and there were two amazingly percussive blasts that shook the house. The first time, we thought something heavy, like a fridge, had fallen over upstairs!
On the way back, we only stopped once, in Sikeston, MO. We encountered heavy rain near Chicago on day 1 and near Little Rock on day 2, both times when I was behind the wheel, as luck would have it. We also observed that we should compile a list of stretches of interstate where the washboard roads are rough enough to jolt kidney stones loose, as a cheap alternative to lithotripsy. Yes, Arkansas, we’re looking at you. We got home on Sunday evening, exhausted but exhilarated after spending time with family.
A couple of entries back, I wrote about a short story I’d conceived and executed in remarkably short order, and how it was written for so specifically themed a market that if it wasn’t accepted, I couldn’t see it ever getting published somewhere else. Fortunately, I won’t have that problem, as I received an acceptance letter for it a couple of days ago. By my count, it will be my 90th published story (not my 90th story publication as I have several stories that have been published more than once). Once I receive and sign the contract, I’ll announce more, but it’s a cool concept with some interesting names attached.
Hank Wagner and I have been doing tag-team reviews of Stranger Things for Dead Reckonings, and we’re getting ready to tackle Season 3. While we normally do this by email, this year we’ll get to talk about it at Necon, which starts a week from today. I have a lot of thoughts about the season, almost all of them positive, so I look forward to hashing it all out with Hank.
My panel this year is on Friday morning at 9 am: The Frank Michaels Errington Five Star Books Kaffeeklatsch. James Chambers, Frank Raymond Michaels, Melissa Sherlin, Madelon Wilson and I will discuss the previous year’s best books in honor of a reviewer and Necon alum who passed away recently.
