Thursday

I am writing this late on Friday, after a busy day filled with a lot of wine tasting. Sorry, this will be a short blog.

I rose about 7 and made coffee and started soon with a shower, dressing, and all of that. I put each thing I used away, and soon the packing started. It just flowed naturally as I dressed and packed my suitcase, gym bag, or bag of dirty clothing. All of that will be unceremoniously shoved into my suitcase at the end of the trip, Monday night. I soon had everything ready, carrying my clean shirts and pants still on hangers to be put in Air Nissan Rogue. Two trips and I was done. The front desk was manned, and we just checked me out of the hotel then.

I found my usual place by the window, remembering my first view of the snow on my first trip in December. I will be back again in December. I had the usual industrial breakfast, and there were bananas still; they are usually gone by 8ish. I then wrote the blog and text back and forth with Deborah, who was working until about noon.

I finished the blog, left the hotel, and found the Meijer gas station to refuel the Rogue. As usual, I had to exit the vehicle and walk around it to locate the gas access door. It sounds silly, but I never remember, except for my EV as it is logical (passenger side, so the cable doesn’t get in the way of the driver). Oregonians have full service (though optional now), and since I drive an EV, I found it to be an unfamiliar process. There were directions on the pump that had me start with the credit card, and then the screen directed me.

With that task done, I washed the windshield as there were bug and bird hits. It was not a great job, again out of practice as I just use car washes now on the EV, but passable. I was parked and working on my laptop when Deborah called, and soon I had Panera orders picked up and headed to her house. Donovan was there, and we ate lunch together. Deborah did her packing, and I petted the dogs and read some items online. I am considering returning to Roll20 to run some games.

With Deborah packed, we headed out and soon did just short of three hours of driving to get to Saugatuck. The drive was punctuated with moments of construction holdups that added about twenty minutes to the total trip. It was the most I have driven in a while. The Nissan did well.

We are staying at Hotel Saugatuck, and while expensive, it is a fantastic room, and we even got a little snack later at night. We are loving it. Recommended.