Deborah had some chores, and I wrote the blog on Monday morning. I had overslept a bit, but managed to make breakfast in the lobby before it closed. There, I spoke to Kurt, the staff member responsible for the food on weekdays, and wrote the blog in the lobby. Somehow I missed until later to post it on Facebook.
Deborah picked me up at the hotel in her blue mini, and we headed north to Lansing to see Mom Wild. Leta has a cold, and we may work out another day, after she feels better, to see her. It is cold and with significant winds (there are warnings on the signs on the highways about high winds and slow blowing). Deborah is skilled at winter driving in her mini and has good winter tires.
The conditions get worse as we travel, and the air is full of white a few times. Nothing that phases Deborah, she has seen (and driven) in worse, but we go slower than we planned. There is a jack-knifed semi and various cars in the shallow ditch and in the wide medians of Michigan’s highways. We switch from northbound to westbound highways without issue, but the snow obscures much of the view.
I texted Linda with updates and learned that Jessie, Meg, and Linda are joining us, and they decided to pick up Mom Wild at Haslette Point Senior Living, as we are running slower. We arrive actually at the planned time of noon, having started early. We meet everyone at The Olive Garden, a mile from the facility.
I had $200 in gift cards from Delta Airlines to spend from giving up my seat on an overbooked flight (I have a $500 credit for a flight too). We had lunch (and some dinner) and chatted. Linda gave Deborah and me our presents. We just enjoyed lunch together.
After a couple of hours and a few rounds of soup, salad, and breadsticks for some of us, we left after I paid, following a somewhat confusing but workable process to scan each QR code for the digital cards. The on-table paying prints a ticket for each card used. I used three with some value left on one.
Deborah and I met Jesse and Mom Wild at Haslette Pointe (Mom is in room A-9). If you, dear reader, want to send a card, here is her address:
Haslett Pointe Senior Living
C/O Barbara Wild Room A-9
5346 Marsh Road
Haslett, Michigan 48840
We sat in chairs and chatted for another ninety minutes. Deborah and I stayed with Mom until about 4, as the weather did not improve or degrade much. We said our tearful goodbye and then headed east. We had dinner with Barb C and family at 5:30.
Irene’s in Grand Blanc serves European-style food, including goulash and similar dishes. The service is slow and confused, and the drinks were awful (stick to beers or soft drinks). The food, late, was hot and delicious, and much was soon forgiven. The price tag was at home in Portland, still excellent, and I would do it again.
Barb C (Susie’s sister), Emma (daughter), and Gordon (husband) shared with Deborah and me their experiences in Ireland and other travels. We covered some of our experiences in Iceland, our big trip this year, and then we talked about their trip to Italy some time ago. They visited the crash site of Ben’s WW2 plane (Barb C’s and Susie’s father). Gordon covered what we know about the crash and how the plane did not release its bomb (destroying the village) and instead crashed with the bombs unexploded in the mountain, killing the pilot and co-pilot. The town had a monument to the plane and its crew (including Ben) that refused to bomb them. They met people who witnessed the plane crash, visited the site, and Emma found bits of the plane. Gordon is still in contact with folks from the village.
Barb and Gordon’s plans are unsettled, like ours, for 2026, but we might overlap and meet somewhere.
Emma will be visiting me in Oregon soon. She is headed to graduate school in Oregon and may need a room, or at least a nearby relative, to help. More to come on that.
With smiles and photos, we headed out in separate ways, and only once did a terrible driver get too close to Deborah’s mini on the snowy roads. I was dropped off at the hotel and soon fell asleep after watching more videos on the epochs before the Dinosaurs.
Thanks for reading!
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 