We had a wonderful weekend camping with friends at the Laka Macatawa Campground in Holland, MI! Although we had a rough start on Friday afternoon getting out of town & arriving at the campground after dark & in the rain, it turned out to be a very nice weekend away.

It was a lovely campground & the best part was that Ottawa Beach on Lake Michigan was just a short walk from our camp; once the rain cleared up on Saturday morning, we all headed to the beach to enjoy a day of fun in the sun & many of us, especially me, got a little too much sun – but we definitely had a lot of fun.

It was wonderful to sit around a campfire with friends, roast marshmallows & eat s’mores, listen to the pitter-patter of rain on our tent, enjoy a day at the beach, & be disconnected from our phones, TV, & internet for most of the weekend. It really was nice to get away…but, I have to admit, it was also really nice to come home to air conditioning, a clean shower, & a soft bed to sleep in too!

You can view more photos from our trip here.

Ryan & I had the pleasure of taking a vacation to northern MI & the U.P. last week & it was simply magical! We’d never made it up north, in our 6 years of living here so far, & I’m not sure why – now I can’t wait to go back again.

We began our trip on Wednesday afternoon & drove all the way up to Grand Marais, MI where we stayed for two nights at an adorable little motel that had a lovely view of the harbor & Lake Superior. When we got there it was very late & dark & so it was such a nice surprise to wake up to the most glorious sunrise over the water, which we could view just outside our motel window on Thursday morning. The view from our room looked like this…

We had a busy day of hiking & sightseeing along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Thursday, but my favorite part of the whole trip had to be our hike up to the Au Sable Point Lighthouse & along the beach there – it really was breathtaking; we could stand on the remains of three shipwrecks along the shore & we were just about the only ones on the beach – the wind, the waves, & the sky were beautiful!

 We continued on to Chapel Falls & Chapel Rock on Thursday, which were lovely as well.

Friday, we packed up & started heading towards Mackinaw City. We stopped at Oswald’s Bear Ranch, Tahquamenon Falls, Whitefish Point Lighthouse/Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, & the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie along the way.

Saturday we took the ferry over & spent the day on Mackinac Island - took a horse-drawn carriage ride, visited the butterfly house & Ft. Mackinac, sat on the porch at the Grand Hotel & had a drink, bought & flew a kite, & bought some fudge.

It was an amazing trip & I’m dreaming of walking along the beach right now; it was so wonderful to get away, relax, & enjoy the wind & the waves!

View more photos from our trip here (more to come as well, once we add the photos we took with our good camera – these are just the ones I took with my iPhone as of today).

We traveled to Texas last week & took a trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park on Memorial Day while we were there. It was hot (when we got in the car to leave, the temp outside was reading at over 100 degrees!) & sunny, but the scenery was beautiful! In the afternoon, a storm blew in & we missed the rain while we were outside, which was good; it just rained on our drive home a bit, which we didn’t mind at all. Ryan hiked to the top of Guadalupe Peak, which happens to be the highest point in Texas!

On our way back home, we got stuck in El Paso on the runway, due to bad weather, & had a layover in Dallas for the night before we could make it back to Detroit the next morning. It wasn’t pleasant being stuck in a plane & on the runway, in 100+ degree weather in El Paso, for almost 4 hours; but, I have to admit that once we took off it was worth it – the weather we saw on our way out of El Paso, in the air, was absolutely breathtaking! There was a dark, stormy sky with a rainbow cutting through it right down the middle on one side of the plane & on the other side of the plane was the most amazing sunset I think I’ve ever seen, with the mountains as a backdrop; the sky literally looked like it was on fire. On the flight to Dallas, we cut in & out between storm clouds & saw some pretty impressive lightning in the distance. And on the flight home to Detroit the next day, it was nothing but blue skies & lovely, fluffy white clouds.

For more photos from our trip, check out my flickr set here.

We spent some time in El Paso, TX this last week & here are some interesting & fun photos we got during our trip…

Mom, Ryan, & Val

A very strange door to nowhere...

We were all perplexed by the strange door, including Debbie

And some good ol' Texas BBQ!

I’m flying from SFO to DTW as I type this & it seems like a good time to talk about airplane etiquette. Airplanes are generally uncomfortable spaces (unless you fly first class maybe, which I’ve never had the pleasure of doing) & I do my very best to be polite & considerate to those flying with me.

I never put my seat back, because, come on people, I don’t take up THAT much room & even I feel like a sardine without the person in front of me practically sitting in my lap; also, I happen to be married to a 6 foot 5 man & I truly feel for anyone that tall on a plane!

I don’t spill over my seat into other’s personal space; I paid hundreds of dollars for the few inches I have & there are arm rests to define these spaces for a reason. Please do not fall asleep with your elbow in my side & force me to plaster myself to the window for the entire flight.

I don’t cough & hack all over everyone in my general area making them all wonder what communicable disease I may be spreading; if you must cough, at least cover your mouth.

I don’t take my shoes off or wear half a bottle of perfume, etc.; unpleasant/strong smells linger on a plane. We are all stuck in this metal tube for quite some time & so…have a heart, don’t fart!

I don’t bring a huge bag onto the plane as a carryon & then act surprised when, after 20 minutes of me trying to squeeze something the size of a watermelon into something the size of a tic tac (into the overhead compartment) while everyone behind me is waiting to board, it doesn’t fit.

If we could all just make an effort to be polite, considerate, use our manners & say please & thank you, the world would be a much better place – both in the air & everywhere else.

We got off to a slow start this morning after going to bed fairly late the night before (ended up staying up late watching more of Dead Set). Our original plan was to head to Borough Market, but alas it is closed on Sundays. So instead, we headed out to a very busy Spitalfields Market. Our late morning was filled with eating crepes, muffins, spinach rounds, and a variety of salads from a vendor called Rainforest Creations (Ryan would eat there about once a week when he lived in London, see below).

After Spitalfields we headed to the Covent Garden area and walked around doing some shopping (both window and actual purchasing). From there we headed closer to our hotel and went to the Tate Britain to see the Richard Long exhibition. We stayed there until close, walked back to our hotel, and sat a spell pondering what to eat for dinner.

Ultimately after being exhausted from walking all day we made a plan to head to a nearby Pizza Express to grab some dinner. On our way (practically 2 doors down from Pizza Express) we came across Pimlico Tandoori, the food was good, the place filled with lots of locals, and the service was excellence. We also saw this adorable pup waiting for its owner outside the restaurant.

It was a great trip, can’t wait to come back again. Now it is time to pack and get to bed a bit early for an early trip to the airport and back home.

The day started early with a train ride to Hertfordshire so that Ryan could present a paper at the Design History Society Conference. Short of a parched mouth and lots of fidgeting, his paper presentation went well. Afterwards we went to the Hatfield House with Leslie Atzmon (Ryan’s colleague and panel coordinator). The Hatfield House is Queen Elizabeth I’s childhood home.

It was quite a beautiful day which made the gardens extremely enjoyable. No photos were allowed inside; but, the house, labeled “quaint” in a guidebook of ours, was quite the site to see with some amazing woodwork throughout the home. The gardens were also extremely pleasant to walk through. There was also a small, tiny display of historical toy soldiers on the site.

Afterwards we returned to London, grabbed a quick bite at a Mark’s and Spencer’s and headed to the hotel for a break. Dinner was more tapas and this time we had some delicious veggie paella at La Tasca (a spanish food chain we ate at in 2007).

The evening finished with delicious drinks (martinis, bourbon, and scotch) at the hotel bar/lounge.

We started our 2nd day in London with a ferry ride to Greenwich. We stumbled upon the Greenwich market where we grabbed lunch; I had a falafel wrap & Ryan had rice with vegetable tempura – we walked a short way & enjoyed our lunch in the park that was close by.

We then headed to the Royal Observatory where we stood on the Prime Meridian, browsed the displays there, & saw a show at the planetarium. Before we left Greenwich, we also managed to squeeze in a trip to the Queen’s House to view the painting collection on display; we wanted to stop at the Maritime Museum, but time got the best of us and the museum was closing.

So, we headed back to London & stopped at Tapas Brindisa for tapas and drinks, had a drink at the Royal Academy of Art (where Ryan thought there was an exhibition of Anish Kapoor’s work, but didn’t open until later this month), & ended up eating noodles at Cha Cha Moon and making friends with some locals before heading home.

At home, instead of sleeping and resting for his lecture, Ryan proceeded to stay up until about 2:00AM watching the TV series Dead Set - a zombie short series which aired on E4 in 2008 which has an interesting take on Big Brother as being the safe haven from the zombie invasion.

Ryan has started two flickr sets of this trip, one taken with his iPhone the other our regular point and shoot. And there is also my flickr account. Cheers!

Ryan & I have safely landed in London & survived our first day here. It’s now 9:32pm, London time, & 4:32pm Ann Arbor time &, except for about 2 or 3 short naps between Wed. at 7am when I woke up from my last full night’s sleep in Ann Arbor & right now, I haven’t slept & boy am I feeling it; everything’s been great so far though, except for the lack of sleep of course & I intend to remedy that shortly.

Our hotel, City Inn Westminster, is located in a nice, central location in the city & is easily accessible via the underground rail lines; the rates were reasonable & it’s a simple, clean place – no frills, but nice. The hotel is very close to Westminster & the Tate Britain Museum & a decent, but not too far walk, to the Hayward Gallery & the Tate Modern (both which we visited today).

Our first day in the city was made up of a stop at the Hayward Gallery & then the Tate Modern (where we had lunch at the Tate Modern Cafe). We intend to stop at the Tate Britain as well in the next day or so & possibly some others while we’re here. There were some really interesting exhibits, although I must admit that my brain was mostly fried from lack of sleep & by the time we neared the end of our walk through of the Tate Modern I was both physically & mentally exhausted.

We took the ferry on the Thames River between the Tate Modern & the Tate Britain to get back to our hotel as this was the easiest, closest, & most relaxing of our two options & much less hectic than the tube ride would have been. It was great to float down the river on a boat that was almost empty of passengers & both of us closed our eyes & took a short nap during the 20 minute stretch.

This evening, we enjoyed dinner out at a fantastic fish & chips place we visited last  time we were in London – The Golden Hind. This place is very small & family owned, their food is simple & their menu is small, but something about the way they fry up a fish is magic! I had the fried cod with “chips” (fries) & Ryan had the fried Haddock with “chips” & we shared a bowl of “mushy peas” & for dessert a chocolate sponge cake with custard on top (warm, steaming chocolate cake in a bowl swimming in a generous helping of vanilla custard that’s poured over the top of the cake).

We’ll try & post our activities each day we’re here, so check back for updates!

We had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago today & the Olafur Eliasson show made me feel like Alice falling into the rabbit hole… It was fantastic; color, light, mirrors, & magic!