I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan...

I'm sorry, I know I have friends, and Jay has family, that live in Michigan, but we all know that I am an Ohio State child. And I'm sitting here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, right now... home of the University of Michigan... Ohio State's biggest rival. You can probably imagine how I feel. I'm not real fond of this place. But, to make me feel better, I did go and take a picture in front of the stadium giving the thumbs down. He he he. It was pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

We drove from the UP on Monday to Minnesota (604 miles), where we stayed for a day. I got to see where Jay grew up, and where his gramma lives now, so that was pretty cool. She actually lives on a beautiful lake, and the weather was really nice so we spent some time outside. We then got back in the car and headed back to Michigan (another 654 miles). Needless to say, we've spent a lot of time in the car. But, I've also gotten to see part of the country I've never seen before.

Here are some highlights from the drive to Minnesota and back to Michigan:

• Lake Michigan. Another beautiful sight. We followed the west shore for about 150 miles and it was gorgeous.
• Wisconsin. I got a glimpse of the home of the Green Bay Packers. Not a fan of the Pack, but it was still cool.
• Flooded fields. It wasn't as bad as what I've seen in Iowa on TV, but it was still pretty bad. A lot of crops ruined.
• Amish. We saw the tracks for the horse and buggy, and a few miles down there was an Amish farmer using six horses and a plow to plow his field. You don't see that every day!
• Chicago traffic. Gang, we don't have it bad in Houston at all. It took us over two hours to get through the traffic in Chicago. Granted, we were about an hour ahead of rush hour, but still, it was not fun.

From Texas, to Michigan, to Minnesota, back to Michigan, and home to Texas

This is the story of my life these days. We made it to Detroit Thursday, drove to the Upper Peninsula (a.k.a. the UP) and are now driving to Minnesota (eh) tomorrow. Yes, it's a butt buster. And, I have no further comments. We'll just leave it at that.

Anyhow, here's a summary of the UP (Sault Saint Marie) so far.

• The Soo Locks are pretty cool. I've never seen anything so fascinating (ok, maybe I have, but at the time I saw it, it was the most fascinating thing to date). These big, hugs ships and barges, some up to 1,000 feet, enter the locks from either the river or Lake Superior, and the force of gravity lowers them or raises them so that they can be on their merry way. And it all takes about 15 minutes. It really is amazing. There are no pumps involved. The water level raises and lowers after the "doors" in the locks are closed. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's cool.
• The weather is absolutely fabulous. Highs in the 70s (and sunny... not a cloud in the sky!), lows in the 50s (ok, that part I could do without).
• Lake Superior... how gorgeous is this lake? I wish I could download the photos I took today to show you. The water is three different shades of blue for as far as you can see. The water is cold, um, I mean, freezing, but the lake is still beautiful. We went out and just sat on the beach (yes, they do have sand... not rocks like Galveston), and I got a little sunburn on the face!

That's it. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. As we all know... "I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan..." (your response is...?)

Fireworks Barge, Fireworks Barge...

So, we went out on the boat Friday night to watch the Kemah Boardwalk fireworks. For those of you who don't know, the Boardwalk sponsors Fireworks Fridays in June and July, and the fireworks are shot from a barge in the Bay. It's pretty cool. Especially for someone like me who LOVES fireworks.

Anyway, we got out there and turned on the VHF (Jay forgot the mp3 player, so we didn't have any tunes, but this turned out to be MUCH better). It was fairly quiet, except for the barge captain telling the Coast Guard to move a couple boats 1,000 feet away from him, as he shined his big 'ol spotlight on the boat. But the best part was when it was all over. Some woman got on the VHF and said something to the effect of, "Fireworks barge, fireworks barge... Great show tonight. We really enjoyed it." To which the barge captain replied "Thank you. No problem."

Not two minutes later, the same lady got back on, "Fireworks barge, fireworks barge..." I'm chuckling at this point, and saying to Jay, "ok lady, we get it." But she didn't leave it at that. Four times total did she get on the VHF and start with "Fireworks barge, fireworks barge." It was apparent, after the third "Fireworks barge, fireworks barge," that she had had one too many (if you know what I mean), and it was quite funny.

Maybe you had to be there to get it, but Iwas there, and it was really funny. I guess the moral of the story is if you're out on the boat drinking and watching the fireworks on a Friday night, don't let your woman get on the VHF.

Rice with a side of Bubble Gum

So, as is tradition with Rice baseball, Ms. Joyce Pounds-Hardy, a longtime, DIE HARD Rice athletics fan, brings the boys some bubble gum before every game. CBS Sports did a story on her, and here it is. Joyce is a wonderful woman, who has done so much for Rice University and the athletics program, so this is a nice tribute to a small gesture that she makes. Thank you, Joyce, and good luck to the Owls in Omaha!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congrats to the Rice Owls, who are College World Series-bound for the third straight year. The Owls defeated Texas A&M in the Super Regional this past weekend at Reckling Park. Rice won the national championship back in 2003, and what a great time that was!! Good luck to coach Wayne Graham and the Owls, as they compete to bring home the championship once again!

Graduation

So, this past weekend, Jay's best friend's oldest son, Kenton, graduated from high school, as did many others across the country. Congrats to all the grads!!! I remember those days...

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the weekend of me and my "boys" (I call them that because they're really not boys anymore... not like when I met them six years ago!). I can only hope that my son will grow up to be like these three outstanding young men.