Road Trip to Michigan

Catherine and I realized that it might be the only weekend that we could head to Royal Oaks, Michigan to check out neighborhoods for our move this spring. In that spirit, I loaded up my 35 week pregnant wife and 21 month daughter into the Corrolla and started off on a 375 mile drive around Lake Michigan.

After 200 miles, we hit some bad weather. The snow wasn't coming down hard, but the roads were slick!! We saw semi's jack knifed and trucks flipped over. I looked at my beautifully pregnant wife and daughter and pulled off at the first hotel.

The ECONO Lodge in Paw Paw, Michigan is a keeper. Just one tip- they don't have pack-n-plays. Therefore Elizabeth slept with Mom and Dad in the king sized bed. She was excited and let us know it.... every 20 seconds...... that she was getting to sleep with "Momma" and "Dadda"....... throughout the entire night (it seemed!). Somehow, we awoke the next morning and made it safely to Royal Oaks the next morning.

One of the best parts of the trip was spending time with Carmen and Alan Hillstead. It was great hanging out with them and their two boys, Dallin and Peyton. Thank you for letting us stay with you! Carmen makes some pretty mean tacos!

We spent two days driving around the area, checking out neighborhoods, meeting with realestate and mortgage agents, and becoming aquainted with our soon to be new home. Catherine's mother called and let us know that she just read an article naming Detroit as the worst / least desirable areas to live in the nation! Although southeast Michigan is being ravaged economically, we found the area about Royal Oaks quaint and lovely. Catherine and I are looking forward to our next phase of life there.