Well, the Facebook invite said we were leaving at 12 p.m. I've done enough of these group events to know better. Without a set arrival time, I knew people would be arriving at 12 p.m. Long story short, we had to wait for Alex to get out of work. So we watched "Will it Blend" videos on You Tube, made smoothies, and finally left Geneva around 2 p.m. We picked up Kristen's brothers in Mokeno, outside Tinley Park. The story of the trip to Mecosta were quick food and traffic. Amy turned Alex and I on to salt and vinegar chips. Reminded me of Boston. After Alex made a wrong turn in that 80/94/294 mess, we lost at least an hour trying to get back on course. The traffic slowed so much Jared, Alex, and Court were tossing Sourpatch kids and cookies to each other from driver's seat to driver's seat.
The CD options were limited to show tunes and Christian music. I think there were a few times I put my Ipod on and zonked out. There was one burned mixed CD and I got to sing Grapevine, a cover of "That's Life," and there was even a Mindy Smith song on the CD as well. I really marked out when "Fighting For It All" came on.
We passed though Holland (thought of Ingrid), Rockford (my first time there in 15 years), and Grand Rapids. Going through Holland, I-196 only had one open lane traveling in each direction, slowing our route down even further. It wasn't until about 6:30 we got off the interstate and started taking a series of backroads north and east. We reached Remus, a town of maybe 300 people. Their downtown consists of four square blocks. Low and behold, there was a parade going through. Amy made me laugh when she exclaimed she had been driving for 20 years to Michigan and this was the first time there was anything going on in Remus. So we had to re-route. We eventually arrived in Mecosta at 8:30 EST.
The house was set right on a lake and was surrounded by other small vacation houses and near a campground where people had parked their trailers for camping. So it had very much of a getaway feel to it. We parked right next to a barn and walked across a small road to the house. There wasn't much room for 20 people to walk around, but we were made very welcome by the Hill family, especially her mom. I took my duffel bag upstairs and found the attic, where a dozen mattresses were laid out in two rows. There was just a little room to walk right down the middle, but we all had plenty of space. And thankfully, we had a fan up there. On the other hand, there were only two bathrooms in the house with one shower, so I knew hygiene would be hard to come by!
Bobby had brought a huge white plastic bucket along. It was filled with marinating chicken breasts and he grilled it while I headed down to the dock and stared out at the lake. B-Jeff was already there with his rod and reel. Of course, being a newlywed, he had to check in with his wife every half hour! Anyway, there was still a little light left and I could see this quiet island about two miles out. There were several different kinds of boats to use as well. Court and Jared soon joined me and we began lighting Roman candles and setting off bottle rockets on the water. I hadn't done this since summer camp days, if ever. The constant sparks and pops probably caught the attention of a few neighbors. Then we had dinner. Of course, Christine did a ton of cooking as well and she made a really good potato salad to go with the Buffalo-spiced birds that thankfully did not contain much mayo.
Afterwards, I headed down to the backyard. Emily, Amy's wacky cousin, was preparing a bonfire. The fact that she admitted she was a pyromaniac didn't surprise me, although she may have been kidding. Amy told me in the car that afternoon that she was a trip and her dry sense of humor and bluntness were on display. Josh, Amy's brother, came down with his guitar and he played a bunch of worship songs while we sang. When we got to "How Great Is Our God", I had to think of Mom. She would have liked hearing that.
By now, it was approaching 11:00. And I realized my cell phone was dead yet again. So I had no way to tell time. Not that I would need to, as things would turn out. We headed back up to the porch and hundreds of mosquitoes tried to join us. So we moved inside and about a dozen of us stayed behind and played Aggravation, a board game involving marbles and decks of cards that I ahd never played before. The match was myself and Amy against Alex and Jared. People told me it took twice as long as it should have. I got off to a great start, but Amy just drew some rough cards. Alex finished first and I came in second. Though we were one card away from losing on several occasions, Amy and I finally rallied to win. I let out a pretty notable scream; not sure if I woke anybody up. I think when the game ended it was around 12:30. Not sure if that's Eastern or Central. Anyway, I headed up to bed. Of course, my body needed a night to adjust to the mattress. I really don't think I was ever totally out of it all night long. I was in that annoying state where I tried to convince myself that I was asleep, but I knew I could open my eyes at any moment.
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