I love roadtrips that bring me to people (really, I make sure all my roadtrips bring me to people, as people are a large part of what makes a place a place). And this roadtrip to Maine brought me to one of my favorite places: Ann Arbor.
I had a fabulous time catching up with friends. I was only in town for a day and a half, but I crammed a whole lot in during that time. Of course, I also missed a lot of people, which was sad . . . but inevitable. I'm already looking forward to my next visit, which will hopefully be longer.
I remember the first, and only other, time that I've seen this sign (my only trips west after moving were via train or plane). The first time I saw this sign, I was finishing a 13 day roadtrip from Seattle to Michigan to completely and utterly alter the course of my life. I was so scared and excited. At the time, I thought Michigan would be my home for 6+ years. Ah, how things do change. But it was still good to see this sign again and feel comfortable in Michigan.
While there, I visited the Ann Arbor farmer's market with my eco-friend/former coworker, Catherine. We worked together at the boating camp last summer. She's one of the most down-to-earth green people I know; she's green, but she understands that we have to balance the green with living life. At the farmer's market, we discovered a little buddy that is now sitting on my bookshelf. Meet Woofy:
Lost amongst the legs, he was completely ignored by all. But you know how they say that pets find you? Woofy found me, and he was a great person to talk to on my journey east.
Woofy came with me to visit my friend in her lab:
We watched her and the lab techs do really cool stuff with DNA. See, it glows! The pink bands are actual pieces of DNA, and the other stuff is gel used to separate pieces of DNA (note: much more technical in real life).
We also enjoyed some excellent sushi together (along with my scientist friend).
Ann Arbor, in short, was good times. I got some in-town errands done (including closing my local Michigan bank account, sadly), saw some fabulous friends (many of whom I didn't list here), and met some of the new babies that have been born since I left (in the past year, my friends have had 5 new babies! must be something in the water).
I'll check back with more on my travels soon . . . and once I catch up, details on Maine!