Apes, Pigs, Cows, Tuna, Bird and the Zoo

So you would think by the title that this entry is about animals... And maybe kinda weird. And I guess indirectly it may be both. But it is really meant to be just a semi-creative substitute title for a blog entry that could be called 'our trip to Michigan'. I digress.

Kalee and I talk a trip out to MI to celebrate an early Christmas, and had a great trip. We got to see a lot of people in a short amount of time, took a trip down memory lane, had some quality family time, and enjoyed a relaxing long train ride out there. The train ride went from Philly to Toledo, with a 4 hour stop in Pittsburgh. Which would have been awesome if their Amtrak station was anything like the one in Philly, which had numerous shops, places to eat, and at least one bar, which had more than one person in it. But Pitt was different.

The most their station had to offer was a vending machine. So with four hours to kill, we went off with luggage in hand to find a place to kill some time. Not knowing where we were going, we just started walking. The first place we saw looked too fancy, so we settled on a place called Mahoneys, which seemed like a good enough spot to grab a burger and a beer. We were the only people in the place, and when the owner/ waiter/ bartender walked past us, he had a gun visibly in his waist belt. That was a first.

Mahoneys aside, great trip. I'll use the animals to break down a few highlights. Please note that if it seems like I am leaving out part of the trip, it's only because I couldn't fit an animal into the title to include. No offense intended. Let's roll.

APES
Nothing too substantial here, only that one night at Kalee's Dad's house, we watched Planet Of The Apes. Since I sometimes do movie reviews, I figured it was worth mentioning that I liked this one. On a related note, though unrelated to our trip, we rented Warrior last night, and it is worth checking out if you are looking to kill a few hours over Christmas break. If you have a break. And if you think a movie about ultimate fighting is a good way to celebrate the birth of Christ.

PIGS
Kalee's mom is engaged to a farmer, Tim, and while we were at his house we went to see the animals. There were cows, a chicken, a laughing duck, and two large pigs. Next time we visit, we could possibly be eating any of them besides the duck, but it was good to see them this time. Especially the fat pigs, who eat marshmallows. No joke, I got to feed marshmallows to pigs, but they had to sit first. Which they did of course. I wish I had video of this, but I swear on everything that I am not making this up.

COWS
Keeping the farm theme, half of her family grew up on a farm. When we were first dating, we went with her Grandpa,Pip, to a dairy farm where Kalee milked cows, and I tried not to vomit or pass out when I saw from waaaaaay too close up what it looks like to see a massive cow poop and pee. From that moment on, I can count on Pip for a good cow joke any time I see him. This trip was no different, and I love it.

TUNA
On Monday we took a trip to Detroit to meet up with our friends Jessica and Scott aka Big Tuna for lunch. We went to apace near where Old Tiger Stadium was called Slows BBQ and it was delicious. Worth going if you're ever in the D.

BIRD
This should be The Bird,to signify our trip to Mount Pleasant and CMU. Great trip where we got to see a ton of old friends, go to some old favorite places to eat, including a nostalgic top guy lunch at Pisanellos. Our friend Eric had people over at his place, which was awesome because we got to see a lot of people we were close with. I'd love to list them all here, but it would take far too long and I'd leave someone out by mistake. So if I saw you, it was great to see you. Fun night in MtP that ended at our favorite bar downtown, The Bird.

THE ZOO
On Sunday night, we went with some family to the Toledo Zoo, which was decorated with a ton of Christmas lights. Very cool to see, especially because I am kind of a nerd for zoos. However, it also helped me confront a very weird fear of mine which I never shared with anyone- being at a zoo at night. When I was younger, I had a dream or two about being stranded I the zoo at night, wandering through animal exhibits. Anyway, that lead to the weird fear. Which is now conquered. The zoo is safe at night.

And that sums up our trip. Of course that doesn't cover everything, but a brief summary. Good to go visit,and good to be back as well, with our own two animals, Duncan and Toby.
---
From now on, just assume that if a post doesn't include a pic and video, it was written on the iPad. Maybe I'll add some later and this comment will be irrelevant, or erased. But it can also excuse spelling errors too.

Slainte,
Gary