Gaylord, Michigan

    Well, it took us 48 hours to get from our home in Louisiana to our hotel home in Gaylord, Michigan.  That's including two nights in hotels on the way.  Natalie (4) started announcing every time she saw a billboard for a hotel, and she said she needed to sleep in a "real bed," so we stopped long before I was tired of driving.  First we stayed in an Econolodge in northern Arkansas.  My husband loved their firm beds, but my arms kept going numb, so I got no sleep.  Plus I'd had way too much caffeine, and that causes me to have nightmares.  I slept better the next morning in the truck while my husband Julio drove for a couple hours.  Other than that, I drove the whole way.  The second night we stayed in a Super 8, just barely into Michigan.  It was in the process of being remodeled.  Our room had already been remodeled, and it was amazing!  We paid 49 dollars at both of the hotels, but the difference was like night and day.  The Super 8 had a modern feel to it.  We even took pictures.  Once I figure out how to do it, I'll post the pics on this blog.  What I love about hotels in Michigan is that they are all 100% smoking-free.  And most have indoor heated pools, but I would have never imagined I needed to bring swimsuits with us on a trip to a town covered in 6 inches of snow.
    Driving through Chicago was insane!  I drove through on a Friday night, and everyone on the road was driving over 80 mph, and traffic was bumper to bumper.  Even though I NEVER speed, I had to drive just as fast, or I would have been a danger.  I was relieved to be the biggest truck on the road.
   We passed lots of snow on the side of the road, and we've seen icebergs in ponds! I bought lots of snacks at a gas station, and the guy said,... "wait I forgot to charge you for the pops" and I looked down at my kids to see if maybe they had suckers in their hands, but they didn't, so I said "we didn't get any pops" then he pointed at the cokes and I realized that was Yankee-speech for cokes! It's like they speak a whole different language! But so far I haven't run into any rude Yankees. On the contrary, they've all been nice and even helpful. So much for the South having the monopoly on hospitality! They do drive very aggressively. I had to learn to speed just to keep up. I can honestly say I've never driven over 85 miles an hour in heavy traffic before this!
     Chloe had her second birthday during the trip up here.   On her birthday, she visited Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan! How many babies get to visit five states on their second birthday? So far, in her short life, she has also been to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. 19 states plus the nation's capital, all by her second birthday! 31 to go!
     Here in Gaylord, we're staying in a Baymont Inn.  It's clean, but it didn't have a fridge or a microwave in the room when we got here.  Thankfully, my husband's company complained and the hotel responded by buying little fridges for every room that the company is occupying.  Still no microwave.  Still, we have avoided eating out.  Wal-Mart has surprisingly good salads, subs, and sandwiches in the front near the produce.  We buy those, and we keep cereal and Lunchables.  We're still hoping the hotel will supply us with a microwave.  If not, we'll end up buying one.  That will open up a much larger menu for us.
    I have been known to boil eggs in hotel coffeepots, but the one here is very small, and I'd have to boil them one at a time!  I also know how to make grilled cheese sandwiches on a clothes iron, but I would never do that to a hotel's iron!
    My husband works nights remodeling Wal-Marts, so I keep the kids up all night.  That way they sleep late in the morning.  Then we also take an evening nap just before Daddy goes to work.
    I'll add more to this same post later, since we'll be staying here 8 weeks.  I write mostly for my own entertainment, but I do apologize to anyone out there reading this who is disappointed by my lack of entertaining skills!