C and Sophie Take a Road Trip

   The invitation to Anna's graduation party had come in the mail a few months ago. Anna's mom and I have been friends for about 20 years or so. It had been about four years since we had been to visit them in Grand Rapids. This seemed like the perfect excuse to go there.
   C made a reservation at the hotel we like to stay at there. I went there a few times when I lived in Grands Rapids. Anna's mom and I used to go to the lounge to have a drink and talk. We had a work meeting there too. I always thought that it was an elegant place. I told myself that once I had a job and had money I was going to stay there.
  Anytime I went to Grand Rapids I did stay there. It's in a good location, there is a good restaurant and it has room service (although I've never used it). I've stayed in much grander places since then,but I still have a soft place in my heart for it.
   C arranged to take a half day off work yesterday. When he came home he was like a kid out of school. He wanted to get going,but we had a few things to do first. I needed to get some flowers for the garden, we needed to get some cash from the bank and we needed to have lunch. He was impatient to get going. We finally got our stuff done and hit the road.
   Since it is road construction season, there were a few traffic jams. C worked hard to control his impatience as we crawled down the highway. Eventually we got clear of it and headed north. We drove though the farm lands with stubble on the fields. We drove around Mil Lacs Lake. I remember the first time I saw Mil Lacs. It was the first time I had ever seen a body of water so big that I couldn't see the other side. I imagined that must be what the ocean is like. I have seen the ocean since then and I know that the ocean is nothing like Mil Lacs Lake, but I still find it impressive.
   C and I like spending time together. Even in a car we still have a good time. We talk and listen to music. I read over some lessons that I planned to use with my interns. I took a short nap just before we reached Grand Rapids. C turned on sports radio.
   I woke up about ten minutes outside of Grand Rapids. We were approaching Pokegama Lake, you have to drive on the bridge over it to get into town. It took me nearly two months to learn how to pronounce the name of it correctly. I looked at the familiar landmarks as we got closer to town. I had been through here several times and it always looks the same. Beautiful.
   We were now coming to the business district at the edge of town. Some of it looked familiar, some of it was clearly new. I looked for the nursing home at the edge of town. When I was an intern working in Grand Rapids I went to that nursing home with one of the pharmacists. He was the consultant pharmacist and wanted me to sit in on the monthly care meetings with him. I don't remember much about what we did, but I do remember they had really good blueberry muffins.
   Finally we got to the hotel. We checked in and were given the perfect room. It was far enough away from the pool area to be quiet, but close enough so we could get there quickly. We brought our things up and settled in. I called my friend and told her we were in town. We had planned to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant.
   They got there pretty fast. I was happy to see her. We had emailed and had chatted on Facebook now and again. We hadn't seen each other in four years. I noticed that she looked pretty much the same as she did when we fist met. She was engaged and preparing for her wedding back then and I was an intern pharmacist. A lot of time had gone by. She had Anna and her marriage ended. I had been through four jobs and had moved moved four times in those 20 years.
  It was a good dinner as expected. We came back to our room and gave Anna her graduation gifts. We gave her a Mickey Mouse T-shirt because she likes Mickey Mouse and some money. She was happy with the T-shirt. C was worried that the shirt wouldn't fit. It did. We had a nice talk. Then it was time for them to go, Anna needed to get to bed so she would be rested for her party tomorrow.
   C and I went to the Target across the street. C had forgotten his swimsuit and he wanted to sit in the hot tub. After a long car ride the hot tub feels very good. We found a pair of bright yellow swim trunks and bought them. It was still light outside so we drove into town. The streets were torn up. We crossed over the Mississippi River and drove past the paper mill.
   The town was quiet. The downtown businesses were all closed. C was surprised. It was Friday night. I reminded him that this was a small town. This is the way things are. We stopped at a gas station to fill up. I got out of the car and took a deep breath. The air smelled like fresh wood chips. It was from the paper mill. I always liked the scent and the whole town smells that way all the time. In 20 years that had not changed. I had toured the mill once when I lived in town. I was interested in how they make paper. The mill doesn't use chemicals that stink up the town. That's why it smells like wood chips all the time.
   We got back in the car and drove to the hotel. Tomorrow morning before the party we will wander around town a bit. We got back to our room and changed into our suits.
   There were a few kids playing in the pool area and another couple were sitting in the hot tub. It is a huge tub. We found a spot near one of the jets where we would not disturb the other couple. C relaxed into the hot water and I put my feet up to one of the jets. It felt good. I was watching to pool hoping that the kids would clear out so I could go for a short swim. I don't like to swim when there are kids in the water as they don't usually pay attention to what is around them. Since I can't wear my glasses or contacts while swimming I may not be able to see them until it is too late.
  Finally the kids cleared out. I walked to the pool and climbed in. The water was perfect,cool but not too cold. I swam a couple of short laps. It was good to know that I could still do a respectable front crawl. I got out and C got in. He floundered a bit a first, but then did a few short laps of his own. We decided it was time to go back to the room. I climbed in and did one more lap, a longer one this time. I had had enough. It was getting late.
   We got to the room changed again and hung our suits to dry. I knew they wouldn't be totally dry by morning and had brought a plastic bag to put them in. It was a good day.
   Tomorrow before the party, we will go downtown and walk around. We planned to go to the party and stay for an hour or so. Then we will head up to Duluth to walk around there and have dinner. After dinner we will head home. We are both looking forward to it.