We decided to take Bo to Bloomington over Labor Day weekend. Partially, we wanted to get out of town one final time before school starts. But we also wanted to introduce Bo to my parents and their dogs. We loaded up her pink blanket bed in the car and brought her favorite toys to keep her happy. Bo does well in the car, so she spent most of the trip laying down, sleeping, or looking out the window. But I hadn't counted on how nervous she would be at the rest stops. She is very uneasy around traffic, and the noise from the semis followed us no matter where we stopped.
We planned to get breakfast in Ann Arbor, thinking it would be fairly quiet and she could calm down enough to go to the bathroom. Instead, Zingerman's Road House, the restaurant we had mapped out in advance was on a busy street and she was pretty freaked out. But the donuts made it worth it. Holy crap, these donuts. They told us it would be a few minutes because they were making them from scratch, and they were totally worth the wait. Zingerman's is a large group of restaurants, bakeries, and delis in Ann Arbor and the Road House has a special coffee/breakfast trailer stuck on the front of the building. The breakfast burrito with cheese and green chilies I had really hit the spot, and these donuts kept us satiated for several hours. On our return trip we stopped at the Zingerman's head quarters where they have a bakery, coffee shop, and creamery. It's right off I-94 (exit 175, I think), but far enough from the interstate that Bo couldn't hear the trucks, so I think we'll stop there again.
After we made it inside the IN state line, we decided to find a place where Bo could actually have a rest stop that didn't scare her. Since we'd previously stopped at Pokagon State Park, we decided to let her walk around there and take a quick dip in the lake. Pokagon is also conveniently located just off I-69 (an exit in the 350s, I believe), and it was worth it for Bo to relax a bit and finally eat her breakfast.
Bo conked out for the rest of the trip. She and my parents' dogs never really hit it off, but they were amicable. I think she really liked the rug in the living room since it meant more room for her to stretch out. She also enjoyed the blanket my mom knitted her out of scraps from a blanket she knit for us several years ago.
It was fun to walk her with the other two dogs in our favorite walking spots around town, especially Jackson Creek.
Dog walking is a family affair on Sunday mornings in Bloomington.
Of course, we also squeezed in a few non-Bo related activities in Bloomington. We went to the Rail with Mark and Jessica, where I had a Bandera for the first time:
From left to right: a lime cordial (sans alcohol), VERY smooth tequila, and a Sangrita, which tasted sort of like a very light tomato juice. The server explained that it's customary to drink from left to right in small sips, but she also encouraged me to drink it however I wanted. I followed her advice and I was surprised how much I liked this drink. The lime and tequila at the beginning make it taste like a margarita. But the tequila and tomato at the end reminded me more of a Bloody Mary. I want to find the tequila they used, but I would need to be careful not to drink too fast. It was so smooth that it was like drinking white wine.
John did a few runs in Bloomington but he also accompanied me a few times to the IU Outdoor Pool. I'm still swimming a few times per week, but I wasn't sure how much I would want to swim while on vacation. But Bloomington was so hot and humid that the pool was especially inviting each day, and the facility itself is excellent. I plan on posting some of the swim workouts I've been doing, so prepare to have your minds blown.
My parents generously took us out to some of our favorite Bloomington spots, including Upland. Dad is a good sport about posing for funny photos.
And then we had to say good bye to Bloomington until October; we'll make a stop there when we're in IN for the marathon this fall. Now it's time for me to reach deep down and find some grain of enthusiasm for the semester to start.
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