Road Trip

I woke up at 5:30 AM without the alarm. Why didn't I set the alarm? Because, I'm off today. Why? I am off today instead of Friday (which would have given me a nice four day weekend) because today is my semi-annual doctor's checkup.

I watched the news and then the Today show until about 8:00 AM. Then I went and shaved and showered. I left at about 9:30 AM. Since my appointment isn't until 11:15, that was ridiculously early, but you see, she (my Doctor) has moved from Dr. McClellan's old office, so I allowed extra time to find her new place.

I took the usual route (55 miles: I-96 to I-94 to 26 Mile. 26 Mile to County Line Road to Richmond). I searched and found "Heritage Drive" but I was almost 20 minutes early. So, I left, found a McDonald's and make a bathroom pit stop.

I went back and signed in. It took a little while, but I finally got inside. When the doctor came in, she reviewed my blood work, my blood pressure (117/74) and my weight (a svelte 234 lbs.) She was pleased as punch. She said all the numbers were like twice as good as they were six months ago (and they were pretty good then!)

She credits most of it to me losing weight. In fact, she said if I could lose another 10-15 pounds in the next six months, she would consider either lowering the dosage of my cholesterol medicine or eliminating it altogether.

She did ask again about the colonoscopy test. I told her with my current insurance I would be on the hook for like half of it (as it is, I will have to pay for the blood work and the EKG she gave me today) and I can't afford it right now.

The EKG was fine and had not changed since last year, so all in all, it was a very good visit!

I hit the road again a little after noon. After gassing up, I headed back to the E-way. I got off of I-94 on M-59 (the old Hall Road) and took that to Groesbeck to visit my brother Carl. I've never seen his gardens in full bloom and wanted to check them out.

When I got there, he was in the front, weeding and watering his English cottage garden. He pooh-poohed me saying it, but it really is spectacular! We finally went around back and he offered me a beer, or sweet tea or fruit flavored water. I said a glass of regular tap water would be nice. So we went inside for a bit.

That's when I discovered his grandson, Taric (sp) (sorry, call him Jim-Bob or something and I could probably spell it!) had spent the night and was waiting for his lunch at McDonald's. My brother, of course, had said they couldn't go until I got there and then left.

In spite of that, Carl took me on a tour of the back yard. Out-fricking-standing! The pond, the stream, the trees he's planted and all the perennials were just beautiful. I was wishing that I'd brought my camera to show you (Carl never sends me pictures of his gardens) but I didn't, so I guess you'll have to go there yourselves to visit...

He kept offering me plants and I kept saying I'd be back in the fall to get them when they'd probably transplant a bit more successfully.

About that time Taric's (sp) dad, Kal (please don't tell me I spelled that wrong) pulled in to pick him up. We chatted for a bit and then I left. I wanted to beat the rush hour traffic and to let poor Taric get some lunch (its no wonder the younger members of the Goerlich family hate me!)

This time, I took Groesbeck to 8-Mile, 8-Mile to Inkster and Inkster to home. The traffic (negligible on the E-Ways) was bad. But, I finally made it home just after 3:00 PM after putting just under 140 miles on the car.

The first thing I did was to empty my pockets, take off my belt and lay down on the bed to rest my legs and back (long car rides really mess me up).

I got back up at 4:00 PM and, inspired by my brother, went out to water the front gardens (the temps are supposed to start rising tomorrow, get over 90 degrees F for the weekend and the next forecasted rain isn't until Tuesday or Wednesday).

Before I did that, though, I used the Velcro tape and secured the tomatoes in the garden (they've grown up another eight inches or so, and what used to be blossoms are now small green tomatoes). I disconnected the square sprinkler and hooked up the wand. Dragging almost the entire length of the hose out to the front, I watered EVERYTHING! I mean I drenched it!

The only thing I couldn't reach was the forsythia, so I filled a gallon bucket with water and drenched that, too. Then I shut the gate, coiled up the hose, etc, and went back inside. I secured all the doors and quit about 6:30 PM.

I ate the last of the watermelon chunks for dinner and watched a little TV. Then I switched to reading. Finding I'd finished the book, I shut off the light and went to sleep early.