July 31, 2017: Mom’s 71st Birthday

Mom wanted to go to the Michigan Heritage Park in Whitehall for her birthday.  She is fascinated with history.   It’s a half mile loop with pre-historic exhibits.   Then, we went shopping in Grand Rapids and had a nice dinner at Pietros.

July 11-13, 2017 Niagara Falls with Josh

I was surprised when I looked at my phone at 6:30 am and Josh had written that he was all packed and ready to go to Niagara Falls a day early.   He was like an excited little boy.  It was so cute.  I hadn't been to Niagara Falls since 1985.    I brought with me $160 and Josh had $100 which made me nervous as I am used to having at least $500 to spend and a credit card for emergencies.  I wasn't as prepared for this trip as I normally am.   I should have had AAA travel services route us on the trip as my GPS didn't work in Canada.  I used my phone GPS to get us there.  We stopped in Frankenmueth as Josh hadn't been there before.  We had dinner at Zehnders which cost us $22.95 each.  Josh paid the bill.  

It was exciting for Josh to take the Blue Sky Bridge in Port Huron over the border to Canada.  He was taking a lot of pictures.   We each got a Canadian stamp in our passport.     I drove the whole way there.   We stayed two nights at Jellystone campground which was 3 miles from the Falls.

On Wednesday,  we got up early, had mochas at Starbucks and got to the Falls.    I drove down Lindy Lane Rd which has become quite built up in the past 30 years.     We paid $15 to park at the Skycam Tower lot.    Walked to the Falls and took lots of pictures.   I insisted we take the boat trip to under the Falls which Josh seemed to enjoy.  We got quite wet.    Josh said he was quite impressed with how I got around town without a map and that I was an enjoyable person and not to take that for granted.
We hung out by the pool a bit in the afternoon and took naps.
Had dinner using our Jetboils and got some ice cream.  We went swimming in the pool for about an hour.  

Thursday morning we got up early and packed up and went to Starbucks for mochas.   I drove past Hamilton for a rest stop about 2 hours away and realized I had left my purse with my passport in it back at the Starbucks in Niagara Falls.   I was in tears.  I didn't want to drive back in the heavy rain in that traffic through Hamilton to Niagara Falls.    Josh said he would drive which was a blessing.  We couldn't get much cell phone service in Canada so it was hard to call the Starbucks.  I finally got through and found out they had my purse waiting for me in their back room which was a relief.

You would think with all of my traveling, I would have remembered to get international phone service on my phone.  I didn't and got charged $201 in data charges.  I had turned off my cell phone after the first day.    I called Verizon and they were going to add international calling and retroactively fix the charges so it would be only $85.  

Overall, I think we had a great time on the trip and we compromised on our sleeping arrangements.  He prefers rustic camping and I prefer hotels.   We could have done better planning for this trip.  Next time, I will have more money, a credit card, and watch my purse.

July 10, 2017: Grand Rapids

Josh and I drove to Grand Rapids to take care of some business for him in downtown Grand Rapids.   We also went to Silver Bullet Firearms to look at guns for me.  We found a Glock 43.     It was $650 with a laser.   Never went into a large gun store before.   It still makes me nervous to even shoot a gun.  There is a lot of responsibility involved with owning a gun.

July 8, 2017: Concealed Pistol License Class

I'm on vacation for the next week.    Today,  I did something that was totally out of my comfort zone. I took a concealed pistol license class at Port City Pistol.  It was an all day class from 7:30 am until around 4:00 pm.    The first half of the day was the class instruction and the second half was learning how to shoot a gun for self defense.    I took the class with Josh, Krystle, and Chance.  I learned some important ways to protect myself in my home such as having a safe room to go to where you store your gun in case your home is broken into and your life is on the line.   Your last resort is to shoot the gun but if the bad guy steps into your home, then by law you have a right to protect you and your loved ones.  You should first call the police and leave your phone conversation on for dispatch to record what is going on.

When it got to the section of the class where we operated the 22 revolver,  I was quite nervous.  My group had Krystle, Chance, and I.   I learned how to load a gun and shot my first gun ever.   I was able to hit all 8 bullets on the 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper which was good.   The test was open book and the group worked on it.  We all passed the class and got certificates.    Josh was quite impressed with me for taking the class and going out of my comfort zone and managing my anxiety through it.    We all did very well in the class.

Also, I am pretty financially broke right now.  We lost the power to our house due to a storm a few nights ago and had to throw out the food in the refrigerator which makes me nervous as I didn't have any money until payday.  I sure do need an emergency fund for instances like this.