Diane is on her way.....maybe

It is Saturday, March 20th.

Morning came bright and early. Well, maybe just early. It is cold and gray today.

I had made arrangements with my wife Diane to call me at 10:00 a.m. this morning. This is the last day of the first leg of my journey and I am looking forward to seeing her. The plan is for her to pick me up along the trail.

I will be heading toward Marshall today and after she picks me up we will head to the Holiday Inn for the evening. We will then head back home on Sunday.

I was all packed up and ready to go by 10:15 and had still not heard from Di. I called her and she groggily answered the phone. Oops!

I told her I would call her in an half hour so I could give her directions on locating me. She generally does a lot better after her first cup of coffee.

I began the trek for the day. I had to backtrack to get on the south side of I-94. I hiked down Eaton Rd for about a mile and then headed west on M-199. I reached B Drive North and headed west. Fairly soon I was in the country again.

B-Drive was mislabeled on the map and I wasn't sure that I was on the right road but after a short time I sighted the sky blue blaze of the North Country Trail.

I called Diane and she was up and about. She was making a casserole for tomorrow's scheduled Miller Family Dinner. This month it is at my oldest daughter Cindy's house.

I had kind of thought she might already be on her way but she told me that she wasn't planning on leaving the house until 12:30.

I was a little disappointed at first but realized that this would actually allow me to get almost a full day's hike in before she reached me.

Diane was facing a two hour drive and was a little harried as she was preparing for the birthdays to be celebrated at the Miller Family dinner tomorrow. She later told me that after she left she had to turn around and go back home because she had forgotten something she needed for Sunday.

I called her again around 1:30 hoping she was getting close but it turned out she was still outside of Jackson. Apparently a McDonalds had gotten in her way and added to the delays.

It was quite cold and I had 6 miles in and would have gladly called it a day but since Diane hadn't arrived I kept going.

I was just getting ready to call Diane again as 2:30 approached.

Over the horizon, a Taurus appeared. Could it be? Yes, my lovely wife had arrived. In total I hiked about 8 miles this day.

She bundled me into the car and took me to he Holiday Inn. They didn't have a hot tub so she went even a step better and we had a spa room. I like hot tubs in my bedroom as most of my family and friends are aware.

After a soak in the hot tub for me and a nap for Diane, we went to dinner and a movie. Dinner was at a Denny's. It was one of the new, old fashioned retro-Denny's made up to look like a 50's diner. The food was much better than I expected.

The theatre is in old downtown Marshall in a building that was constructed in the late 1800's. In 1902 it had been converted to a theatre. They remodeled again in 1939 and once more in 1975. I enjoyed looking at the pictures on the walls of the theatre as it laid out the history of the building.

After the movie, back to the hotel.

Pictures from today's hike include:

The Kalamazoo River

A couple of old homes

A DNR sign