Week 19 May 6 - 12

PORTLAND

Not the same Portland we all know and "love", but Portland Oregon. Now I have to admit, this was not the first time to Portland, but the first trip consisted of landing at the airport, sleeping in a hotel just down the road, and leaving. So, I don't consider this visiting Portland.

This visit wasn't much more, but I got to go downtown and visit Henry's 12th Street Tavern.....and downtown in general. What a cool city! Right on the Columbia and Wilemette Rivers. The city itself has an interesting architecture. Trees and greenery incorporated in much of the city scape. It's like a hip Ewok Village.

There was definitely a nice vibe. Real people who were not pretentious and love their beer. Henery's Tavern was cool. They had an ice slab on the bar to keep your beverage cold! Genius!

This is definitely a city that I would love to go back and explore with Jenny! Well, maybe with all my buddy's too. After all, I heard it was the "Strip Club Capitol of the World".....(interesting....)

Anyway, in my recent travels to our Northwest Territory, Portland is definitely an impressive place. I recommend you visit.

Week 18 April 29-May5

Shortest Post!- Wooden Shoe Restaurant

Went to the Wooden Shoe Restaurant in Holland with Jerrod Pung for breakfast.  It was good.  They have a 12 egg omlette, that if you eat it all, you get a t-shirt.  I'll be back!

Shortest Post Ever!

Week 17 April 22-28

US Olympic Wrestling Trials

This is a piggy back on the last post for the Road Trip, but it was such a cool experience, I get to count it for two weeks.  Technicallities!  We went to the Olympic Wrestling Trials in Iowa City.  The winners of each weight class would be representing the United States this summer in London for the Olympic Games.


The boys at the end of the tourney.

The tournament included Freestyle, Greco Roman, and Women's Freestyle.  Watching all disciplines was remarkably easy to follow.  The tournament and facility was set up well.  I think the average session attendance was about 13,500. 


View from our Seats.

There were two Spartan wrestlers in the finals.  Nick Simmons lost a heartbreaker series of matches in Freestyle, and current MSU heavywweight Steve Andrus was second at 120 kg in Greco Roman.



I have to recommend this event for any wrestling fan.  It was very exciting and easy to follow. 



New statue of Dan Gable



Week 16 - April 15-21

Road Trip



Nate driving over the Mississippi River.

This week I took a road trip.  Road Trips are not new to me, but being the chaparone was a first.  I had the chance to take my son Aiden, nephews Zach & DJ, and Zach's buddy Nate.   We were on our way to the OlympicWrestling Trials at the University of Iowa.  What was cool for me is that is was so similar to the trips I used to go on with my dad.


The boys at a sign in Illinois to get gas.




We took many trips to Iowa or other locations accross the midwest to wresting tournaments.  Sometimes it was just the family, and sometimes we were hauling a packed car full of wrestlers.  In any event it was always fun. 

I remember dad's way of always making these trips like an adventure.  Simple things like getting something to eat, or getting a hotel, seemed to be exciting because dad would always try to find the best place to eat or stay.  The best local place. 

I really had a great time spending time with these guys.  It was fun to hear them tease each other and talk about things important to boys of that age.  It did make me feel like a kid again.  The trip was cool and it is definately something I will do again.

Week 15 - April 8-14

Fancy Dinner

We had a great time going to Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Grand Rapids on Saturday night to celebrate Steve & Cathy's and Brennan & Shannon's wedding anniversaries.  We went to Ruth Chris as the Amway Grand.  This is the first time I have been there since it opened. 

This is a pretty nice steakhouse.  The food was delicious.  The appetizers and sides are served family style, so it is fun to order a few a try them.  Jen & I are calimari fans and try it almost everywhere we go.  Brennan, not so much, but I think he enjoyed it here. 

Jen and I have had the chance to eat at the comperable steakhouses in downtown GR.  They are all good, but here is how I rate them. 

1. Chop House - Right accross the street from the Ruth Chris.  I like the atmoshere as being smaller, modern, darker....it reminds me of Chicago.  I would say it is as pricy as Ruth Chris, if not a little more.

2. Ruth Chris - Right accross from the Chop House....(duh).  Anyway, again, it's a nice fancy place.  The staff was really nice and made the experience the best it could be.  The only drawback, personally, is that Ruth Chris is a chain, which makes it seem more commericial, at least for me.  Tops though, again, I would eat here all I could, but it is expensive.

3. Louis Benton - This is the best value.  It is also more casual than both of the above two.  The steaks are just as good.  In fact, they have a nice butter sauce to dip your steak in as you eat it.  Everything is better dipped in butter!

Jen & I really enjoy going to Grand Rapids for a nice dinner event.  I do, however, experience buyers remorse in the morning, just thinking about how we could buy the same meats at the Meat Shack and make the same dinner at home, but its not about the food so much as it is the experience.

Week 14, April 1st - 7th

APES!

So I finally got my bike back with the new apehangers on it!  It took quite a while because they were working on Jen's bike too, and we were planning on getting them both at the same time.  Just getting it back this weekend, we missed all the great warm weather, and are back to typically spring riding in Michigan....aka "snowmobiling".

I have to admit, it was sort of weird to get used to, especially for the first ride of the year.  It was a bit intimidating.  You really need to think about how you are operating the bike, and letting the machine do the work and not try to wrestle the bike with the handlebars.  It is, though pretty comfortable for me.





Jenny thought it was a bit rediculous, but after she sat on it, she could understand how comfortable it was.  Plus, I think it's cool.  I am nervous however because after I had them put on, I learned they were "illegal",  so that's nice.  But they repealed the helmet law recently, so I am hopeful, this too won't be an issue.

Week 13 - March 25-31st

Low Bid on a Project in Washington!

Most of my career, I have been a Construction Estimator.  A lot of the bids I work on are public bids, whereas General Contractors prepare and submit bids for various projects at a specific time and locatation of the owner of the project.  Usually, these bids are opened and read aloud, so you have instant feedback on where you stand.

I have pursued these types of project outside of Michigan now, on and off, for the past couple years.  I worked on bidding a couple of projects in Lousianna and more recently in Olympia, Washington.  Other estimators at my company have been working on other projects in other vairous states.  None of us have had any success until this week.  We were the low bid on the Nisqually Public Safety Complex near Olympia. 

It is very exciting for me be involved in the varying strategies to win bids out of state and finally see some positive results.  It is not a done deal though, we will have to pass a series of qualification steps before we would be awarded the contract.

There were a number of other firsts this week, including having smoked Corn Beef, traveling to Portland, Oregon, and having some Crown Royal Black, but the bid success was by far the best part about this trip.