The Big Winner

After a fun weekend in Harbor Springs, we are off to Sandusky, OH. The weather wasn't cooperating on Saturday and the team ended up sitting around waiting to see if there was going to be enough wind to sail. They cancelled racing for the rest of the day around 3pm, so the team decided to play Putt Putt. It had definitely been a while since I picked up a golf club, but figured I'd give it a shot. The course was Pirate themed and I ended up having the lowest score of the whole group. I even managed a hole in one on one hole (which was total luck).


After hitting the links, we came back to the team house for dinner and decided to play cards. Everyone was fond of Hearts, which I had only learned to play that morning. We had a Hearts tournament and I made it into the final round, along with Michael, Kip the owner, and Whitt a fellow sailor. Everyone was pretty competitive and Michael was ahead by 10 points going into the last hand. I decided to go big or go home, and ended up shooting the moon to win the entire game! I did feel a bit bad for beating everyone (again) but it was all in good fun.

Now we are headed to Sandusky, where Michael will be sailing his Laswer in the Great Lake Championships. This will be a gear up for the big one - the U.S. Nationals in Milwaukee.

Pics from Harbor Springs

Here are some pics from Harbor Springs. The town is really cute and right on Lake Michigan. Yummies is an ice cream spot I've hit up several times. They also had a great name for a bookstore - Between the Covers.



It is hard to describe how clear the water is! You can literally see straight to the bottom. It is like being in a pool without the chlorine.

A Few Observations on the Midwest

After being here for a few weeks, I have noticed a few things about the Midwest. I am by no means an expert, but here are my takeaways:

1. We are in the land of pop. Not Lady Gaga, but pop as in soft drinks. The signs at Subway even say "pop lids." I've heard people call it soda and down in Texas we say we want a Coke and then they ask, "Ok, we have Sprite, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper..." Along these same lines, Pepsi is king here! I always wondered how they made any money and it turns out the Midwest is their sweet spot.

2. Staying in the beverage category, the iced tea here is TERRIBLE. I'm a big iced tea fan and usually have at least one glass a day, so I feel pretty qualified to make this call. It is always really watery, not to mention there is never any sweetener around. And if I am lucky enough to find it, there is never Sweet-N-Low. I found a place that had sweet tea and thought this was going to do the trick but boy was I wrong! I couldn't even taste the sweetness! But I thought it would be rude to ask for sweetener when clearly they thought this was it.

3. Midwesterners love their old cars. I have seen more restored vehicles in these few weeks than I have in my whole life. This has actually been kind of cool. There is everything from old Porsche convertibles to muscle cars. And in addition, Ford rules here. I was pretty surprised, as I thought Chevy would definitely hold it's own, but apparently this is Ford Country.

4. The accents are hilarious. There's a lot of "Eh" thrown around. The accent can sometimes have a touch of Canadian, which throws things off.

5. Everyone is very patriotic. There are American flags everywhere, which reminds me of the East Coast. Everyone is very proud of our country, which has been really cool to see.

But the main takeaway is that everyone has been so nice. Whether it's asking directions or looking for other people to sail with Michael, everyone has been really helpful.

And we're driving, and we're driving....

We have finally made our way back to the Midwest after a long day of traveling yesterday. After waking up at 3:30am, our flight was delayed out of LAX and we didn't get to Milwaukee until 4:30pm. From there, we drove two hours south to Chicago. We had a great dinner with Michael's mom and dad at an Italian Steakhouse and it was great to catch up over a nice meal.

We left Chicago around 11pm and started the 6 hour drive up to Michigan. Michael is doing the Melges 32 Nationals this weekend with Team Roxanne so he had to be here Wednesday morning for practice. Luckily we had downloaded "Into Thin Air" and the book kept us awake for the drive. We finally got to Traverse City, MI around 5:30am. We didn't realize that they were on Eastern time and therefore we lost an hour.

We put the address for the house into the iPhone, but we could not find it anywhere. Finally around 6am we gave up and called Michael's teammate. Turns out the regatta is actually in Harbor Springs, not Traverse City...which was about 2 hours away. (the event is held at the Travese Yacht Club, which is why we assumed it was being held in Traverse City...you know what they say about assumptions) By this point we were both so tired that an additional drive really didn't seem that bad and people had started getting lost on Everest, so it was good timing for the book. We finally pulled in a little before 8am and were exhausted.

On top of all that, Michael was worried about his target weight. When he does team regattas, all the team members have to weigh in and be under a total weight. You could see how this didn't bode well, given that he has been trying to GAIN weight for the Laser. He had to lose 15 pounds in order to hit his target, so he didn't eat or drink yesterday or today. So after we finally got to Harbor Springs, I went to sleep but Michael had to go sit in the sauna to sweat off the pounds. Luckily the team weighed in shortly after that and hit their marks! Michael chowed down after starving for 2 days.

The team went for an afternoon practice sail and I decided to check out the town. Harbor Springs is a really cute town and reminds me of Annapolis, Edgartown, and small town Maine. The Main St. had quaint shops and restaraunts and is right next to the harbor. I am happy to finally be here and check out more of the sights tomorrow!

California Dreamin'

After a marathon drive to Milwaukee and an early morning flight, we have arrived in California. We were able to spend time with Michael's family and see the newest addition, Jack Jordan Bradley!


On Friday, we headed up Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara. Michael was racing on Escape in the Fiesta Cup. One of the crew was unable to race on Saturday so I filled in! It was my first time to race and I was really nervous. I didn't want to make any mistakes and cost us spots. I was in charge of "furling the jib" (basically pulling in one of the sails), getting the kite down (grabbing the big sail in the front and pulling it down below), and hiking (hanging over the rail). I am proud to say that I did a good job and everyone was very complementary. We ended up finishing 6th on the day, which wasn't exactly where they wanted to be. The regular crew was back on Sunday and Escapade ended up finishing 4th overall.


Tomorrow we are flying back to the Midwest, with a pitstop in Chicago and driving up to Traverse City, MI. I am sad to leave California, but the road calls!

Best Deal in Town

Since Michael and Ben need to gain weight, eating has become a large part of our trip. No complaints here! I came across Table 316, which offers the best happy hour in town. Starting at 3:16pm, you can get a steak dinner for $3.16. Every hour the price increases a dollar. Not to mention that they have the best rootbeer floats! You would think that we would be the only ones looking for a steak dinner in the afternoon, but the place is always packed! I think we've probably eaten 95% of our dinners here.


On Monday night, Michael and I checked out Arnolds Park, an old amusement park/boardwalk. We also got one of their famous Nutty Bars, which is vanilla ice cream on a stick, dipped in chocolate and nuts. The ice cream was Blue Bunny (obviously not ideal) but it was still tasty.

We also rode the wooden roller coaster, which I would describe as a scaled down version of the Texas Cyclone at AstroWorld. Of course we had to be the cool kids and sit in the last car. I love roller coasters and have ridden plenty in my day, but this one was rough! We got banged around in all directions and I've got the bruises to prove it. But overall it was a great ride!

Today is our last day in Iowa before we drive to Milwaukee and catch a flight to Santa Barbara for a regatta. We will be there this weekend and then heading back to the midwest for the second half of the roadtrip!

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Yesterday was the final day of the regatta and Michael had a great day of racing. He finished 4th and 2nd in the two races, earning him a spot of 2nd overall in the regatta!

I was able to go on the Judges Boat again for a front row seat to the action. A big thanks to the Grahams for letting me tag along!



The team after a successful regatta!



The team decided to head back to Iowa so Michael and Ben could train today. We finished the book on tape, which was excellent! I must admit that I thought books on tape were going to be pretty lame, but I really enjoyed it. We'll be in Iowa through Wednesday, then Michael and I head to Santa Barbara.

Luckily we were able to stop in Omaha before Entourage came on last night. For those other viewers out there, I feel like I'm still waiting for the season to heat up, and we're already three or four episodes in. What's the deal? And I loved Ari's banter in previous seasons but feel he hasn't been as witty lately. Maybe my expectations are just too high, but still waiting!