Nomad Life - Day 310

Late last night, I finally was able to coordinate a get together with one of my college roommates from Notre Dame, Jamie F, who lives in nearby Midland.  We hadn't seen each other in over 25 years so I was excited to have a chance to meet him later in the day.  With this anticipation, I woke at 0630 (before alarm) and began teleworking immediately in my room at the Euclid Motel (Bay City).  Along the way, I (again) skipped breakfast.  My meetings lasted through 1100 and, as I was wrapping one of them up, I got a call from the front desk that I was supposed to check out ("you only had the room for two nights").  At first, I thought I was the one in the wrong, since it is hard sometimes to remember what day it is while I'm living the Nomad Life.  However, my reservation email confirmed that I was definitely set up for three nights, with checkout on Wednesday.  After getting this straightened out with the hotel manager, I felt better.  Since I'd been rousted from my work day, though, I decided to get some lunch from the Arby's that was located about 100 yards from my hotel - I walked over there and ordered lunch at 1125.  Since it had been a while since I recalled eating in the restaurant, I changed up my "normal" choice by selecting one their "Double" Beef & Cheddar sandwiches - it had a LOT of meat but wasn't even the biggest option!  I ate my food in the restaurant and returned to my room by 1145.  Before resuming my telework day, however, I made some plans for lunch with another Notre Dame friend, Dave A, on the following day and also made a new hotel reservation (in the town of Standish, to the north) for the rest of the work week.  Back online with my work computer soon after making these arrangements, I worked until 1530.  With work complete, I departed Bay City (1535) and drove west.  The day was sunny and clear (78 F) - I've been so lucky!  I used MI-20/US-10 (a fast, four lane highway) to reach the eastern outskirts of Midland and then used Business Route 10 to get to the center of the city.  By 1555, I'd arrived at "The Commons" (Pedestrian Plaza) and went into the Three Bridges Distillery and Taproom to wait for Jamie.  The staff helped me with my order of a flight of four of the spirits produced by the Distillery and I enjoyed tasting the bourbon and whiskeys.  Jamie arrived at about 1610 but sat down in a different area (i.e., the original part) of the taproom.  Since I was waiting in the "On the Corner" side, I had to go find him.  We eventually met up and had a great reunion conversation for the next hour.  Along the way, we ate pizza (dinner) and, since I'd nearly finished my tasters by the time the food arrived, I ordered a delicious house amber beer.  Jamie wanted to show me where he lived (north of the Downtown area) so we departed the restaurant at 1820.  Before getting in the car, however, we walked on a nearby trail (Pere-Marquette Rail-Trail of Mid-Michigan) and followed some paved walkways out into the middle of the Tittabawassee River on something called the "Tridge".  There was a nice "plaza" at the place where the three bridge spans met and I was impressed by the good looking active infrastructure.  Afterwards, we got in Jamie's car and he drove me to his home on the northwest side of the city.  We arrived there at 1850 and I got to meet his horse ("Trav") and take a walk on his property.  He'd just mowed the grass so there was a pleasant smell in the air.  The whole place was relaxing and rejuvenating.  Sadly, I didn't meet his wife.  Jamie next took me on a driving tour of the area near his home.  I got to see a lot of places that were important in his life, including the performing arts center.  Along the way, we passed several sites connected to the ubiquitous Dow (Chemical) Corporation, which has a major presence in Midland.  Jamie told me that the area boasted one of the highest concentrations of PhDs in the entire country.  During this time, we talked briefly about possibly driving to Mount Pleasant, where Jamie is a professor at Central Michigan University, but the 45 minute drive was a deterrent.  Instead, we returned to Downtown Midland by 2000 and then spent about an hour talking while sitting on some comfortable rocking chairs in the Pedestrian Plaza.  As the evening progressed, I nearly forgot that Jamie and I had lived together more than 36 years before - it sure didn't feel like so long ago...  At about 2100 (with just over two miles of walking for the day), I reluctantly said goodbye to my friend and started the drive (reverse of the route I'd used in the afternoon) back to Bay City and my hotel.  On the way, I listened to my new audiobook.  It was dark but I didn't need a map to find the Euclid Motel without difficulty.  After I arrived in my room (2135), I spent the rest of the evening working on Duolingo exercises, reading and watching YouTube videos.  Bedtime was at 2345.  Even though it has been a short visit, I have really enjoyed my time in Bay City and am so glad I made the trip over to Midland to see my friend!