The Midwest

Our tour took us on a detour to Midwest from the East coast this week, mainly for our fourth presentation in Indianapolis. But as with all our adventures, we take the windy path to get there.

So we started with a stop for the weekend in Columbus, OH to break up the drive and visit J’s friend Hoss/Jason and girlfriend theAccessory/Adrienne. Plus, I grab any chance I can get to eat at Mr. Suishi (the world’s best sushi is found in Columbus, OH, trust me). Also, Hoss used his connections to score us all tickets to the Memorial Golf Tourney. Now, I am not an avid golf fan, though I have been introduced to the sport by marriage. I can remember some of my best naps watching golf on Sundays. But, any chance to try something new is my thing, so to the Tourney I tagged along.

It did not disappoint! Not only did I get to hobnob (or just stand 5 feet away) with golf celebs like Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler and KJ Choi, but live golf is fascinating. We didn’t just follow one group of golfers and instead walked the entire (HILLY!) golf course, so getting some exercise was a real bonus. Although it felt like I was in some kind of unfair race as I attempted to keep up with J & friends who have several inches on my short legs (their single pace was more like 4 paces for me). Hoss had VIP access which meant (good!) food and (free!) drinks, so take me to the Tourney any day! And I will have to publicly apologize for one of Tiger Woods’ worst performances in golf history … he was just too distracted by my beauty.

From Columbus, we headed to southern Indiana to do some “research” for our job. We did a 12.5-mile overnight backpacking trip on the Two Lakes Loop in Hooiser National Forest. Who knew Indiana had more than farmlands??? J & I were the only ones on the trail, unless you count the millions of ticks, deer and a single turtle. The trail is riddled with honeysuckle, which is my favorite scent in the world (I have in storage 4 bottles of honeysuckle body lotion from Bath & Body Works because they discontinued the scent).

J also came up with a new goal for us after we finish our other goals of hitting all the high points in each state and national parks … do a backpacking trip in every state! My first reaction was, do we really need more goals?? My second was hmmm … could be interesting to discover the hidden gems like we did in IN.

After pulling all the ticks off of us, we headed to Indianapolis to give our fourth presentation of the tour. We rocked it again. The REI was just about the most beautiful REI we have ever been in and we had our biggest crowd yet (sold out with 55+)! Our guest BP writer Stuart Peck was stellar with all his suggestions for local hiking (including the trail we did). I just can’t stop saying how awesome these events have been and how lucky we feel to be involved in them!!

And we were able to squeeze in a very quick visit with a friend (Mouse/Kathryn) I haven’t seen since 2008!!

Next up, we head back East. We have back-to-back events in the next week, then some off time to recuperate. For me, this means catching up on personal e-mails, writing some medical articles and visiting friends and family. For J, what do you think it means? Concerts, concerts and more concerts.