Ann Arbor Precis

Dick just wrote a letter to our nieces and it's a good summary of our time in Ann Arbor so far.  

Greetings from Ann Arbor. With the exception of a few minor glitches,
we are having a great time. To summarize our trip so far, here's what
we have been up to,

1) Games;
Wow! The first one, Western, started so hot that a woman up behind us
had collapsed and needed medical attention before it even started. The
heat got to Nancy and she left to find shade at the end of the first
quarter was over. She went back to the car to sit in the air
conditioning. Tom and I stayed to the end which was late in the 3rd
quarter when it was called off due to the weather.(Lightning) A
first! That has never happened before. It rained so hard that we were
drenched. The game was stopped, then restarted and then stopped again.
I told Dylan that I might have gotten wetter if I just jumped in the
pool with my clothes on but I'm not sure.

The second one, Notre Dame was the first night game and set a new
national attendance record, 114,804. Nancy decided she wasn't ready to
go back to the stadium and so I took some old coaching buddies. In the
last 1 1/2 minutes, we scored to win, they scored to win, and then we
scored with 2 seconds on the clock to win for real. What a roller
coaster! 3TD's in just over a minute! My pals said they thought I was
having a heart attack. I'm not sure what time we got home but I was so
wired that I was still up reading the early comments in the papers at
2:30 in the morning.
In the afternoon we had a chance to watch the Spartans and they are
definitely impressive. I hope they kick some more Irish butt this
week.

2)Social;
We have gone out for breakfast, lunch, dinner coffee and a tailgate
with old friends. At the teacher retiree breakfast, someone was nice
enough to point out that Nan and I were the oldest ones there. You can
sure tell that we are all getting old when the topics most discussed
are grand children and medical conditions. We did a coffee with local
geocachers. One of the most fun events was a tailgate. Some of Tom's
HS buddies claim we turned them on to tailgating when we took them to
games and tailgated 30 years ago. They bought a house near the stadium
which they rent out to students except for the basement and the back
yard on home game days. They have named it the Wolverine Den. It has
its own web page which you can google. On Saturday they had a pig
roast which we attended along with over 250 others. Steve, the guy who
started it said that 50 - 60 don't go to the game, they stay and watch
it on one of the TVs. I met a number of former students and their
kids.

3)The downside;
We are not happy with our unit. The development we stayed the past 3
years was well maintained and convenient, a 10 minute drive straight
to our stadium parking. This one is 30 - 45 in heavy Interstate
traffic. This development is poorly maintained. It's called Village
Green, Nancy says the name comes from the green mold on the outside of
all the buildings. When we moved in, the kitchen faucet leaked and
they had just placed a towel on the shelf under the sink. We thought
that the oven needed cleaning but but they say "it is just corrosion".
The kitchen contains one dishtowel, one fry pan, one sauce pan and one
other pot. Oh well, we'll just go to Meijer and pick up some stuff. It
is what it is.

All in all we are having a good time. Next to Traverse City, Ann Arbor
is our favorite town.

If all goes well. on Wednesday we are driving to Rochester to see
Odette and Doug. We were scheduled to go last Thursday but their
Medical problems wouldn't permit a visit then.