A Trip to Notre Dame

 

DQ treats!

We have arrived at the Morris Inn at Notre Dame where Jim will be participating in a conference honoring his former colleague Gary Anderson who is retiring soon.  We had a mostly uneventful trip here--almost 700 miles--a trip that we took many times during the years we lived in South Bend.

Last night's stay was at a place familiar to us over the years, the Holiday Inn Express.  Because it was unseasonably cold, Jim turned on the heat in the room.  Smoke billowed out of the register.  He quickly turned it off and opened the door to the hall.  We were given another room down the hall but were hesitant to turn that heat on.  Eventually, I was so bold as to give it a try and all was well--and the room warmed up nicely.

Supper was also at a familiar place--Ruby Tuesday's--just down the road.  We came back to the room for Sunday Night Football.

Today's trip was blessedly routine.  We stopped at Martin's and picked up a few things for snacks.  We were able to check into our room early choosing priority parking--at $18 a night it was a bargain compared to last week's $48 dollars a night in the challenging parking deck at Le Meridien in Cambridge. 

The trip was easy for us but because of the Hamas attack on Israel and then retaliation by Israeli forces, four participants for the conference were unable to come.  We are wondering if they can still join by Zoom.  

-------------October 10  Jim is in meetings all day.  I had granola from home for breakfast with some milk taken from HIE yesterday.  I then got a great cup of coffee at the coffee shop downstairs--no complimentary coffee available.  I was able to meet Linda Hanstra, a friend from church here in SB, and one I've kept up contact with--particularly because she has asked me to vet several pieces she has written.  We had a great chat over another cup of coffee.

Meals are always an issue--but I treated myself to an apple turnover for lunch!  

Last night's dinner at the Anderson's was lovely.  Lisa planned a musical celebration for Gary with several numbers--mostly light-hearted but one very somber canon for four women's voices:  By the Rivers of Babylon We Wept--as we all thought about the war in Israel and the conferees who could not fly to the US.

October 11  Last night we joined a few others for a light supper at the Coleman-Morse Building, a short walk from the Morris Inn.  It was fun to see Door Dash robots roaming the campus. After chatting over supper, Jim suggested a DQ treat--a great idea.

October 11  Jim gave his paper today.  Four of the presentations were via Zoom with folks who could not leave Israel.

I met with Lisa, Madge and Andrea, friends from our South Bend church, for coffee this morning.  We stopped at the grocery store on our way back to the Inn and I heard "Mary!"  It was a student from Family Literacy days--the kind of meeting that would occur more often in South Bend but never in New Jersey!  I had to ask her name but then I certainly did remember her--and her toddler from those days is now 20 years old!  

We met John and Lois who drove two hours to meet us for supper at Villa Macri where we had a leisurely dinner.  After getting back to the Inn, we decided we could still make a short walk to the Grotto. I lit a candle and prayed for all those on my nightly prayer list.  

It was a Phillies win tonight --10 to 2.  Leaving the restaurant we saw a few moments of it with Bryce Harper's three run home and then Trea Turner's later.

I think I'll end this posting now with the hope that it will also be an uneventful two day ride home--with an overnight stay at another HIE, another familiar one in Donegal, Pennsylvania.

October 12  Donegal, Pennsylvania Holiday Inn Express--407 miles--bought supper at nearby McDonald's which we have done before.  With a bottle of wine from Martin's we were all set!  Time to watch the Phillies who are ahead of the Braves 2 to 1 games amazingly!  

We began the day with coffee at Martin's with Dan and Jody Machiela--a great visit with them--and a gift for Jim of Dan's latest book.  

It was a good trip but we are eager to be home--maybe about 5 hours tomorrow.

--------------October 12--home at 1:30--easy driving today--about 700 miles total.