Road Trip!

A normal Saturday for me is waking up early to take the dogs out to "do their business". Come inside watch a little TV and than take a nap. Wake up again and with the help of my husband decide what we are going to do for the rest of the day.

Today was a little different. I was woken up around 8:30 am, by my husband, saying he wanted to be on the road in an hour. I of course didn't understand what he was saying but than it hit me ... we were going on a road trip! Not just any road trip but a road trip to see our Detroit parents!!! However, I still needed to pack all my stuff for the weekend and this is not an easy task for un-caffeinated Tracey:)

Thank goodness my husband made me an iced coffee with milk and vanilla flavoring:

After packing we ventured out in the rain to pick up our rental car. We got our badass Nissan (just kidding, totally not badass) car home, packed the car and headed to Detroit. The one thing I really need while driving is good music and we had a good and random selection. Shakira, The Crow, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buddy Guy and a bunch of other types of music.









Breakfast



A couple hours into the trip I needed some more caffeine so we stopped at Starbucks!

My typical Skinny Vanilla Latte:

I ate half of this sausage sandwich:

Oh yeah, this was a fancy Starbucks, it had a drive thru:

5 hours after leaving Chicago we reached our destination and with that we treated ourselves to some Coke and PM (scroll to the bottom to read Patricks memories of this cocktail):

The dogs were also treated to some goodies, bully sticks:

After our treats we let the dogs loose in the back yard. Solera couldn't control himself with all the space, he was "rolling on his back" happy:

Once he saw us I think he was wondering why we weren't on the grass joining him!

All done, lets go chase some rabbits!

While Solera was running and rolling throughout the yard, Cappy took his time smelling every square inch. Cappy likes to get to know his surroundings before he starts letting loose and rolling around in them:

It makes me SO happy to see the dogs enjoying a yard. They are both city dogs so this is a real treat for them!







Dinner





Friday night my friend ML introduced me to a new beer:

Framboise Lambic. It was so good I bought some to have over the weekend.

I'm not a beer drinker at all. Give me a martini, wine, champagne or a mixed cocktail and I'll have it down in no time flat. But, beer, not my thing.



However, this beer is very good. Might have something to do with the fact that my husband served it to me in a wine glass, I kid. The raspberry flavor really comes out in this beverage.

Foamy and delicious:

Whenever we come to Detroit it is mandatory that we get a Jet's Pizza. This is my husbands favorite pizza of all time!

Spicy pepperoni with a cajun crust:

So cheesy and so good!

Let's chat a bit about the crust. I'm not a crust girl. I go directly for the meat and cheese and leave the crust on the plate. I mean, why fill up on bread when I can fill my belly with spicy meat and gooey cheese. Well, this crust has taught me that I should not treat all crust the same. One word for this crust, Delicious! Perfect texture and the cajun seasoning added a nice to kick. Yum!

I snacked on 2 of the extra hot boneless chicken wings:

The best part of the entire meal was saved for last. Salad with green peppers, onion and black olives.

OMG ... Love! So simple yet so good:

My Saturday was fantastic! Hope everyone out in blog land had a good one as well:)







Patrick Memories of the PM and Coke Cocktail:





"When I was little, Thursday night marked the beginning of the weekend. This was my Dad's influence, a man who enjoys extending every occasion, whatever its size (he now celebrates his birthday for a full month). My brothers and I would all watch as he unpacked his briefcase -- waiting to see if he brought out a small brown paper bag. If he did, it meant that the chicken my Mom had cooking would go back in the fridge, pizza would be ordered, and my brothers and I could each get an ice-cold Coke from the mini-fridge in our kitchen (all very exciting for us boys). For in this bag was a pint of PM (formally "Pleasant Moments") -- a low-end whiskey which my parents would mix with Coke and sip over conversation as we waited for the pizza to arrive. Tracey and I recreated this occasion when we reached my parents' place, this weekend. Although this time, we joined them in their cocktail and conversation as we waited for pizza, our "boys" got bully sticks instead of Coke (much more to their taste), and PM was no longer available by the pint at the local liquor store. Instead, I had to buy a fifth. Which cost $7.50. Which should give you an idea of both the financial state in which I grew up and what I mean by "low-end whiskey." It was fun, but I don't think Tracey's going to be requesting another..."

Ann Arbor or Bust

The day after Christmas we set out on a car trip. Patrick, the dogs and myself piled into the car to head to Ann Arbor. My mother and father in-law are celebrating 40 years of marriage and we wanted to be around to celebrate with them.

The trip started out a pretty snow fall.

We had our beverages of water and Dr. Pepper. When you are going to be driving for more than a couple hours you need to be caffeinated.

We started out the trip listening to the radio but once we lost the signal it was all Nickelback. My husband and I both loved this album.

Our puppies were tucked in the back seat. As you can tell by the expressions on the faces, they were not happy about the car ride.

The humans enjoyed the car ride a bit more because of the pretty scenery. All kinds of trees and the snow globe like views.

By 2:00 pm we were really hungry and needed to stop for some food. We found that the choices of restaurants were not that great.

I settled for a taco bell soft shell taco with 5 medium sauces:

A burger from Burger King:

A look at the inside of the burger made me have second thoughts about eating it :/

Patrick and I shared some onion rings:

This little guy kept me busy throughout the entire car ride. He kept trying to sneak into the front seat and wanted to out sing the radio. I've never met a dog that could whine and scream for 6 straight hours and still have a ton of energy!

But, once we reached our destination and got out of the car he was the happiest dog ever! Look at that smile:

My husbands family has a tradition of eating chicken pie on Christmas morning. Since we missed Christmas morning with the family, this year, we were both hoping some chicken pie was left over. We were not disappointed! We both had a piece and it was fantastic!

YUM!

After hours in the car with a screaming dog I thought I deserved a glass of champagne.

The perfect ending:)

Sleep Sounds Good!

As I've mentioned in other posts I am having trouble sleeping. So I was more than happy to wake up and have some java with peppermint creamer. Oh so happy!

Notice the big M on my coffee cup, that stands for Michigan. I am a die hard true Nebraska Husker fan but I've married into a Michigan family. I love them so much that I have learned to like the Michigan Wolverines.

Lunch

Leftover spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and garlic. I can't believe how well this stuff heats up. Next time I go to Whole Foods I'm buying a BIG spaghetti squash so we can have leftovers for lunch.

I love this stuff and can't wait to try out other toppings!

Question:

How do you drink your coffee?

I prefer a latte but if I'm drinking coffee I have to add creamer.