I didn't take any pics on our way to Grand Rapids. There were expressways; there was traffic; the sky was cloudy; the landscape was brown......
We found our way to the hotel without trouble, unloaded, found provisions for supper, attempted sleep in too-squashy beds, got up at the crack of dawn, got showered and breakfasted, and found East Kentwood High School (where the meet took place).
East Kentwood's high school has a huge athletic campus. Many ball diamonds, a football stadium with tall bleachers, a ton of tennis courts, even an ice-skating facility, right on the campus.
Plenty of big sky, looking west over the campus.
Many things about the swim meet looked familiar.
Some things looked quite different. We were not accustomed to seeing competitors with gray hair. (We've seen lots of bald heads -- it is common for high-school boys to shave their heads before the state meet -- but not gray-haired bald heads.....)
This was Wilbur's first trip to a swim meet.
A high school campus was a perfect place to have a dog in the car.
Plenty of room to walk, plenty of grass, not too many questionable strangers walking by the car when he was outside alone.....
I mostly stayed in the car with Wibbs, reading, while my better half was inside (with his own selection of books). He called me when our swimmer's next swim was imminent, which worked very well. I saw all of her races, while keeping the dog from feeling abandoned.
On Saturday, I read Julia Child's My Life in France. I enjoyed it very much. I'm so glad to have seen Julia on tv -- I could hear her voice on every page. The book is replete with her enthusiasm, good will, and joie de vivre. I was taken along on her journey of discovery -- how different eating is, in France, from the USA; her growing determination to learn what she needed to know, so she could make those French delectables by herself; her experiences at the Cordon Bleu school; her mission to write a book that would allow dedicated Americans to cook in the French way (and the struggle to get that book published); how she came to be on tv (and how much she enjoyed teaching).
I read for many reasons. One is that I enjoy being transported, from where I am, to ... elsewhere. This is surely a book that does just that. I'm thinking I need to read
Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And maybe to see if the library has recordings of Julia's PBS shows..........
From time to time, during the morning of the 16th, I would leave France, and walk from the parking lot, along the high school, through double doors into the lobby, up the stairs, to the pool spectator area. I'd watch some swimming, yell some encouragement, enjoy swimming success. Then I'd walk back outside, to return to Wilbur, and Julia, and Paris.
As it happened, the swimmer had three events on Saturday morning, and none in the afternoon. We went back to the hotel at lunch time.
We had thought we might explore some of the parks of the greater Grand Rapids area, but it was raining, and chilly. Not really nice at all for strolling (or sniffing). In addition, there was a LOT of traffic in that part of the world. The many-lane road in front of the hotel was packed solid with vehicles.
My daughter and better half walked to the chain restaurant next door to the hotel. I am sorry to report that, though their expectations were low, they were quite disappointed with the fare. They brought me back a bowl of soup and a salad which were ok -- which is more than they could say about what they had............
Given the weather and the traffic (and the fact that we had a dog, so we couldn't go see museums, or something else indoors), we ended up spending a lazy afternoon in the hotel.
Many worse things have happened.
We all checked our email, we all read our books. I was sorry to finish My Life in France.
Here is Wilbur's "room" in the hotel. We'd arranged it with a nice pile of folded towels, topped with that orange fleece. Here it is after he rearranged it to his satisfaction.
You can just see him, lying in the back.....
In order to facilitate chronological traverse of these swim meet posts, here is a link to the next one.
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