Michigan & C-eh-N-eh-D-eh

My trio of different state weekend trips continued this weekend in Michigan. Patrick and I traveled four-and-a-half hours to Saline (close to Ann Arbor) to take part in his agents golf-outing and banquet. We kicked off our time there at the Brookside Golf Course. The outing was a golf scramble and we had a lot of fun! I of course didn’t golf because I haven’t taken my lessons yet. I did hit up the driving range though and had some successful attempts!

Patrick's agent, Doc Ping (in the white) hosts the event each year and invites his athletes to participate. It's a really big event for him :-) All the funds raised go to his scholarship foundation.

Patrick was a part of the Pay Chex team and all the guys were great. They knew I was a rookie at golfing and gave me lots of tips. They also let me chip and putt which was great practice :-) From left to right, Ken, Roger, Patrick, Kevin and Eric.

The course was kinda soggy because of all the rain but it sure was pretty...Patrick and I loved this house :-) The Pay Chex guys said we could live there if Patrick ever got traded to the Lions...I broke their hearts by saying "Ehh...the house isn't worth that much!" HAHA! But no seriously, it was ginormous and stunning...and doesn't even fit in the picture!!!

Good Times on the Green!

While in Michigan we stayed with the family Patrick always stays with when training with Doc. I have always wanted to meet Kristine and her son JJ. I've heard so much about them through the time Patrick and I have dated. They were so nice to welcome me into their beautiful home.

Aside from meeting and spending time with Kristine and JJ, Patrick was also excited for me to finally meet their 3 Golden Retrievers, B (Butterscotch), Beans and Nilla. It's an understatement to say Patrick loves these dogs :-) They were so fun and playful! We enjoyed grooming them and taking them for walks. I told Patrick not to get his hopes up though...they shed an awful lot and I don't know if I could deal with that on a daily basis! They sure are cute though...

Patrick with B and Beans and Me with Miss Nilla :-)

Something exciting that we got to do on our trip is cross the border and go to Canada!

This was for Doc's banquet. I've been to Canada twice before (Niagra and Torono) but I don't remember ever crossing the border. I guess there isn't too much to get excited about though...it took forever and they didn't even stamp my new passport (that I had to have rushed to me just for this trip). We traveled into Windsor to eat at an Asian restaurant. It was interesting that's for sure...lol. I don't know if you've ever dined Asian before but it's unlike anything I've ever eaten before. There were 11 rounds of dishes served. Basically one dish was prepared for each table and the table of 10 shared the dish. We first had a pork dish, followed by a very thick soup...I wasn't too keen on either of them but things went north when a shrimp dish and beef lo mien noodles came out...both were delicious! Our next dish was chicken legs (or so they say...) then this...

Yeah, that's a fish...a Pike in fact...still looking at us! I was brave and I ate it and it was actually quite good! Next time I catch me a pike I may be baking that baby up haha! Next they served squid and broccoli followed by lettuce wraps. Then came the desserts...amazing almond cookies and fortune cookies...followed by an almond cake and lastly a peanut butter soup that I couldn't handle too well. All in all it was a good meal. Some of the dishes weren't my favorites but there were more good ones then bad ones.

The point of the banquet was to honor Doc's Dojo class. One of his long-time students recieved one of the highest honors in Dojo being ranked "Renchi". Before the ceremony, Doc was the only other person to hold this honor in the United States. This particular ceremony was such a big deal because the man being honored is the first to be honored in the United States - Doc's ceremony was held in Japan. I don't know too much about Dojo so I apologize if I made any errors in spelling or in how I comprehended this event.

Our trips to Michigan and Canada (get the blog title?! haha...that was Patrick's contribution!) were very fun...next weekend we're bound for D.C. to celebrate the holiday weekend...stay tuned!