Holland Road Trip: Part 1

Hello friends!

I have almost (we still have to make it home) successfully completed my first real road trip without at least one parental supervisor. What a rush.

This past weekend was Northwestern's fall break. So in the spirit of travel and friendship, three friends and I drove out to Holland, Michigan to surprise my roommate Alli's family. Alli told them that we'd be spending the weekend at my house, which wasn't necessarily a lie─depending on how you look at it─it was more like a very exaggerated exaggeration. But it was all in good nature people, all in good nature for the surprise.


We left Northwestern around 2:45 Iowa time Friday afternoon and arrived in Holland at 3am Michigan time. I suppose you could say we were a little tired, but I really can't complain because I wasn't the one driving. 

[On a side note for my mother, who insisted that I text her every hour: the actual driving time was fairly uneventful. We may have accidentally driven through the electronic pass lane at a toll booth in Illinois, and someone (Taylor) may have almost hit a deer, AND we may have missed an exit or two─but we made it─and that's what's important.]

Then we stopped in at a friend's house for the night─well, what was left of the night─and got up again at 8 to get ready for the big surprise.

In the process of driving to Alli's house that morning, Alli got a text from her dad saying that he was at the grocery store getting donuts. So what do you think we did? Come on─I'll give you one guess. One guess people.

Okay fine─we went to the grocery store of course!

We went all out─hiding behind cars, aisles, everything. After making our way to the donuts, we set up camp behind a few racks of clothing where we not only had a good view of the donuts, but also the main door her dad always entered. (If I'm gonna have a favorite bathroom stall in the library I certainly can't harass him for having a favorite door at the grocery store.)

We may have gotten a few strange looks our way, and I don't doubt that a few of the workers were beginning to question our loitering, but in the end it was all worth it. In the process of waiting Alli even had a chance to surprise her grandpa, who just so happened to be grocery shopping that morning.

It took a bit of time before we saw any real action, but little did we know─Alli's dad had already been shopping for a good half hour. Thankfully he wasn't on the prowl for any woman's leggings that morning, so he didn't accidentally run across us.

And then, at that glorious moment around 9:30─we saw him, standing a good fifty feet away, grabbing one of those glazed donuts with the sprinkles on top. In a rush of excitement (I'm trying to make this intense for all of you because it truly was an exhilarating experience) I started filming the moment and we made a mad dash straight towards him. He didn't see us coming, so when we reached him and Alli asked for a donut, his head shot straight up.

I can't possibly do justice in attempting to describe the beaming smile on his face and all that occurred after that initial surprise. I've seen surprises like this on video before, but to be there in person and to witness it yourself is a completely different experience. That 11 hour drive was worth it.

But we weren't done yet. Alli still had three more family members to surprise.


[On another side note: Alli and I are alike in many ways. We go to bed at the same time, we both have curly hair, we're both the oldest child, neither of us can touch our toes, and we both like to pull our fair share of pranks. As I said earlier, all in good humor. 
(However, Alli does not drink coffee. But that's a minor detail I can look past.) 
So in preparation for this little surprise, Alli and I took a few staged photos at my house to send to her mom. Please note the photo of us "drinking some coffee and tea in my house on Saturday morning". That photo was actually taken on Thursday afternoon─but don't tell her mom that. Okay, you're right, she already knows.]


So you might be able to understand the surprise on her mother's face when Alli showed up in Michigan forty-five minutes after sending the picture of her in Iowa.

We surprised Alli's mom while she was still lying in bed, and woke up both of her siblings in the process, and yeah─we showed up at their house unannounced─BUT it was all worth it.

Thus began our weekend extravaganza. 

I'd say those surprises were some pretty darn great ways to start off a pretty darn great weekend with a pretty darn great group of girls.

And that my friends, is how my very first fall break of college started. There is so much more I could explain, and trust me, it will be explained in later blog posts, but for now I'll leave you with that. 

[Title photo creds to my good pal Ashley─up and coming photographer of the year.]