indiana: bloomington

The drive from Bristol TN/VA to Bloomington was seven hours I think? Dealing with the curvy highways through the Appalachians, then the traffic mess that is Louisville, Kentucky.
As I was driving into town, I stopped at Target and bought myself a Fitbit. I'd been wanting one for a while.
I arrived home at dinnertime.  I brought all my stuff in the house and up to my room. It was really nice to come back to a place I know so well. I felt so comfortable, and knew exactly where everything was. 

Despite knowing Dad and I were going out to dinner, one of the first things I did was to get some cheese out of the fridge. We've always kept blocks of cheese in there, usually a medium cheddar or colby jack.
Dad and I had our regular dinner date at Janko's Little Zagreb. I know I've written about it before, but I will mention it again here. The restaurant has been around for quite a while. It's quite basic, but I love it. It is especially popular among athletes, especially when they are hosting recruits for a weekend. Also in the normal clientele are business people, for a casual dinner.

It's not fancy, but the food is worth it. If you're not into steak there are a few other options, but in general, if you don't like steak, I think there are other restaurants in town that are much better.
Janko's is all about steak. Much of what they have on their menu is locally butchered. SO GOOD.
After dinner, Dad and I walked around the neighborhood. One of the things I love about the neighborhood is that it doesn't change much. People live in this neighborhood long term.
The next day we did our basketball day trip, coming back to Bloomington in time for dinner.

The day after that, I met up with one of my old bosses for our normal breakfast date at Village Deli. It's always good to hear about the updates of Indiana University Rec Sports from the leader. Students at Indiana University have a lot of opportunities, and from my experience they don't know how awesome those opportunities are until years later. KGB is a great leader.
The following day Dad was scheduled to go skydiving. Unfortunately, the weather didn't let that happen. Argh. Instead, we drove around Bloomington a bit. We started with souvenir shopping for me at the Varsity Sports shop in Assembly Hall.

All the Indiana Univeristy gear you could possibly want. I walked out with two coffee mugs and a sweatshirt. There were more items that interested me, but I managed to exercise some willpower for once.
I grew up in Bloomington. The city is home to Indiana University, which is an internationally recognized research university. When you have a university that attracts international students, they bring their culture with them. The awesome part of this is that Bloomington is home to food and culture from all over the world.

Ever heard of the Dalai Lama? What I bet you didn't know is that his brother lived in Bloomington for many years. Thubten Jigme Norbu was the older brother of the Dalai Lama, and was a professor of Tibetan Studies at Indiana University for many years. He founded the Tibetan Cultural Center (which later became the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center) in Bloomington, living on the grounds until his death in 2008.
Despite growing up in Bloomington, I'd never visited the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. The weather was rainy, so maybe we could've picked a better day, but oh well.
Google maps does not know where the entrance gate is located, we drove down one wrong road before figuring out the correct place to go.

Its not a typical gate, you are very aware you're entering a place that is different from 'normal' America.
Due to the rain, we were the only visitors at the time. We found the gift shop (the lady turned on Buddhist music for us just after we walked in.) first. We saw a couple stupas, one bigger than the other. Under one of them was a sand mandala, beautiful. We saw a prayer and meditation room, and were given a short tour by one of the monks. I loved hearing the explanations of everything in the room, there is soooo much I don't know. We saw the prayer wheels outside, those wheels are BIG!

After leaving the grounds, we went to the Chocolate Moose, an ice cream place. I was disappointed they didn't have eyes to put on my ice cream, but the ice cream was still as good as it always is.
The next morning I went hiking at a lake really near the house. I don't know why, but Griffy Lake isn't listed on tripadvisor, or triposo. Sure, it's man made, but it is one of the official reservoirs of the city, and there are pretty trails all around the lake. Bugs were out like crazy, but I loved the peace and quiet of being out in nature.
I changed clothes and went to meet my sister at work, we got lunch from food trucks. YUM. I had more ice cream from the Chocolate Moose, just because I could.

You have to take advantage of what you can get while you can get it, right? She also gave me the keys to her house, so I could move my stuff over there later that afternoon, and let her dog out.
Then I went to the IUOP. The Indiana University Outdoor Pool. I worked there as a lifeguard and swim instructor for years, it hasn't changed. I haven't been there in probably 10 years, but it still looks (and smells) the same. I love laying out :)
Even though I thought I was moving quickly, I ended up being really late to meeting up with my sister and her friends. Argh.

The next day was the day trip with my sister and dad.
Sunday morning I got up and went for a short run before getting ready for church. I'm proud of myself for actually getting out the door to run. Yay!
At church it was nice to have quick catchups with people I've known nearly my entire life. AWESOME.
Just after church, my sister and I quickly changed clothes, then drove to a business called Massage Envy. A few years ago I went to the wedding of my friend Scott, and at the wedding I met his family. I got along with them really well, and have kept in touch ever since. At the time, they lived in California, but a couple years ago moved to Bloomington. They opened a franchise of Massage Envy, and I figured it was the perfect opportunity to see people I like, and support their business. Great massage, and great to catch up.

My sister and I shopped that afternoon. She is a very good shopper in that she can 'see' if something will look good on someone else, regardless of differing styles and body shapes.
Dad came over to my sister's house for dinner that night, my sister made tomato soup from scratch. YUM. She also made rosemary bread, and sent home an extra loaf with Dad. After dinner, the three of us took her dog Rocky for a walk. Rocky was in heaven.
The next morning I moved my stuff back to Dad's house. Then I met one of my high school swim teammates for lunch at Steak n Shake. I don't normally like visiting chain restaurants, but Melissa had one of her children with her, and he was only 4 years old. Really good to catch up!
After going back to Dad's, I stopped by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. I know I can buy postcards there, and another high school swim teammate works there. She and I hadn't been able to figure out a meal to eat together, but I was able to chat with her for 15 minutes, which was nice.

Then I got my 4th tattoo. There was another lady in the tattoo shop at the time. I noticed on the inside of her left arm she had tattooed NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. I kid you not. I saw the picture of the face she was getting tattooed on the inside of her right arm, I"m pretty sure it was one of the New Kids on the Block. Really? 
That night I had dinner at another local place, the Crazy Horse. I ate with my best friend from high school, and another friend from those years. Both of them went to a different high school (only 15 minutes down the road from my high school,) and in the way life is sometimes funny, both of them now teach at that high school. Really good to catch up.
The next morning I had another breakfast at the Village Deli, with another of my old bosses. After breakfast I walked down the street to the campus of Indiana University and took a few photos of my alma mater.

It's a gorgeous campus, I could've wandered for hours and hours. It was the awesome time of year when there are no classes and students. Even though Bloomingtonians know the University brings a lot to our community, we sometimes hate the students and all the chaos they bring. The few weeks of summer when there are no classes are a beautiful, quiet time of year. 
I feel bad because I didn't get to see more people while I was in Bloomington. I didn't make nearly the effort I should've made to contact people, and do it ahead of time.