I Commute From … — White Lake/Monroe
BY COLLEEN MILLER
Managing Editor
Jeff Brelin, an undecided senior, is not your traditional college student. He neither lives on campus nor does he go out to the bars or restaurants at night. As he hung out in Bumper’s Game Room playing World of Warcraft on his laptop I had an opportunity to talk with Brelin about commuting from places in metro Detroit where you can still find horseback riding and dairy farms.
“It depends [where I’m coming from], I live in White Lake but I commute from work … all over,” said Brelin.
It usually takes him about an hour to get to Oakland University via M-59 and I-75.
“I don’t even listen to the radio– I just drive there,” Brelin said. He also advises to avoid Pontiac in rush hour and stay off the loop.
So what’s there to do in White Lake?
“I have no idea … I ride horses and work with horses for a living– that’s all I do … so I go to bed at like 9-10 o’clock and I’m up at like 6 in the morning.”
Being on the road a lot and with such a demanding schedule, he said he doesn’t spend much time in White Lake. But one place a lot of people visit there is Alpine Valley, a ski resort. There are also a few ranches open to the public where people can go and ride horseback. If you’re going horseback riding, Brelin has a work of advice:
“Wear tight jeans … so you don’t chafe your legs when the jeans move when you’re sitting in the saddle.”
He spends most of his in Monroe working. Although he doesn’t go out much, a man has to eat. Being out in the country, he takes advantage of fresh milk and meat at all of the local farm markets and butchers.
“I drive for a living so I’m all over the farm country,” he said. “If I need milk I go to a dairy.” Milk at a dairy is a little more than you’d find at a grocery store, at about $3.50 a gallon, but it’s fresh.
And for meat, especially steaks, Brelin hits up the White Lake Supermarket. “That’s a decent butcher.”
