Uncategorized – The Adventures of Ms Haps & Arthur

Mainly Muskegon

Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that it was a whole year ago that I had been to Michigan and spent time in Holland and outside of Grand Rapids in Jenison. This time around was so different. With the freedom to travel by car, every day activities like going to a movie or to the grocery store were just easier. It’s one of the things I’ve had to adjust to outside of the RV. In Grand Rapids, unlike Evanston, I was able to establish a routine, which felt like a step back to getting normal.

I read a few books, I did some meal planning with an actual oven and full-sized refrigerator, and I did more baking – one of my favorite things. I made banana bread and chocolate chip cookies and monster cookies. Thankfully, I had friends to share them with, but I ate my fair share. I also went to the same hairstylist twice. I found Studio 3 Salon because it was open on Sunday, and I found a wonderful stylist who really listened to what I needed and was able to deliver.

These might seem like small things, but it all feels like really big – like I’m returning to a “normal” life. I am forever grateful for my time on the road and all the adventures, but there’s a part of me – a very big part of me – that is yearning for a place to call my own and, well, my own furniture. 😂

Muskegon

I did get a chance to drive out to Muskegon a few times when I was in Grand Rapids. On my first trip, I had intended to go to the Muskegon Museum, but I failed to read the tiny print, and it was the only Saturday (other than holidays) that it is closed during the year. 🍫 So, I went and bought a purse instead.

My second trip out to Muskegon involved a tour of the area with a work friend who spent the day taking me around the area and showing me all the fabulous beaches and places to eat. To start, we had delicious hand-press lemonades and cookies at The Gooleyguk Cafe.

On the way around Lake Michigan, we stopped at cantilevered, replica of the historic Fort Dearborn – The Block House – in the State Park. It sits high on a hill and is a remarkable piece of craftsmanship.

We visited a lighthouse that was built in 1875 – White River Light Station & Museum. We didn’t take the tour, but we did enjoy its channel and the lake views.

We stopped at a great shop in Whitehall, Colby’s Hokey Pokey, as well as the town’s General Store, which had souvenirs and so much beautiful fabric. We had lunch at Colby’s Cafe and Brew in Whitehall and shared a really great strawberry lemonade cupcake. On the way back through Muskegon, we stopped at the pop-up shops in the downtown area. One of the spots we stopped was Jeremy Church‘s photography, and he gave us both a free print and signed them. We had a great day!

On my third trip to Muskegon, I was finally able to tour the Muskegon Art Museum. Now, I will bore you with some of the art that I loved while I was there.

(L to R) Bow of Ulysses by Richard Hunt (the picture doesn’t do its form justice); The Road Through the Common by Jose Weiss; there was a whole room of glass art that was all unique and lovely to wander through.

(L to R) I didn’t grab a close-up of the title card for this one, but it’s so striking I had to include it; Nassau Beach by Leon Cabo; Tea Cup by Lee Price.

The primary reason for my visit to the Muskegon Art Museum was to see the Julia Child exhibit. There were many artifacts from her life, and I enjoyed taking a peek at those items. I didn’t appreciate how it was organized – more like things were put to fit a space instead of any kind of order. Nonetheless, it was worth it to spend some time amongst her things and her history.

For lunch, I asked the person running the gift shop for a recommendation for a great burger place. She recommended Hamburger Mikey’s, which was a short walk from the museum. It was a really delicious burger and French fries. I enjoyed the burger and fries on the pier at Heritage Landing. And, even though it was Bike Time in Muskegon, the pier was fairly empty other than seagulls and a few fishermen.

I really enjoyed spending time in Muskegon and would go back for another burger in a heartbeat.

I will also make time to check out their beautiful Hackley Library. This is the Shakespeare garden outside of the library.

Tales of a Tourist

I did make some time to be a tourist in Chicagoland. I was able to schedule tours at two of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Oak Park, including his home and studio.

It really was like a “full circle” kind of moment when I was on the tour of his home. Even though he didn’t live there long, you can feel how the origin of the person and the design aesthetic began. There were some more traditional styles mixed with what would become his signature style.

Some interior pictures of the woodwork and a mural in a bedroom.

His office was my favorite part of that tour.

In late May, I had a chance to tour the Robie House as well. The lighting and the glass art were beautiful in this home.

Based on what I’ve learned about Frank Lloyd Wright over the dozen or so houses I’ve toured, I don’t think he’d be my first pick for an architect. I admire his work, love the art glass, and can truly appreciate his style, but living in the FLW house would be a nightmare – leaky roofs, dark spaces, and uncomfortable, built-in furnishings.

On a particularly adventurous day, I drove into the city proper for some museum time and a boat tour on the river.

I saw some pretty famous art the Art Institute of Chicago and also saw some art that I really liked.

The Chagall stained glass windows were incredible, and I was surprised and delighted to see a Monet winter scene and an O’Keefe that was not set in the southwest.

There was so much to see, but I think I did get to every wing of the institute and would highly recommend it if you have a few hours in Chicago.

I also saw the “bean” from a distance when I was walking to the Art Institute.

I thought I could fit all of the tourist stuff in one post, but alas, I am tired, so one more about Chicagoland, and then we’ll be off to Michigan.

What’s Next?

I finally had a moment to make a page dedicated to our 520 days living in Estella and traveling the country. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it here: https://mshapsandestella.com/where-we-stayed/. Some days, it feels like that time passed in a blink of an eye, and other days, I am so exhausted when I think back to all the places we traveled.

We have narrowed our list for phase two of the journey, and I’ve updated the page to reflect that we’re on to our next thing – just me (Ms. Haps) and Arthur. If you missed it, I started jotting down ratings of the cities that I thought could possibly be our new home. When we were in Texas, I narrowed the list down to a few of my favorites and eliminated some others.

Chicagoland, IL

I initially didn’t have this on the list because Chicago is huge, but there were a few things that swayed me to add it. There are a lot of potential suburban areas that aren’t as big as Chicago itself. It’s easier to find a condo where I would have zero yard work. And, most importantly, it’s really close to my family and friends in Minnesota.

Grand Rapids / Ann Arbor, MI

I really enjoyed my time in Michigan. Both Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor are great-sized cities, and they both have a lot to offer in terms of medical care, diversity, climate, and all the other things on my list. This was an easy choice to add.

Buffalo, NY Area

I just fell in love with East Aurora, NY, and the towns in that area. I could take or leave Buffalo itself, but the surrounding communities and the proximity to the Great Lakes and the East Coast vibe were definitely drawing me in.

Why didn’t those other highly rated cities make the list?

If I only had to give one reason why most of them didn’t make it, it would be because it would too hot in the summer. Prescott, AZ, Albuquerque, NM, and Austin, TX were all really great, but I know the summers would do me in. Missoula, MT was right up there in the running, but in the end, it was too small for what I was looking for and maybe a bit too remote. Salem, OR, was highly rated, but the west coast seemed just too far west. Prince Edward Island (yes, all of it) was my hands down favorite, but Canada just isn’t in the cards for me yet.

So, back in April, Estella was stored in one of my parents’ out buildings, and Arthur and I left for Chicagoland – Evanston, IL, to be exact. We will spend a couple of months in each of the areas and have a longer stint in the Buffalo area. I know IL and MI winters, but a winter in Buffalo is something I’ve never experienced, so we will be spending the 2025-26 winter there to see if we can endure it. It’s been over a decade since I experienced a real winter; I just want to make sure I’m still made of the stuff that can take it.

We will be living in furnished places in all of these areas. While we were in Texas, I booked AirBnBs and places through Furnished Finder for the next 12 months, signed leases, and tried to explain to Arthur that we weren’t done just yet.

What if they don’t work out?

It’s a distinct possibility that we’ll travel to all these great areas and not be as enamored with any of them as I had hoped. I’ve kept Estella just in case that’s what happens, and we’ll head back out again. I’ve been lucky enough to live in all sorts of places, so I think, at the end of the day, it’ll either be somewhere I’ve lived before or one of these new areas.

I hope you’ll stick with us even if we’re not traveling in the RV anymore. There are many more adventures to come as we continue the search for our Unicorn City.

One Last MN Appreciation Post

“There’s no place like home.” It’s so true. The place that raises you will always have a special place in your heart. People ask me why don’t you just live there? You know it. Your family is there, your friends are there, what’s not to like? It is hard to explain, but after living on the East Coast for over a decade, there are parts to MN that don’t fit with who I am anymore.

That said, I do love to visit, and I had a good time when I was back in March / April of this year. After celebrating Dad’s birthday with gifts I had collected for him while I was on the road, I had a chance to drive my new car. We all know that I have so much love for Estella, but she’s not small, so navigating tight spaces and her general mobility are just not the same as having a car. I ended up buying a used Nissan Rogue with about 18,000 miles, and it has been a joy to drive, to fit in a parking space, to parallel park, and to not pay for diesel.

I ended up having to go on a work trip to San Antonio about week after I got to MN, so back to Texas I went.

Arthur was not a fan, but the good news was that I was reunited with my suitcase! After many trips just with a backpack and tote, this was so liberating. It was Minnesota in March, so of course there was a trip through the de-icing zone at MSP. I was even lucky enough to score an upgrade, which is the only time I’ll sit by the window – hence the obligatory sea of clouds pic.

My mom spent some quality time with Arthur when I was away, but he was happy to see me when I returned. I made a couple of trips to my storage unit to shed some things from the RV and to pick up a couple of small things to make our next phase a bit easier.

My friend’s eldest son had a leading part in his college’s play, and I was lucky enough to get to see him and spend some time with her. I ate donuts with another friend and her parents as well. I also had a lovely brunch with my aunts and uncles and parents, which has become such a rare treat now that I’m all grown up. It was so wonderful to spend time with them all together in one place, laughing, telling stories, and catching up.

But it wasn’t all fun and games when I was back in MN. I ended up getting really sick. It wasn’t COVID, but I slept on the floor of my parents’ half bathroom for three nights because I couldn’t chance being far from a toilet and running water. Thankfully, no one else in the house got sick, but there was plenty of time to consider all my life choices, and at one point, I thought I would never see sunlight again.

Glamour shots from my time in quarantine and my reunion with Arthur. Needless to say, this bout of the plague (or whatever it was) limited how much I could do when I was there.

Early in the morning of April 19, Arthur and I said goodbye to my family and Estella, and we hit the road for part two of finding our Unicorn City.

Keeping Austin Weird – Part 1

It’s almost been two months since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write. Between work, getting out and about, and adjusting to living in spaces larger than a van, I’ve been busy, but it’s time to finish up our RV journey and talk about how our search for our Unicorn City is going.

I’ve always known that Texas would not be my final destination for one reason >> the seemingly never-ending, oppressively hot summers that start in March and last through October. If you ask a Texan, they’d probably disagree and tell you that it’s “really nice in March, April, September, and October”, but I am here to say that 100 in September is not “really nice” in my book.

So, January and February in Austin were perfect for me, Arthur, and Estella. On January 17, we left Houston and headed to Austin, and I planned a three-hour drive for many reasons but mostly because Arthur hadn’t been on the move for over two months. He did pretty well considering, but when we stopped in Bastrop for provisions, his will to continue had completed depleted.

Since we were only about 30 minutes from our RV park, the howling was tolerable. We stayed at Austonia outside of the city, and it was one of the very best parks we stayed at. When I made the reservation, they were undergoing a renovation but were certain they would be done by the time we arrived. The bathrooms were fantastic. The shower rooms were so spacious and clean, which was great for our two-month stay. They were also a lot more comfortable about water usage during the winter, and that was refreshing.

On our second night, we got snow! It wasn’t a lot, but it was really nice to have some snow and feel a little winter.

This was the view out of Estella’s front window.

I picked up a rental car after being in Austin for about two weeks. Time to get out and explore! I went out to get my hair done, found a Sbarro for a slice of pizza, and got ready to head to San Antonio for work. Once again, I found a wonderful Arthur sitter through Rover.com, so I knew he would be in good hands while I was away.

My drive to San Antonio was a reminder of what happens to highway infrastructure when cities grow faster than the roads. There was a lot of road construction, and the traffic was more than your average city’s rush hour. Even though Houston’s labyrinth of highways and frontage roads were daunting, it efficient.

In San Antonio, I had some credits to use, so I stayed at the Eilan Hotel & Spa. This place was massive, but my room was the perfect size with a balcony and plenty of space to spread out.

Great views from my hotel room balcony.

Since I didn’t get into San Antonio until late afternoon, I didn’t do a lot of exploring. I did try Raising Cane’s and went to see “A Complete Unknown” in Boerne. I had heard so many good things about Raising Cane’s and about their sauce. I thought it was fine. The chicken was good, but the sauce – to me – was meh.

I was treated to this beautiful sunset as I was leaving Raising Cane’s and headed to the movie.

On Sunday, I met with some friends at the historic Pearl district near downtown for lunch at Brasserie Mon Chou Chou, and we had great conversation and a lot of laughs. The food was delicious as well. We walked around after lunch and visited a gorgeous market. I also stopped at Bakery Lorraine for an almond chocolate croissant and cookies. A tres manifique day!

The rest of my time in San Antonio flew by. I was able to work in the company office in downtown San Antonio and then had a delicious dinner with a friend, his wife, and their kids at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana.

Arthur enjoyed looking out the window at our neighbors throughout our time in Austin.

Music begins where language ends

Time on the road gives plenty of opportunities to listen to music, and I rediscovered some older albums that I enjoy from in their entirety. Comment for others I should try, and I’ll keep adding them as I keep remembering.

Bridge Over Troubled Water / Simon & Garfunkel / 1970
Tapestry / Carole King / 1971
Time-Life Treasury of Christmas / various / 1986
New Jersey / Bon Jovi / 1988
Metallica / Metallica / 1991
Janet / Janet Jackson / 1993
Crazysexycool / TLC / 1994
You Get What You Give / Zac Brown Band / 2010
El Camino / The Black Keys / 2011
Midnights / Taylor Swift / 2023
The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess / Chappell Roan / 2023

All About Anne, PEI – Part 2

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about?”

On Sunday, I drove to Cavendish to tour the Green Gables Heritage Place. The visitor’s center before you enter the farm had numerous displays describing LM Montgomery’s life and writing process. It was really well done – concise but thorough, a difficult combination to achieve.

It was like stepping back in time to tour the building site. While it wasn’t the Green Gables from the movies, it was representative of the time and how people lived in the 19th century.

The grounds around the farm were lush and beautiful for early September. There was a nod to Lover’s Lane and the Haunted Woods on the trail to LM Montgomery Cavendish National Monument and a beautiful park at the end of the trail before the monument, which was a pleasant surprise.

Some pictures from Montgomery Park.

The trees around the former site of the house were inspiring. Under the tree on the left, the placard quotes Montgomery, “I am grateful that my childhood was spent in a spot where there were many trees… When I have lived with a tree for many years it seems to be like a beloved human companion.” The right picture has one of her poems, “The Gable Window“, in the foreground of the iconic landscape of PEI.

The lessons at its casement taught me, / My life with rich fruition fill; / The rapture and the peace they brought me / are with me still!

I can still hear Anne naming the Lake of Shining Waters on her ride from the train station with Matthew, so it was amazing to see the pond that inspired Montgomery.

Stepped in some dog poo, so it wasn’t just shiny – it was also smelly and sticky. 🍫

There was just so much to see on the island. Here are a few more pics from around the island.

A Detour

Even when you’re traveling in an RV across the country, trying to find your forever city, life is still happening for everyone else in their cities and their families. In June, I felt that acutely when I received word that my former co-worker, friend, and mentor had passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.

Sarah was a beautiful soul. Yes, we were “only” co-workers, but she had the ability to gift everyone with being present. When you were talking to her, her focus was on you and helping you grow through understanding, patience, and feedback. We traveled together on numerous work trips between 2020-2022, so we had a chance to get to know one another and spend non-work time together, including this trip when we had a chance to go to Universal Studios in Florida after a work meeting.

The first time I met Sarah, I was impressed. She was just a wee thing – younger and shorter than me. She walked into a tricky situation and came out shiny and bright. I was excited to work with her, but it wouldn’t be for another year or so before we would get to work together more closely.

It’s natural to feel a bit jealous of a colleague who is so skilled and also such a great person. I probably was, but it didn’t matter because there was such an opportunity to learn from her. What was extra amazing about her was that she didn’t just share her awesomeness with just me. Sarah seemed to have limitless energy for others – for her loved ones, her co-workers, her former colleagues, everyone.

So, when her fiancé contacted me about her services in late June, I had to figure out how to make it work. Thankfully, I have a friend who lives outside of Chicago, and she offered for Arthur and I to camp in her driveway. We parked the RV at an indoor parking facility, and I took the shuttle to O’Hare and flew to Jacksonville and rented a car.

I was very grateful that a co-worker, who lives north of Atlanta, could drive down to meet me. We spent some time with her fiancé – who was also a former colleague of ours – and his friends. We reminisced about her, we had cupcakes, and a lemon drop shot in her honor – served by a bartender named Sarah. (Our Sarah had been a bartender when she was in college.) We celebrated her at a beautiful tribute highlighting her life and her spirit and how she loved.

This detour was important – like most detours are. Detours force us to slow down – to arrive late to our next destination. Most of the time, it shows up as inconvenience, but not everything goes to plan. We, the planners of the world, love an agenda, an itinerary, but we must allow for route changes – to take an unexpected journey now and then. It can be a planner’s instinct to get angry or frustrated, but that’s not the point – is it? Take the detour.

Literally the Land of Lincoln

In early June, I headed for an extended stay in Springfield, Illinois – one of the lesser known Springfields that dot the US. This Springfield had been on my radar because it had a presidential museum, and it was centrally located with a small college. It was close enough to St. Louis to run down if I wanted something in a city or to catch a plane but small enough to feel build a sense of community – not just be one of many.

As with all of the best laid plans, I had to make some adjustments once I made it to the IL State Fairgrounds where I planned to camp for the month of June. It wasn’t on their website, and no one mentioned it to me when I called, but you are only allowed to stay for 14 consecutive nights. 🍫🍫🍫🍫 The kind security guard must have noticed my disappointment (or how my hair instantly went a shade more grey) at this news because he did give me the senior citizen discount, which brought the cost down to $20 per night.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever really explained the logistic work that it takes to manage this lifestyle, but this was my first real challenge. Typically, I book when I’m going to stay months in advance and do not cancel or make changes. What can I say? I’m a planner. I was wary of staying at IL State Fairground because they don’t take reservations, but when I called, they were pretty confident it wouldn’t be a problem. Indeed, space was not the issue, but the amount of time I could stay there was. So, I had to scramble. I looked at county and state parks nearby as well as campgrounds and eventually called Double J Campground – just outside of Springfield. Thankfully, they had space for the dates that I needed, so I made my reservation and was all set. Then I needed to navigate my rental car.

Arthur still isn’t in love with riding in Estella for errands or when we travel between locations, so renting a car is an easy way for me to explore without traumatizing him. I planned to have a rental for most of my time in Springfield, so I had to figure out how to get Estella to the new campsite and then retrieve my rental car. It wasn’t hard, but I also wasn’t expecting to have to do it.

Alas, there’s so much more to talk about, so let me move on.

My first week in Springfield was very low key with work and rest, and I needed it. During the course of about a month, we had driven over 1,000 miles and set-up/tore down camp at least 14 times. 🍫 That’s a lot of transitions, and I was exhausted. The part of the campground with sewer hook-ups was basically a parking lot. In hindsight, I didn’t need the sewer hook-up, and I should’ve opted to stay in the treed, grassy part of the campground. The showers were pretty awful, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

By Friday, I was more than ready to pick up my rental car and start checking out the area. I had done some planning online and found a tour that started at the Springfield Lincoln Library, which is not the same as the presidential library. It was a walking tour of the city and a discussion of historic events in the downtown area — This Pride Month, join Lincoln Library’s Sangamon Valley Collection for a free walking tour of historic LGBT+ sites in Downtown Springfield. We followed a bright, knowledgeable guide with their rainbow umbrella down the streets of the city for a couple of hours, and I learned much from the guide and the other participants. I also was able to page through a 1st edition of a gorgeous illustrated book by Robert Lewis Stevenson and illustrated by E. Mars and M.H. Squire.

Just beautiful. Also, the library has an abundance of events and is located across the street from historic Lincoln home site. It absolutely checks the boxes for the kind of library I am looking for in my unicorn city.

I was feeling ambitious, so I also tackled the Lincoln Presidential Library as well as the home site.

(Left) The Lincoln Presidential Museum – I heard – was developed by some of the Imagineers from Disney, so there were a lot of animatronics – including this one-room cabin replica where Lincoln grew up, and it was very interactive. It was definitely one of the best presidential museums I’ve had the chance to visit. (Middle) I’m a sucker for a transom window; look how cool this one is! (Right) A street view of the Lincoln’s home and the historic street recreated on this home site.

On Sunday, I schedule a tour of the FLW house in Springfield – the Dana-Thomas house. This home was massive and a renovation gone wild. With an unlimited budget and a lot of requests, Frank went to town. There were multiple musician balconies, an expansive dining room, multiple sitting areas, and some lovely art glass corridors. We couldn’t take pictures inside, but their website has an extensive gallery of photos.

This picture doesn’t really do its grandeur any justice. I wish there was a picture of the entry way on their website as it was just lovely.

Unfortunately, no one showed to give the tour of the Vachel Lindsay House. A couple from another part of IL had also signed up and thought that I was the tour guide. I had left in such a hurry that I put two different flip flops on, and I must’ve looked like a mess. 🍫🍫🍫 We had a good laugh about the shoes, and then we left after waiting about 15 minutes.

We were in Springfield for almost a month, so more to come!

RV Site in the City

I am still not certain what state Kansas City is in – maybe it’s both Kansas and Missouri? I don’t know, but I wanted to get closer to wherever that city is for my next spot. I found an RV park that was basically in the middle of a suburb, which is kinda rare to see – or, at least for me, I don’t see it that often. Although it was not my favorite spot to camp, it was convenient and close to an Enterprise rental car location.

(left) This was a really neat, classic truck camper. (right) I’m new to this camping thing, but I think – even if you auto-level – there should still be something under the front wheels…. It made me nervous for that family.

Having a rental car outside of Kansas City was great. My friend from Topeka recommended Jack Stack for BBQ, and it was amazing. I would highly recommend. I didn’t order the whole menu, but if you like meat, their baked beans (Hickory Pit Beans) are a wonder. The beef burnt ends were also very delicious, but those beans…. I’m drooling just writing about them.

I also found a theatre that had a buffet and live performance of Squabbles – New Theatre & Restaurant – on one night that I had the rental car. The play was good, and the theatre brings in known actors for their productions. One of the male leads had played Ralph on Happy Days. The buffet was what you’d expect, but there was a pasta dish that was outstanding.

Other than the severe weather – just rain and hail – while I was at Walnut Grove RV Park, the only other inconvenience was a water outage. It looked like they were doing some work on a different, unoccupied site that might’ve been the cause of the issue. Running water is now a luxury and living without it for a day isn’t the end of the world. 🍫

We also stopped by the Truman Presidential Museum and Library while we were in the area. I was curious to see how his library would be different from Eisenhower’s.

I think my 7th grade social studies teacher would be disappointed in how much surprised me about Truman’s two terms in office. The biggest surprise was that FDR died in office. Because the presidents were so different and their libraries capture such different times in our country’s history, it really is hard to say if I liked one more than another.

I’m getting a good sense of the tourist traps I enjoy the most on this trip: national parks, Frank Lloyd Wright houses, historic homes, and presidential museums/libraries. Let me know if you have any recommendations!