After all our Chicagoland adventures, it was time to depart for our next stop, Grand Rapids, MI. My original plan had been to stay in Ann Arbor, but the universe had other plans for me and Arthur. I booked multiple AirBnBs in Michigan – two in Ann Arbor, one north of Ann Arbor on Whitmore Lake, and another in Grand Rapids. All of them, for one reason or no reason, cancelled. 🍫 A big part of all the travel is learning that plans aren’t permanent, and change can be for the better.
We ended up booking a studio apartment in Grand Rapids off of Michigan Street. My friend who lives in Grand Rapids drove by before I booked to make sure it was in a safe neighborhood, and the hosts were very communicative and fully understood my need for central A/C in June and July.
Unlike the Evanston apartment, this place had a full kitchen. The closet picture is basically all the clothes that I have with me on this journey – about half as much as I was able to bring in the RV. The bed was cozy, but I did end up buying a set of sheets because I need cotton sheets – microfiber is not my jam. If you look closely at the picture on the right, there’s a lump in the middle of the bed. That’s Arthur. His midday nap includes putting himself to bed under the covers.
The transition from IL to MI for Arthur was rough. We hit a little traffic leaving Evanston, but when we reached Lake Shore Driver, Arthur’s breakfast re-appeared three times…. 🍫🍫 After that, he settled down by my feet. I know, not ideal, but he rarely cried for the next three hours after he got comfy and resigned himself to the trip. I did make a few notes for our next drive, which will be about 7.5 hours – unlike this trip that was only 3.5 hours. I did not set him up for success on this one – we left too late in the day, and he was a bit traumatized by how I ended up getting him into the car. He did settle in, and because this place was smaller than the last, I felt more comfortable having him roam on his own.
I had a couple of days to myself, and then we had a small work meeting. My friends came over, got to meet Arthur, and worked with me for a few days. It wasn’t all work though. We did have a chance to get to the zoo and went out to eat a couple times.
We were able to see the annual lantern festival at the John Ball Zoo while they were there, and another co-worker joined us for dinner at New Holland Brewery and walking around the zoo. It stays light pretty late in June in Michigan, and my bedtime is early, so we avoided the bugs and really enjoyed seeing the lights glow more as we walked out. If you know Michigan, you probably know Meijer; they “powered” the displays and were my preferred grocery store when I was in Michigan; I even bought a dress there.
We also celebrated National Donut Day with Farmhaus Farms donuts, had dinner at Mr. Burger, and spent time on one of the many MI lakes. I also had a chance to do some baking again – gluten-free blueberry muffins, and gluten-free “crack” brownies. I’m definitely a fan of gluten, but I can bake without when needs must. It was a great first week in Grand Rapids.
I also ran over to Ann Arbor after work on Friday to catch Sarah Millican on her Late Bloomer tour. She was an absolute delight. The Michigan Theater was packed, and everyone seemed to be there to laugh, which always makes comedy shows so much better. I did a very “old lady” thing and left at intermission. Why would I leave when I was having a great time? Three Reasons: People / traffic / a long drive back to where I was staying near Lansing. I had a seat relatively close to the stage, and I found a great parking spot in the parking ramp, but it was 9PM by the time we reached intermission, and I just didn’t want to deal with the people / traffic / drive after 10PM. If the line to the bathroom was any indicator, it would’ve probably been midnight before my head hit the pillow.
Arthur settled in pretty easily in Grand Rapids and really enjoyed meeting my friends from work and getting all the pets and treats from them.
Next post: Two more Frank Lloyd Wright houses outside of Detroit!
The Adventures of Ms Haps & Arthur 