After a long break, Karla and I finally got another daytrip on the books. And it was the usual great experience.
We still needed to cover one state highway in Michigan, M-6, to complete the first ten state highways. All of them so far have been in the City of Detroit. But today was a long day-trip to Grand Rapids. While we were there, we moved on to M-11, which also goes through the Grand Rapids area.
Our drive today would have the added value of testing whether or not Karla and I could stand each other if we were in the same car for six hours. We could.
Going in, I knew a few things about Grand Rapids. It is the second largest city in the state, and thus the artistic and industrial hub for the entire region. It is the world headquarters for the office furniture industry. It also is a major center for the Christian Reformed Church, mostly originating from Holland. As such, you see plentiful names of obvious Dutch origin.
And, it is the birthplace of the Amway Corp. Grand Rapids is not where the home-based business concept started. But it is, arguably, today the world leader in direct sales.
I knew that the Grand River goes through it, and that this section of the state is more hilly than southeastern Michigan. Karla, a Detroit native who has never ventured this far west before, noted the topography right away. We both also noticed that the fall colors were more impressive up here, where they probably had a little more rain than we had, during the hot, dry month of September.
And thanks to many trips to Grand Valley State University, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp during the past ten years, I knew that GR had the best oldies station ever, WGVU AM.
Karla and I first met in Howell, and left one car there. For the next hour and a half we drove west on I-96, finally reaching the M-6 exit near the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
M-6 is a limited access highway that runs east-west along the southern edge of the metropolitan area. Locally, they call it the "South Beltway." It is a heavily rural area, with some residential and retail in spots. It is known as the Paul B. Henry Freeway (named after a long-term Congressman that served in Gerald R. Ford's seat), and in recent years a middle section of it was named in memory of Navy Seal David Warsen.
We were not able to drive all of M-6 today. The west several miles of it are undergoing repair, due to the failure of a "can't miss, high-tech" surface that was built in the early 2000s. It began crumbling almost right away. We had to take a detour via US-131 . . . but the next time we are in the area, and that section is open, we will complete the drive.
By now it was well into the afternoon and time for our traditional stop to eat. We drove into downtown and checked out a restaurant recommended by a family member of Karla, a place called Stella's Lounge. This cool restaurant seems to have been maybe a converted hotel lobby, or maybe a historic office. Great specialty pub food. They have the "Best Burgers in America," according to a poll. They also have a lineup of vintage coin-operated games. I went about five rounds on Ms. Pacman.We talked about how much more quiet Grand Rapids was, than Detroit . . . even in the center of downtown. And as we drove out and about, made a few stops, and pulled over to a park, the reason began to crystallize: we were in the middle of a population that, for the most part, observed the Sabbath (on a Sunday). This seemed like a reasonable explanation, but we're open to input from any Grand Rapids natives.
Upon leaving Stella's, we drove a little more downtown, and then picked up US-131 north, to I-96 West and the beginning of M-11.
The Grand River, of course, is the chief natural feature of the area. We wanted to stop and get a photo of it. As M-11 bends east and enters Grandville, you come to Johnson Park. There was little to no activity at the park, so we pulled over and walked up to the bridge crossing the Grand River, and got a few photos. M-11, which had been mostly rural-residential, became heavy retail once it commenced it's west-east trajectory.
I took note that there is a Krispie Kreme doughnut store along M-11. I was the only one in the car impressed by this!
There's a Tandy Leather Store on M-11. I wanted to stop and maybe do a little Christmas shopping in there. When I was a kid, a Tandy starter kit was a rather common Christmas present for kids, and the stores were everywhere . . . every small town or suburb had a Tandy store. But now there are a handful of them nationwide, although they seem to do quite well with on-line sales. Being a Sunday (and Grand Rapids), we did find the store, but it was closed.
From the Tandy store, we were not far from the termination of M-11. Both M-11 and M-6 seem to be conveniently positioned for ease of access to the airport, downtown, and suburban retail. The pattern by which we covered Grand Rapids was sort of a figure 8.
I was really impressed and relieved with how Karla was okay listening to my Spotify oldies shuffles during the trip to Grand Rapids. But on the way back I wanted something we both could enjoy, and selected Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life," which was a home run. Timeless and timely, the classic album meets all generations and philosophies. And . . . the entire album lasted the entire drive back to Howell (except for the bonus cuts that were on the extra 45 that was included in the original vinyl).
I mention "Key of Life" because it revealed one of our most serious disagreements of opinion so far: I love the track "Joy Inside My Tears." But Karla, not so much.
With that, it's a good point to review the elements of this project: a male and a female; one rural, one urban; one liberal, one conservative; two different generations . . . spending time in a car just to talk, learn the state of Michigan, and meet people along the way.
It's what we all should be doing.
And our agreements on important issues, so far, outweigh the disagreements. We would not know that if we listened to the news or read too much Facebook.
As if to signify a day well-spent, as we were about midway between Grand Rapids and Lansing, a short rainbow formed, framed by a few dark clouds. As we drove, the rainbow grew to a full bow that touched ground at both ends. But then we went a little further, and a second bow formed. With Stevie Wonder as the soundtrack, it was quite an experience!!
Our project moves back to the thumb region now, with a couple interesting drives in other parts of the state. We will also formalize it somewhere, and begin a fundraising operation. People need to get out, show up, meet up, and talk. And Karla and I are willing and eager to do that.
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