My first full day I spent a bit by myself, so I went for another walk around the VRBO and then decided to go to Traverse City to the co-op (Oryana – https://www.oryana.coop/) to pick up some groceries. My friend Dawn would be arriving on Tuesday and I said I would make dinner for everybody so I had a bunch of things to get. I decided to make Baingan Bhurta, an Indian eggplant/tomato stew. River and Adam are vegan, and this is one of my favorite dishes to make anyway, so, it all worked out.
When I was looking at a map to find the co-op, I saw that there was a trailhead right there, so I decided to go for a little walk while I was at it. Here are a bunch of photos – it was so pretty! And I felt really safe. I normally wouldn’t walk on a trail alone in a new town, but this felt really comfortable. I like Traverse City a lot! It also didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect! And, I was really surprised by how many lakes there are in Michigan. They’re everywhere!
Then it was time to head back to the VRBO. I stopped for gas at this place – Grumpy’s Market & Deli.
And there was a very grumpy guy pumping gas and yelling at his girlfriend. Luckily I wasn’t feeling grumpy.
Bought some pretty flowers while I was in town:
Do you see the face in this one?
Next morning I went for a walk and saw this little guy – so cute!
So, pretty quiet day. Cooked the baingan bhurta so I wouldn’t have to worry about it the next day. Dawn would be arriving around noon the next day, and it would be her turn to meet River and Adam in person for the first time! Then the day after that she took me for a little tour around the area – stay tuned for write-up and photos from that!