Good news: driving is going well! I think I am slowly getting the hang of this whole automatic, driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing. The first 20 minutes was a bit interesting, as I adjusted to driving with one foot, and trying to follow the GPS, but after a while I started to really enjoy it. The drive from Chicago up to Grand Rapids was really beautiful – the city was beautiful leaving Chicago, and the highway was stunning with all the trees in their various shades of fall.

Getting to that point was somewhat more interesting though! I’d reserved a car with Alamo to pick up in downtown Chicago on Saturday around 3, and was about 10 minutes late in arriving – Google fail, as I hooved it about 20 blocks down. I didn’t expect it would take too long to get set and get going, but upon arrival discovered that Alamo had overbooked everything. No cars. Hmm. After a lot of hanging around and a conversation with the guy at the rental desk, I ended up taking the metro out to Midway airport – a 30 minute ride – to pick a car up there. Not the most convenient, and it set me back a couple of hours in leaving Chicago. That said, once I got to Midway the guy at the rental place was really helpful & friendly. They also knocked off the charge for GPS as a courtesy, so it wasn’t all bad…!

GPS is becoming my new best friend – I’m actually a bit surprised by how well it works!