Arrival in Detroit

It's official: we've picked up and moved to Detroit.
Since neither of us owns a car, we spent days weighing our options - sometimes literally. We settled on renting a minivan, which was the cheapest and least gas guzzling option, but had to get a little creative in order for it to work. As a longtime nomad, I had little to pack, yet between us we still spent hours trying to shove the van full of odds and ends. We left half of Kyle's furniture behind in the care of friends, prioritizing other things over such trifles as a bed. Besides a carved wood love seat and an old metal-lined trunk, we had two full sized bicycles, my folding bike, and the six and a half foot long cargo bike to consider. A bike rack and a lot of elbow grease later, we were on the road without resorting to using the roof rack or leaving the other half of Freighty Cat behind in Brooklyn.
Ten hours later, we had made it to Detroit unscathed. After a comparatively easy unloading, dinner with our awesome new housemates, and a bit of sleep, we returned the van to the airport in the morning. Needless to say, we biked home. The rental car company took our departure on bicycles in stride, but suburban Detroit was... well, let's just say a little bit uninformed about traffic laws. We were happy to pass back into city limits, where the cars - when there were cars - were civil or even just unfazed. It took about two easy hours, plus a couple of fun detours along the way.
Now to get some sleep and wake up bright and early for Detroit Bike City.
xo
Leslie
(and Kyle over my shoulder)