The Summer I Turned Rural

I haven’t shared much about this yet…. but the biggest thing that has happened this summer is my family purchased a lake house in Camden, MI! The house is amazing! We have had a lake house in Brighton for awhile but as the years passed we couldn’t use it as much as we would have liked. It became clear that it wasn’t the best fit long-term. Therefore my parents were on the lookout for another retirement home option. When the Camden house came on the market my parents jumped at the opportunity to check it out. After looking at it a few times they decided to make an offer and they closed on it in July!

The house is a 3 bed/ 2 bath all on one level. It’s open and airy feeling with high ceilings in the kitchen / dining / living room areas. But, my favorite room by far is is the enclosed patio which we have nicknamed the “catio” because my kitties love it in there! The catio has such pretty views of the lake and I feel like I’m outside without bugs and it’s more temperature controlled. This is amazing because I feel like since my Adrenal Insufficiency diagnosis back in 2016 (ish) I have had more trouble regulating my temperature. I’m also a lot more sensitive to temperature changes. I’ve always been prone to overheating / sweating a lot but it seemed to ramp up after the AI diagnosis. There’s also plenty of places to sit that are actually outside in the shade. The yard area leading down towards the water’s edge has a bit of a slope but it’s totally doable in my power wheelchair. There’s a cute sandy area that will be perfect for when my friend Danielle brings her kiddos to visit and the dock is in decent shape. My parents worked with the previous owners and were able to get a lot of the furniture, pontoon boat, and more included! This helped a lot with being able to get somewhat settled right away.

Going back to the accessibility side of things, the two main modifications we have made are related to the entrance and bathroom that Cara and I share. There’s a really cute wrap around porch that is at the front door which had steps. Prior to purchasing the place my parents had a rough idea of where we could have a ramp built. We purchased a portable metal ramp as a temporary fix. It worked well but did make it more difficult for everyone else to use the steps to get to the front door. As soon as we knew the place was ours, I started researching resources for having a more permanent option. I reached out to the center for independent living that serves the county, disAbility Connections who provided a short list of groups/organizations to contact. One such group was “Hillsdale Area Men With Vision” which is part of Love INC of Hillsdale County MI. Men with Vision is a group of retired Christian men who donate their time to build wheelchair ramps for families in the community. Families are only asked to pay for the materials. We reached out to them and set up a meeting to discuss our needs. Then, earlier this month they came and built the ramp in a day! It’s turned out great and we plan to paint it to match the house. We have to wait for the wood treatment stuff to settle or something (I don’t know the details haha).

The bathroom that Cara and I will be sharing didn’t need much to make it work. I don’t have any good pictures right now so I’ll just try to describe the changes. Basically, we replaced the vanity with one that was a little smaller and rearranged where it was located. We moved it to be parallel to the toilet instead of being perpendicular. This created enough space for me to bring my wheelchair into the bathroom, access the sink and transfer to the toilet. There is a tub which is fine as I’m able to use a shower bench and transfer in/out with assistance. We also purchased a new bidet toilet seat so that I can be independent with personal hygiene. Other than that, the bathroom works for us!

We have met some of our neighbors and explored the area. One thing that is taking a little bit to get used to is the fact that it takes 15-20 minutes to get to a store or restaurant. We have discovered the greatness of Dollar General haha. It’s neat because we were already somewhat familiar with the area because my mom’s family cottage is in Reading, MI. Growing up we would go into town for ice cream with (candy) eyes or Walmart. So naturally, now that we have our place in Camden we have gone for ice cream at Pizza Barn, Walmart, Meijer, and more. There’s another grocery store that has a bar/restaurant and fast food inside it which is kinda cool. We have visited the Hillsdale Library and I hope to participate in some of their activities. There’s also a craft store that has tons of stuff that looks fun. We discovered a “fancy” restaurant called Farmhouse Kitchen & Ale. It’s a little surprising because you wouldn’t expect this type of restaurant where it’s located. But it’s yummy! We’re also really close to the Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana borders so occasionally we have technically gone to eat or shopping in another state haha. I always crack up when we see the Welcome to Indiana sign.

All in all, we have been really enjoying our new place and making it our own. It will be interesting to see how much time we spend there this fall and winter. The house can be used year-round but there’s some stuff coming up that may limit how much time we spend there. I’m sure I’ll post about it but basically my mom is scheduled to have surgery in early October. She will be having a hiatal hernia repair, gallbladder removal, and Nissen Fundoplication. Her initial recovery will take place in Dearborn. Then, once she’s feeling a little better we can head back to Camden if we want. We’ll see…