We arrived yesterday in Ohio. While we’ve skirted the extreme weather in the plains, we were not able to dodge all the rain. We encountered downpours all through the rest of Michigan enroute to Ohio. Northern Ohio has definitely seen its share of rain as the fields and some roads we went by we underwater.
We had a wonderful stay in Detroit which included Trips to the Eastern Market, Comerica Field, and the Henry Ford Innovation Museum. The Eastern market was our first day trip from the Wayne County fair grounds. The Fair Grounds were absolutely wonderful! A level back in site with full hook ups, plenty of space between rigs, and lots of grass to walk Roxie on. The Eastern Market was just a joy. It was reminiscent of My Fair Lady and the London Market. Flowers everywhere, plants, fruits, vegetables and lots of Knick Knacks. We did find some wonderful bean/cheese dip, some yummy pasteries, and Vicki even got some stinky bleu cheese!!! There was a bit of a crowd, but folks were polite and not basically in a hurry. It was more festive then pure shopping per se. Definitely not a Walmart!
Sunday we enjoyed a trip to Comerica Park to watch the Toronto Blue Jays play the hometown Detroit Tigers. What an experience. We had gotten our tickets(which were much cheaper than in Seattle) and parking pass on line and since the fairgrounds were only 21 miles away the drive was easy. We found a parking space near the elevator on the 3rd floor and arrived about an hour early, so enjoyed a Tim Horton’s doughnut and coffee and began people watching. As game time approached, we headed into the ball park and were mesmerized by all the sights, sounds and smells. They had a carrousel for the kids as well as a baseball ferris wheel along with several other activities to keep the kids entertained. Plenty of food and beverage vendors, however, the menu was somewhat limited. Definitely get spoiled in Seattle. Vicki had gotten us incredible seats on our 46th Anniversary, 15 rows behind home plate. Lots of action although we left in the bottom half of the 8th inning with Toronto ahead 11-9. Listening online, in the bottom half of the inning Detroit scored 2 to tie it, and then in the bottom half of the 9th inning, Detroit had a 3 run walk off homerun to win 14-11. We beat traffic and returned to the fair grounds for a nice supper.
We explored the Henry Ford Museum for 3 days. The first day, we had warm summerlike weather and explored the Village which was 90 acres of homes and historic buildings that Henry Ford had bought and brought here to Detroit. Edison’s lab from Menelo Park, his grandparents house, some Detroit businesses were among those represented. They had a steam locomotive and train which encircled the park and took you leisurely around a circuit of the entire village. Our day also included a ride in a 1923 Model T Ford around the streets of the village. That day they were on a shortened excursion schedule due to graduation at the Henry Ford Academy, but when we got on the car, they said it was complete and to return to the extended version. Karma is definitely with us. Then we enjoyed a scoop of delicious ice cream while waiting for a 1931 Ford City Bus to continue our tour of the Ford Village. The docent then explained each an every building along the route which made for an enjoyable ride. The only issue was the seat was a bit too narrow for us wide butted souls. We then hopped on the train for a ride to the entrance and a return home to the fairgrounds.
Our final trip to the HFM was a tour of the F-150 factory in Dearborn Michigan. The Rougue Plant is simply amazing. They roll out a new F-150 every 53 seconds. Amazing! What was impressive was the number of people who actually work the line. The job they perform is incredibly repetitious and dull. I saw more than one worker watching a movie or playing a game on their phone as they waited for the next job to come down the line. While driving down the interstate on the return trip, we saw a line of trucks which could only have been on a test drive for quality. So cool!
On this leg of trip, everything has come together in terms of the Rig. All slides work, the generator works, all plugs and accessories function as they are supposed to, so life is basically wonderful in terms of our RV lifestyle. Amazing how such a little thing can improve one’s outlook on life.
The fairgrounds had everything a camper could want at a very reasonable price. Not only was their a supermarket, Walmart, and hardware store within 1 mile, more importantly a Tim Horton’s!! We enjoyed 3 visits worth of doughnuts and coffee. YUM!
As mentioned earlier, we are still in early spring here in Michigan and Ohio, so we’ve definitely hit some weather. Nothing too severe, some lightning and thunder, but no damaging hail and certainly no tornadoes. We’re also avoiding the excessive heat of Brownsville and the tornadoes of Oklahoma, Kansas, etc. It has been cool the past two nights with the mercury dipping into the mid forties, but it does make for comfortable sleeping. Even Roxie doesn’t complain too much!
Other than that, we are doing just fine exploring this great country of ours. Did I mention we’re still loving retirement.
