Monday - Day 19 - Ford River Rouge Tour & Ford Museum

Today we thought we would try to cram in a tour of the Ford River Rouge plant and then the Ford Museum. You park at the Museum/Greenfield Village area and take a bus to the plant. Tickets for the plant tour cost us $27.50. My membership saved us $5.
When you get off the bus the first thing you do is watch a movie about Ford's history and the construction of the River Rouge plant. It was interesting.
Next you go into another theater for a Whiz Bang, we an blow your eardrums out and overload your senses, movie. It was so loud Kathy walked out. I should have because the techie nerds who produced the movie were far more interested in a light show and noise than they were conveying any type of actual message.
Then it was up an elevator to an observation tower, maybe 80' above the ground. It have you an idea of the size of the complex, about 1,000 acres.
After that you walked a 1/3 mile catwalk and looked down on people assembling F-150's. It was interesting and yet disappointing. We saw nothing of the chassis assembly, nor the mating of the cab/bed to the chassis. The other thing I took away from the walk through was that even with all the mechanization we hear about there were probably 500 people doing jobs that required maybe twice as much training as it takes to teach someone to flip hamburgers. The lowest starting salary I could find for a Ford worker was $35k/year. I couldn't find a lot on the benefit package but I am sure it is FAR better than what most US workers, other than government workers, get. The people were working steadily and I'm sure they know they have put in a days work at the end of the day, but there was no job in the areas we saw that required a rocket scientist.
These were interesting.
This 1949 Ford, powered by a 95hp 6-cylinder was campable of a top speed of 100 mph. It was supposed to get 20 mpg. The base price was $1,420-1,638 ($14,900-17,100 in 2017 dollars)

Then there was the 1965 Mustang.

 After adjusting for inflation the no option base model would cost $20,700 in today's dollars. Look at all the "options" available. In case you can't read them, options include: 3 speed automatic trans or 4 speed manual, push-button AM radio, air conditioner, backup lights, tinted glass all around, power brakes, power steering, front disc brakes with V-8's, emergency flashers, windshield washers, brake warning light, rear seat belts, limited slip differential, and many more.

Then it was back on the bus for the trip back to the Museum.

The first item of business was lunch, and who could pass up the Oscar Meyer wiener mobile.

 Kids get their own pickup truck

 Our lunch. Once again, Ft Wayne's Coney Island has noting to worry about from this place.

Lots of old steam engines and other farm equipment.

 Even some combines.

Wait, who is the lady driving the combine - LOOK OUT!

I had never heard of these, probably because no one of them was ever sold. Two of the investors did actually move display models to home sites and lived in them for some time.

They are actually hung from a center post. The home section is tied down and does not rotate, but it is suspended above the ground. The top "fin" rotates with the wind and "sucks" air through the home, for "cooling". Some of the innovations inside were interesting.

Bet this brings back fond memories for some.

There were also lots of displays of actual steam powered pumps, LARGE stuff, and steam powered generators.

Over in the train section I thought this 20 ton snow plow was interesting. It was pushed by either 1 or 2 locomotives. It is from 1923. With its "wings" folded in it clears a 10' wide path. With them extended it cleared a 16' wide path.

We were at the complex 5 hours again today. Today we only walked 2.2 miles, but I can assure you that we are both pooped again.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Sunday - Day 18 Greenfield Village

The campground where we are staying is about a 20 minute drive from the Ford Museum/Greenfield Village complex. The complex opens at 9:30, but the ticket counters open a little earlier. We were at that counter at 9:15. I had purchased an individual annual membership online, several days ago. If you hope to even come close to seeing everything you need to plan on being there 2 days. My membership allowed us unlimited access to both Greenfield Village and the Ford Museum. When you have a membership you bypass the normal ticket line. In addition the membership gets you discounts on other attractions at the complex. If you buy a membership a couple of weeks before your visit they will mail you a membership card. To get mine I had to show them their email confirmation that I had paid for a membership and a photo ID.

The weather forecast said that Sunday was going to be slightly cooler than Monday so we opted to go to Greenfield Village on Sunday, where there is a lot of walking outside.

The first thing we did after walking through the gate was to ride around the perimeter of the village on the train.

The engineer

 Doing a little maintenance

 We watched the next group of passengers steam by

Then we decided to take a Model A (might be a Model T, I can't remember) ride around the village

 Our driver talked non-stop the entire trip

FYI. Even with a membership you pay for some things. An "unlimited ride" pass for members cost us $27. For that we could ride the train, the Model A, the horse drawn carriages, the carousel, etc.

 Wanting to make sure we got our money's worth from the ride tickets we headed to the carousel. Kathy is all mounted up and ready to ride.

By then it was almost lunch time. We ate at a restaurant that served items that would have been served at an 1800's road house. Kathy had chicken with peach sauce. I had noodles with mushrooms, greens and several other vegetables. Hers was good, mine was edible.

People were seated family style at large tables. They weren't very busy when we were in there but before we finished a couple had joined us at the other end of our table. This photo makes it look a lot brighter than it was inside. The only light came from candles and through the windows.

Next to the carousel was a kids play area. There were all types of earthmoving toys for the kids to use moving the sand around the sandbox.

 The "tank" on the right would spew out water whent he kids worked some of the knobs and levers.

 It was hot and this little kid was loving it.

The grounds are beautiful.

Going to Greenfield Village and the Ford Museum is another of my "bucket list items". I don't like crowds, which was why I passed up a chance to see the place when we traveled N/S through Michigan in 2011.

I was disappointed in Greenfield Village. The buildings and history exhibits were interesting but I expected to see working craftsmen. I did watch a man blowing glass and watched a tin smith make a cookie cutter. There was also a guy demonstrating a shuttle loom.The place has all the equipment to card, and spin wool, but the people just talked about. I was amazed that there was no blacksmith, not even a blacksmith shop. There was a saw mill that supposedly had been used to saw a lot of the lumber used at the complex, but it obviously had not been used in many years.

We were at the complex 5 hours and were POOPED by the time we dragged ourselves out. We had walked over 3.5 miles in the heat. (Many of the exhibit buildings are air conditioned so you do get a chance to cool off.)

We rested awhile after getting back to the camper and then went to Leo's Coney Island for supper. It was better than lunch but Ft. Wayne's Coney Island has nothing to worry about is Leo opens a restaurant next door to them.

God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Saturday - Day 17

We drove from Essexville, MI to Bellville, MI today, about 150 miles. We are camped at the Wayne County Fairgrounds for the next couple of nights.

Last night and this morning it rained on us for the first time since we have been gone. Some thunder and lightening overnight but the rain was mostly a gentle rain. It stopped early enough so that we didn't have to unhook our hoses/electric in the rain.

We had seen a farm stand selling vegetables on our way into the Finn Road campground yesterday. We stopped there this morning on our way out. They had lots of stuff that appeared to grown right there. While we were making our selections a tractor and farm wagon came out of the field. The wagon was full of freshly picked sweet corn. I can tell you, after having a couple of ears for lunch and again for supper, it was good corn. We also bought some tomatoes, squash and a melon. Haven't tried the squash yet but the tomatoes and melon are also good.

Most of our travels today were on the Interstate, or 4 lane divided highway that was similar to an Interstate. We stopped at a typical interstate rest area and ate lunch in the camper. Paid $3.10/gal for fuel in Bay City. A couple of exits down the Interstate and we saw a Pilot advertising fuel for $3.45/gal. $3.15/gal seems to be the norm in this area.

Don't know if you can read the map below. The red pin shows the location of the fairgrounds where we are camped.

 Lots of stuff in the area. The fairgrounds is in the top left corner of the photo below.

There was an air show here today and the traffic is unbelievable. We have heard lots of planes but only saw one. It looked like maybe it was a WWII twin engine bomber.

Probably because of the air show and tomorrows "flea market" at the fairgrounds, the campground was nearly full when we came in. Kathy just came back from taking a walk (8PM) and quite a few people were pulling out. That is strange because normally is you are at the campground after noon you pay for the next night.

We have a small corner site. It's large enough for us but virtually no room for a picnic table or fire ring.

 The grill of our truck shows at the left side of the photo below. This photo shows the campers on the left side of the road.

 And this on shows the campers on the right side of the road. There are several parallel roads equally full of campers. You can see that the gravel roads are still wet from this mornings rain.

 The stand of trees is just across the road from us. If we want to eat outside we can certainly walk over and use this picnic table.

After getting set up we drove over to Meier's and Kathy did some grocery shopping. I think it was the first groceries she has purchased on the trip, except for the Farmer's Market in Sault Ste. Marie.

Warm here today, a humid 77. Going to be hot, 90's, tomorrow and the next day. Wish we had time to head back to the cooler temperatures of the UP. Only going to be in the high 70's there the next 2 days, then highs in the 60's the next 2 days. Guess it is time to just suck it up. 😊

God is still good, even when the temperatures are hot, may He bless you and yours. I shouldn't really complain about a little heat. We who were born in the United States are a blessed people when compared to the majority of those on planet Earth. AND PTL for AC!

Friday - Day 16 Aug 24, 2018

Another driving day. We drove from near Alpena, MI to Essexville, MI. So far we have traveled a little over 2,000 miles. Only about 100 miles of it have been on Interstates. Maybe 30 miles from Des Moines to Ames, IA, another 50 miles from Sault Ste Marie down across the Mackinaw Bridge and today another 10 miles near Bay City, MI. The only time we paid less than $3/gal for fuel was in MO. The most we have paid was $3.30/gal in Ishpeming, MI.

Stopped for lunch at Tawas State Park, Tawas, MI.
View from camper window as we ate lunch. It was to breezy to eat at a picnic table.

After lunch we walked out to the beach and spent an hour watching kids swim and the people skiing behind kites.

 At one point there were seven people skiing behind the kites. One guy would go way out (a half mile?) off shore, build up speed and go airborne. Looked like he would get maybe 10-15' in the air before crashing back down into the water. Can't believe it didn't hurt to hit the water that hard. They looked like they were easily doing 30 mph.

Then it was on to Finn Road Campground in Essexville. This campground is owned by either the city or maybe the township. It is off the beaten path, but only about 7 miles from Essexville/Bay City. I think it is the best deal we have had. Only $24/night for a full hookup (water, sewer, electricity and WiFi that works). Sites are not crammed together. The row we are in could use a few more shade trees.

We walked along the canal out to see Saginaw Bay. It was about 1.5 miles out and back.

There was a freighter far out in the bay. It might have been bringing in coal to a Consumers Power coal fired plant in Bay City.

On the walk back we walked by the camp playground area. It is a nice area for kids. While we were eating supper a camper parked in a site across the street. A lot of kids got out and they were they sounded happy to be here. Things have quieted down now that it is dark, and we have a light rain. This is the first rain we have had during the trip.
Bay City appears to be full of beautiful old mansions. I wish we had another day or two to explore it but I made reservations at the next campground several days ago. If we cancel we lose at least the first nights rent plus with Labor Day weekend coming up it might be hard to get another day added at the end of our stay at the next campground.
Temps are back down to highs in mid 70's but they aren't looking good (90's) for the days I want to go to Greenfield Village and the Ford stuff in Dearborn.
God is good, may He bless you and yours.

Thursday - Day 15

On the road today, leaving the cool temperatures of the UP behind us. It was about 150 miles from Soo Locks Campground to Campers Cove Campground near Alpena, MI.
The big deal of the drive was crossing the 26,000' long, 550' high Mackinaw Bridge. The day was windy. Flashing signs heading to the bridge said that due to the high winds RV's were limited to 20 mph. I limited our speed to about 20 mph but didn't feel all that much impact from wind.

Water was pretty choppy

 It was a beautiful blue.

 The bridge has once concrete lane and one grating lane going each way. Because of maintenance work the concrete lane was closed. There were quite a few motorcycles crossing the bridge. I bet they felt a little squirrely on the grating.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside park, overlooking Lake Huron. We have tried to stay off the Interstates wherever possible. We have been surprised at the number of roadside "parks", especially in Michigan. We could actually see Lake Huron off in the distance.

Then it was on to the campground near Alpena, MI.
Off for a walk around the campground.

There was a nice lake. There was also a canal through the campground, with docks at the campsites. I think a lot of the campers came to fish.

 In the distance was a sandy beach with a raft.

When we were eating supper this tractor and the carts, made a round around the campground. There were 6-8 kids in the carts.

 Rental recumbent bikes for all sizes.

Playground equipment.

A putt putt course on the other side of the pond.

Not sure why but I didn't care for this campground. It was in a very rural area and yet was one of the most expensive ones we have stayed at. The bikes were rentals, you paid for putt putt, you paid for extra for cable TV, the "free" WiFi" didn't work, etc. The campground roads were so tight that a guy had to come up and temporarily move his truck so that we could make the turn into our campsite. He came out on his own when he saw we were trying to get into the site. He said he knew there was no way we could make the turn if he didn't move his truck.
Part of it might have been because I was hot. The temperatures were in the 80's.

All in all it was still a good day. God is good, may He bless you and yours.