Thread: Ramblings From The USA - 1

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Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

I welcome the help Roger.....but...........BELL peppers?!?!(must be a Kansas thing)
Poblano or Anaheim...........not bell (yuck!)

Johnboy, if you do decide to try out "Chilis Rellenos", be aware that they can be a "crap shoot"; Anaheim and Poblano chilis are generally pretty mild in nature, sometimes as mild as a Bell pepper, but with a different taste, more flavorful in my estimation. However, once in a while, you will get one that might cause your ears to smoke and your eyes to steam, and most times, you'll get something somewhere in between the ho-hum, and the whooeee. Doesn't matter to me as I like 'em any way, but some folks do not have the tolerance for heat that others of us do. Just a note of caution to the uninitiated.

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Thanks for the warning Rrumber...taken on board.

We couldn't connect to the internet at all last night...so here's yesterday's first.
Haven't written today's yet...


Saturday 5th September.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms late arvo…but it brought the temperatures down to a comfortable level. I’d thought it would just increase the humidity…but no.
So that was all good.

One of the better motels amenity-wise too; microwave, fridge, and five fat pillows. Not the anorexic things we’ve met in most.

Relatively early start, turned up at the Ford Museum 20900 Oakwood Blvd a few minutes before 9:00..
Parked, walked in, and…crikey!
Look at those entry prices!
The thick end of US$70 for us.
Not a place you’re going to visit regularly at that sort of money.
We walked, and gawked, and gawked and walked, and gawked some more.
There’s a tremendous amount to see.
And all of it is interesting.
But once again it gets just too much to take in…and due to back damage done years ago, too long on hard floors leaves both of us looking for somewhere to sit.
So after four hours we opted out...after seeing just a small part of what was on offer.
But what we did see was very impressive indeed.

Driving in and out of town was a bit of an eye-opener too. Some houses (quite a few,) were obviously abandoned, and others, although lived in, were in a very poor state of repair, with broken windows, shingles missing from the roof, and exterior cladding broken or missing entirely.
And a surprising number were barred…steel bars across windows and doors.
That’s sad; at what point does a man’s castle, his refuge, become his gaol?

Okay…nose-bag time…Applewood Grill in Milford.
She couldn’t finish hers, I couldn’t finish mine…and although Rick did his best; neither could he.
Cheap, tasty, and plenty of it…highly recommended.

Next stop was the Flint Buick Automotive Gallery, 303 Walnut St, Flint 48503.
She opted out, so Rick and I did the tour. A smaller museum with perhaps forty cars; but very good nonetheless.
And I saw two American cars that were built originally as right-hand drive!
No…I’m not gonna tell you what they are…you find out.
An hour was enough…I’m museumed out…Super 8 here we come.

And no interweb…not a skerick.

I think we may be in the wrong side of town here…the concierge at the motel is (effectively) in a cage of two inch thick glass from desk-top to almost ceiling…with just an indentation in the desk to slide your card through.
Same at the local liquor store…we don’t see that in Opunake.


Disclaimer: be aware that the views and the opinions expressed by the author of this missive are bloody good ones.

If you have a fairly new phone, android, iphone, 4g, etc, you can use it as a mobile hot spot if the motel has lousy internet. I wasn't happy with the internet at the Motel 6 in Englewood so I used my phone, but be aware that it can run the battery down quite rapidly.

Sunday 6th September.

Motel a couple ao blocks from the museum in Flint over night
Out of there around 8:30 and just drove…the power poles flashed past like palings in a picket fence.

Lunch in a Wendys at a town called Sandusky.

Back in the car and carry on to eventually pull up around 5:30 in a town called Warren.

This particular stretch is an area where I could find no particular points of interest, in either Map-quest or google…so we just drove.
But to-morrow is going to be a lay-over lazy day for getting ‘things’ like washing etcetera back into some sense of order.

So a very small Ramblings today…we didn’t do anything!

Disclaimer: be aware that the views and the opinions expressed by the author of this missive are bloody good ones.

[QUOTE=rspears;547075]Here's the last itinerary you posted, jb. Looks like you had planned to hit the Dearborn, MI places on Monday, and you're two full days ahead of that schedule. You might want to do a little bit of Google research on things to do? For example, River Rouge is open 9:30am to 5pm M-S, Closed Sundays; while the Henry Ford Museum appears to be open the same times, but seven days a week as is Greenfield Village? Also, the hotel likely has one of those walls of brochures from all of the places in the region that are interested in keeping some of your money local. Pat McCarthy is up in that area - you could drop in an visit with him, and get a tour of his shop?

[QUOTE]

Sorry Roger...we've gone.
Would've loved to meet with Pat too.
Bugger!

jb, I mentioned Pat's in the region, but he's waaaay more north, up on the water in Bay City as I recall.

On the "wrong part of town", recall early on in the trip planning I mentioned to you that the whole Detroit metro area is one of the most economically depressed, high crime regions in the USA, with Baltimore, MD running tight with it, too. As I recall I suggested if the area was "must see" then staying well outside the metro, like just outside of Toledo, Ohio and driving in & out to points of interest was the only safe way to traverse the region. I'm surprised that you did not do River Rouge, as I thought that assembly plant was high on your list of places you wanted to visit, and was first on the itinerary for that region?

Looking at the map you've got me totally confused You were in Flint, then drove farther north (almost to Bay City!!!) then east to Sandusky, way out in the boonies? Then back south to Warren, which is another of the Detroit suburbs where I would not really want to be day or night? I thought you were going to loop from Detroit, to Flint, to Lansing, and south on I69 to pick up I80/90 back towards Toledo, then skirt the lake towards Niagara Falls? Like I said, totally, totally confused

Stay safe, and enjoy every day!!

I appears there was an 'incident' on one of the Interstates that was causing major traffic delays, so Lucy took us on a more circuitous route
Well that's what she said.

Regarding 'getting out of town'...we're naïve tourists; and aren't aware of how far out is far enough out.
But we lived to tell the tale.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

If you have a fairly new phone, android, iphone, 4g, etc, you can use it as a mobile hot spot if the motel has lousy internet. I wasn't happy with the internet at the Motel 6 in Englewood so I used my phone, but be aware that it can run the battery down quite rapidly.

Rick has a flash one with all the bells and whistles on it...I don't own one...people only ring you 'cos they want something.
Rosie has a basic type one....but I can't drive it.

Originally Posted by johnboy

I appears there was an 'incident' on one of the Interstates that was causing major traffic delays, so Lucy took us on a more circuitous route
Well that's what she said....

So you overnighted in Flint and "Lucy" (GPS voice) took you north towards Saginaw, east to Sandusky, and back south to Warren/Detroit when Lansing and points south on I/80 was your destination? Fire the witch!

We still try to carry the atlas of paper maps for an overview of the area, and to ensure that "Lucy" isn't on drugs or hitting the sauce.... Once burned, twice cautious.

She had the atlas with her over in the back seat and voiced concerns when we were only twenty minutes out.
Pulled off the interstate to some wee town, spread the maps across the bonnet, and debated it.
And decided to go with Lucy.
None of us are confident enough with our geographical knowledge to get too adventurous.
This is not like NZ where location problems can be sussed inside thirty minutes Over here you don't know you've mucked it up until 500 miles have passed; and you can't just do a u turn to put it right.

Well, in an attempt to make lemonade from lemons, you've got a second chance at River Rouge, and some of the other area places on your way south, if that trips your trigger!

Monday 7th September.

And blobbed.
Sitting outside under the trees I could see some interesting pieces of machinery in the neighbour’s yard, so wandered down to lake a look at what they were.
They were four or five oil pumps, nodding neddies we call them; but have no idea what they’re called locally..
I’ve never had an opportunity to inspect them at close quarters before, so took advantage while I could.
Astonishingly simple…but very clever.

Wandered off to look at what materials had been used in the fence between the motel and the road…a cast(?) steel standard very similar to our waratahs.
Started wandering back to the unit and a police car appeared around the corner, gave me a friendly wave, drove down to the corner where I’d been next door looking at the oil pumps and sat there for ten minutes…just looking.
So I sat with a ciggy at a table under a tree and watched him in turn.
Eventually he reversed, spun around, and drove out, once more giving me a friendly wave.
I would’ve liked it if he’d stopped for a yarn; now I’ll never know what that was all about.

I’d gone to the bottle store in Flint the other day, asked what was their finest dark beer, to be told Coors Empathy. So I’d bought two bottles.
I drank under half of the first last night, tipped the rest out, and gave the second one to the motel maid this morning.
Horrible stuff.

In to Warren for lunch at the Variety Buffet…lots and lots of veges…broccoli, corn, mashed spuds, tomatoes, lettuce, carrot…bloody gorgeous.

Back to the motel, got talking with the proprietress about her caravan
Crikey!
Her husband showed up; and it turned into a two hour talk-fest.
Fine people…but labour problems are the same the world over.
Sigh.

That "Copper" was watching for the reported suspicious possible terrorist that was casing the pumping installation. I spent my whole working life building power lines and substations, and after I retired, I sometimes like to "observe" a job in progress from a distance; I have been checked up on several times, and asked (been told) to move along. If you want a decent dark beer or ale in this country, stick with the "craft" brews, small batch local breweries with a limited distribution area, or go for an import. Most of the stuff the majors put out is not worth drinking any more.

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You might try an Amber Bock, on tap. Better than anything Coors makes. If you come across a B Merrils restaurant, they stock over a hundred different brews