wtfif

aussiefitzy.com

DAY 38

Week 6

DETROIT (Michigan, USA) to AKRON (Ohio, USA)
via The Henry Ford Museum (Michigan, USA) & The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (Ohio, USA)

Friday July 28th, 2006

TODAYS MILEAGE – 210 miles or 338 kilometres

TRIP MILEAGE – 5305 miles or 8538 kilometres

Can I get out of Detroit - in one piece???

To say I had an uneasy night would be putting it mildly. I think I slept solidly for only about 30 minutes in total. I just didn't have a good feeling on where I was staying, but was out of options as I couldn't locate an RV park and didn't want to spent the night at a hotel, as they didn't any safer than the Walmart car park.

As you can obviously tell, the creatures of the night didn't strike while the lights were out. It's not a good feeling when you're swimming, knowing the sharks are out there sizing you up, but you can't see them circling.

I found one of my hitchhikers, named him after the "N" word and decided to let him go in the car park. After a couple of minutes, I nearly felt sorry for letting him go in such an unfriendly environment, but refrained from going after the rodent hitch-hiker because of his name. You can't go around in the middle of the night calling "here Noodles, come here Noodles" in that kind a 'hood.

As it turns out, I was only 15 minutes from the Henry Ford Museum, so it was a no-brainer to lob up to the home of Ford Motor Company. I tell you what, they jam so much into the area, that it'd take you a week to take an optic nerve at every exhibit. As with most museums, they pay homage to life & living throughout the years, but I was really impressed by what they have achieved. It's not just a "car" museum. Well done.

A further 165 miles (265 kilometres) to the East and I was standing in front of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland (Ohio). A piece of advise for free, don't try and take an RV as parking is murder and the attendants are as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. Aside from that, I was under-whelmed by what they had put on. It covers the early roots of Rock & Roll, but doesn't really do anything for my generation. It's a good site to visit, but for someone, like myself, who has a keen interest in music, would do better with Paul Allen's joint in Seattle (Washington).

It cost's $20-00 to go through the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, but they do not allow you to take any photos while you are there. They cite "copyright" as being the main reason, but the trinket store sells stuff at exorbitant prices pertaining to the exhibits. Go figure.

I was thinking that the Man Pad was being such a good girl or the last couple of days, when in the midst of peak hour traffic in downtown Cleveland she decides to remind me who the organ grinder and who the monkey is. I pull up at a stop light and the main door opens. As I get up to close the door, the light changes to green. It was a quick change based on the time frame it took oodles of people to voice their displeasure at me ... via their horns.

As people who've traveled on the Man Pad will attest, as soon as you open the door, the steps slide out and retracts when the door is shut. But no, not this time. I put the RV in gear and hear a scraping. I know it's the step so I pull up in the middle of 9th street in downtown Cleveland no less to sort it out.

I have to jump out of the pilots seat and go fix the steps while a throng of seathing cube rats, tying to flee the sinking ship of a the city for the weekend, let me know in no uncertain terms thier appreciation of an RV with Idaho plates slowing the flow to the suburbs. Waltzing Matilda has a wicked sense of humour AND timing, but with my use of some choice words and a couple of strategically swift kicks got the steps "realigned" and we were on our way!!!

Tomorrow I will trundle on down to Canton (Ohio) to check out the NFL Hall of Fame.

See ya when I'm looking atcha.