Once I wanted to be in Patient, but I had to wait so long for a ticket I finally gave up.

Sat, Aug 1 Our “campsite”, at the summer cottage of Eric & Char Longman, is just three turns and less than 2 miles from our day’s adventure: the Aug 1st Gilmore Car Museum Show. We’ve visited here before and, in coming back, I have to say that the Gilmore Car Museum is probably the BEST auto museum I have yet visited. There are so many buildings stuffed with antique and special interest automobiles. The descriptions, signage, displays and everything is just… top notch! There are several summer special events and shows and today’s spectacular was one of them. We arrived 10 minutes before the show opened and walked out at 5pm closing time to find we were the last car in the parking lot. After 9 hours our feet were t-i-r-e-d. In addition to the cars in the multitude of museum buildings, there were almost 1,000 cars on display by their owners, plus several long rows of swap meet vendors selling parts, books, tools etc. for auto enthusiasts. (Gilmore Car Museum, 6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, MI 49060)

On our way back to Longmans, we stopped at the Univ of Michigan ag farm where robotic cow milking is being operated. This was fascinating to watch. Cows come into the barn and line themselves up. An electronic scanner reads imbedded radio chips to determine if it’s an appropriate time for milking that individual cow. Some try to get in too early so as to receive extra food that’s supplied by the computer. If the cow is OK to milk, the gate opens and the cow steps into the milking location. A laser guides the milking “tubes” to each teet individually and the process begins. It’s amazing to see how well this works and how the cows have learned to handle this mechanized procedure.

Sun, Aug 2 We said our ‘goodbyes’ to Char(lene) and Eric Longman, our very gracious hostess and host, and we drove several miles north to attend Sunday worship at Hope Lutheran Church in Plainwell, MI. The congregation is small but extremely active and supports a mission school in Central America, a food outreach on property next door they gave to this community food bank, and several other programs & projects. (see next page for photo)For lunch we split a fried seafood platter at Red Lobster and we were amazed at how huge the meal was; we almost couldn’t finish all the items… and it tasted great. Zachariah M., our server, was an excellent waiter and we both remarked he has to be in the top 10% of servers we experienced! (Red Lobster, 3920 28th St. SE, Kentwood, MI 49512)

Summer Trip

2015

#9 : Aug 1 -Aug 15, 2015

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1: ’58 Edsel is a real beauty w/ continental tire kit. 2: Sally looks like a little child riding in a big, old car. Actually, this is from a Disney movie set made in large scale. 3: Rustic trailer was a hit at the show. 4: Typical gallery of fine cars. 5: We were, indeed, the last car left in the parking lot.

National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, WI from previous Issue #8

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From church we drove north to Grand Rapids, parked downtown and toured the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Its three floors had many quality exhibits that earned it the AAA GemSite status. As Bank Of America customers we receive free admission to select museums across the USA on the first full weekend of each month. This art museum happens to be in that select group, so our admission was zero.

Mon, Aug 3 We spent some time this morning sorting out our plans for the next few days in Michigan. We’ve found this state to be much more interesting to visit than previously expected. A lunch stop at a local “family” restaurant was very nice. We even received free beverages. (That saved over $5!) Our day was spent at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI. Though we spent four hours here we felt we could have stayed at least another hour but, as always, they closed the doors as we were walking out. The gardens are good but pale in comparison to the sculptures that dominate so much of the acreage. This is a very large botanical garden with a lot of land adorned with huge art pieces in bronze, concrete, stone, stainless steel and various other mediums. The Japanese Garden is large & stunning. Several boardwalks take you into woods and wetlands. The conservatories are grand also. This venue is certainly worth 3-5 hours of your time if you’re ever in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tues, Aug 4 Our travels took us from Grand Rapids, MI to Lansing, MI. Enroute to our campground we toured the R.E.Olds Transport Museum (240 Museum Drive, Lansing, MI, 517-372-0529). Though compact in size, we became thoroughly involved in the displays and videos that covered personal history related to Ransom E. Olds and the company he developed. Exhibited were parts from his mansion (an elaborate hearth), furniture and other personal belongings. Several iterations of his early vehicles were displayed along with the pre-auto engines that had brought him his wealth prior to automobile manufacture. Another interesting fact was that R.E.Olds developed mass-production prior to Henry Ford who further refined it into a moving assembly line. R.E.Olds’ separation from the automobile company that bears his name was also explained, followed by his start of the REO Auto & Truck companies. Though his car manufacturing ended in the 1940s, his truck company survived into circa 1980s. His “speedwagon” truck is a name familiar to many ‘rockers’ as it became the name of a famous rock ‘n roll group… REO Speedwagon… and now you know the rest of the story! (or so says Paul Harvey) Our campsite is nice with clean

restrooms, just what campers are always looking for. The price of $31 seems average for this region. (Lansing Cottonwood Campground, 5339 Aurelius Road, Lansing, MI 48911, 517-393-3200.)

66: Grand Rapids Art Museum’s building is art itself. 7: Glass ante-lope has amazing detail atop stone. 8: Horse is made of found wood. 8: Sculptor made casting of his head, then painted detail.

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910 & 11: Stained glass

windows at front of

Hope Lutheran Church,

Plainwell, Michigan

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12: Row of 1930s & 40s Oldsmobile cars. 13: Olds racing cars. Gold & black model has 2 supercharged engines, one in front & one in the trunk! Went q-u-i-c-k ! !12 13

Smartphone Sally Says… Finding Treasures The Thrifty WaySally Mendola is an avid novice ‘smartphone’ devotee, who enjoys sharing her experiences and expertise on using smartphones while traveling. If you haven’t read her previous articles go to our website – www.thriftytravel.info – and read her helpful hints and instructions. Though Sally uses an iPhone, her content can be applied to most smartphones whether Apple, Android or Windows – the steps may be just slightly different.

A frequently mentioned activity in our newsletter is the mention of shopping at yard, rummage, garage, and estate sales. This ‘adventure’ may not be everyone’s cup-of-tea, but we’ve found it a fun way to buy items we need at rock-bottom prices. Thrift stores can be elusive if you’re not familiar with their location in a city, but using the White Pages app makes this adventure easier. (For details on the use of White Pages see issues #6 & #7 at www.thriftytravel.info) Thrift stores are a ready location to find bargains, though we’ve been finding your “name brand” thrift stores to have rising prices since the great Recession.Garage, rummage, & yard sales generally have lower prices but are more difficult to find. Certainly estate sales are at the top of the list for usually finding great items at the lowest prices. If you’re anything like us, there’s a bunch of stuff we have at home that we don’t use and could part with for a nominal price. Elderly loved ones may “pass on” or go into assisted living arrangements and their families need to dispose of the dwelling’s contents before selling the property. So… how do you locate garage, rummage, yard & estate sales? Well, we used to use an app named the Yard Sale Treasure Map. When I started this article a few weeks ago this app was my exclusive yard sale guide, but I recently installed their “update” and the features I previously used to find sales are now only available if I subscribe. Nope, that’s not going to happen! It’s one thing to get a free app and upgrade to gain more features, but don’t give me something new one day and expect me to pay for the same thing tomorrow after an “update”, especially when there are so many other free apps around. A search of reviews for this app found many other dissatisfied users who also dropped this app’s usage after the “update”.Searching found another free app: Garage Sales™ (you can find it in the App Store). Garage Sales™ operates like similar apps and is user-friendly and easy to learn. I’ll explain the basics. You can learn the more elaborate features on your own. Fig.1: The identifying logo is circled in yellow. Fig.2: Click on the ‘Search” button (magnifying glass) and enter the city & state where you want to search for garage sales. Red flags will appear indicating known sales. Fig.3: Clicking on the middle button (3 horizontal lines) will give details of all flags on screen. See advertised dates of sales, brief description supplied by seller, & address. Click on picture in upper-right corner and (optional) photos from seller appears. Fig.4: Click on far-right button and many photos appear, but this gets confusing, so I avoid this. Fig.5: Click on a single flag and details for that particular sale are displayed. 1=first photo at this location; 2=indication of # of photos available to view; 3=name of sale; 4=address of sale; 5=time of day sale is in operation; 6=days of week sale is planned; 7=brief description for this particular sale; 8=button to click to share this info with others via Facebook, email, text, etc. Clicking left-pointed arrow in upper-left corner will take you back to the master map.

Garage saleing can be fun and money-saving, too. Garage Sales™ and similar smartphone apps can ease the task of finding yard sales in operation just about anywhere in the USA. Plus they help you locate sales in areas you deem to be better neighborhoods for bargains and/or quality items. These apps rely upon publish lists of sales from various sources, so if a particular sale is not listed on a sourced listing you won’t find it on an app. Still, these apps are a valuable resource to help YOU in the hunting process.

Wed, Aug 5 We took a leisurely drive from Lansing to Camp Dearborn, a rather inexpensive municipal campground that we thought was in Dearborn, Michigan, but we found was actually located in Milford, MI, about an hour’s drive northwest of Dearborn. We will be here for several days exploring the area around Detroit. This appeared to be a reasonably-priced camp within reasonable distance of the venues we plan to visit. We’ll see how it works out. Arriving about 11:30am we chose to set up our trailer, then go for lunch and then visit our first attraction. When we arrived we found the Camp Dearborn to be very extensive with MANY campsites and lodging of all types, plus a bunch of planned daily activities for kids. With other things on our minds we just pitched our trailer and drove to a new, local Mexican restaurant, Mi Zarape, recommended by a camp employee. The lunch menu was very reasonable and the food was some of the best Mexican cuisine we’ve ever eaten. The campground is located near the General Motors Proving Ground, so we weren’t too surprised when we discovered a disguised GM test car in the restaurant parking lot. It was “wrapped”, so it was difficult to determine the make of this car (see photo #15). From Mi Sarape we drove to the Holocaust Memorial Center (28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, 248-553-2400). As we arrived, the 1pm tour had just started so we were able to join them. The docent spoke quickly but was thorough and gave many insights of the Jews and their struggles. His details of the climate in Europe prior to WWI and through WWII was especially interesting. Finishing the tour we were invited to listen to a survivor of the Nazi death camps, a woman who I calculated to be in her latter eighties. Her first-hand accounts were chilling. With an hour left before closing, we scooted through the Center to view some details that had interested us while on the tour. (No photos are allowed in the Holocaust Center.)On our way back to our site we drove around the camp’s property and were amazed at its size and amenities: a seasonal camping area with mobile homes dating back to the 1960s & 70s; a golf course; several small lakes; extensive tent camping fields upon which folks were playing games; several rows of old-fashioned tents that were obviously rentals; different styles of cabins from rustic to stylish, with several more in the beginning stages of construction. Comfort stations abounded and all looked rather new and well kept. There’s a sand beach, free paddle boats, a canteen that’ll deliver free-made pizza to your site, and lots more stuff we haven’t seen yet. We actually got lost on the roads despite having a map – this place is big! Back at our site we decided to take an evening walk and discovered three hot air balloons being launched at the end of our row behind a wall of trees. Sally was in her glory. She had wanted to see such a launch and we had missed such an event in Wisconsin due to a storm, so she snapped photos with her smartphone and came away smiling. We think we’ll greatly enjoy Camp Dearborn despite its distance from our selected venues near Detroit. (14: Three hot air balloons launched from a field at end of our campsite row. Sally was excited to see them fly. )

Thur, Aug 6 As we began our drive this morning I saw the same test car as yesterday in a parking lot. A quick study of the grill denoted it as a probable Cadillac to be seen on roads within a year or two. We drove to Dearborn today to tour both the Ford F-150 truck assembly plant and the Henry Ford Museum (20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124, 313-982-6001). We purchased both tickets as a package and saved 50% on the second ticket. Arriving at 10am we just missed the 10 o’clock bus, but another one arrives every 20 minutes. We had taken the truck tour a few years ago but Ford overhauled the venue this year in response to their new aluminum-bodied pick-up. The new four-dimension theater was really exciting, though Sally was bothered by all the visual motion. Lunch in the H-F Museum was reasonably priced and tasty. We spent several hours touring the Henry Ford Museum and saw things we’d missed on our previous trip; there’s a LOT to see in this museum, with MANY diverse topics. We especially liked the limited-engagement exhibit, Roadside America: Through the Lens of John Margolies. John spent 3 decades crisscrossing America to photograph gas stations, diners, motels, miscellaneous signage and more to record Americana prior to malls and big box stores. Despite the heavy traffic throughout the area around rush hour, we still enjoyed our day in Dearborn, MI.

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15: GM test car. 16: Sally is listening to hear if cars are coming on the road. 17: Original Mustang concept car & actual ’65 Mustang. 18: Lamy’s Diner inside Henry Ford Museum where we ate lunch.

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Cadillac?

Fri, Aug 7 Well… (You know when you read that word there’s got to be something coming that’s: interesting, unusual, unexpected, hmmm… whatever). Well, we had plans to go to two museums on the Univ of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, but… (here we go again) I had downloaded a new app (see Smartphone Sally’s article) and decided to try out the app while we were driving toward the U of M. Experimenting with the app’s features, we stopped along our route and hit a convenient yard sale. While there we found some interesting bargains. (Now that doesn’t surprise you does it!) Upon leaving we tried different techniques with the app such as: •Could we determine items at the sale without having to drive there? •What route could we take? •How difficult is the app to learn? As we progressed we found that the sellers were anxious to unload their wares; prices were good. Sellers were also willing to bargain and let items go for less than the asking price so they could: a) unload the items and not have to take them to a charity or store them for another yard sale, and b) they couldn’t make money if prices were too high and no one bought anything. So then we went to another sale. As time progressed we found more items on our ‘shopping lists’, prices were going down, many sellers were bargaining more because today was the second or third day of their sale, and time was heading toward afternoon. Would they sell all they wanted just to unload it?We found ourselves not too far from our starting point by lunch time so we chose to go back to the Mexican restaurant we had enjoyed on Wednesday (Mi Zarape). Because we like our food hot (temp, not necessarily spicy) we chose to order one item to share, then order the second item so it’d be nice and warm. Well… between the chips, salsa, and the generous portion, plus the offer of another bowl of chips with more salsa, the single entree was enough. We were full. Back in our car we aimed for another yard sale, this one on a dirt road. We’ve found an unusually large number of dirt roads in this area, and very nice homes on these roads, too. Possibly the dirt roads deterred folks from frequenting these locations because we found even better bargains, lower prices and less shoppers. This all added up to more purchases. As the afternoon progressed we found prices plummeting. At one “moving sale” they were so anxious to clear out, one of the women helping the owner said, “Here, you can have these six bowls for 25¢ instead of the $2 on the tag.” I bought them. When I added something to the pile she said, “Now you’ve got 25¢, find more.” No matter what we added she’d say, ”You've got 25¢ here, what else do you want?” We ended up buying over a dozen items and the final price was 25¢ total. As I walked out I saw four really nice steel c-clamps, worth $2-$7 each. They were marked just 25¢ each. She said, “It’s 25¢ for all of them. Here.” And she handed them to me. She had made another sale… and we made another purchase. Talk about a win-win situation. As it turned out we never made it to Ann Arbor. We spent our entire day having a ball doing yard sale-ing.

Sat, Aug 8 “The best laid plans of mice and men…” We hit the road toward Detroit before 10am. Our plan: see the Detroit Institute of Art and the historic plant where the first Model T cars were designed and built. Along the way we changed priorities and had a large breakfast at Golden Corral. (‘Large’ being the operative word.) While dining I checked my new garage sale app and noticed a sale listed with emphasis on “men’s stuff”. Wow, it was only four blocks off our route. How could it hurt to stop and just… um… look?! If we’d only had a delivery truck pulling our trailer, oooooow, would that have been nice! The seller had a 1930s Buick hot rod with a 1932 Chevrolet grill shell. I identified the year of that feature and we were buddies from then on. I bought an embroidered patch for the collection on my sweatshirt. It was a large patch of a 1959 Cadillac. (This has GOT to be a collector’s item!) Cost? 10¢. Next was a brand new pop rivet gun (you can always use another one of those). Cost? $1. Uh huh, uh huh. Then I saw a Craftsman electric bench-top planer that weighed about 40 pounds. My son Steve has frequently asked to borrow one, but I can’t loan what I don’t have. The guy said, “Plug it in, see how it runs.” So I did. Sweet! Price new? $230. I paid $10… for all three items. That’s why we go to yard sales. And my loving wife Sally found a way to fit all this stuff inside our car for a 1600-mile ride home.Down the road in downtown Detroit we took the tour of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant where Henry Ford built several of his early cars, plus designed and built his first Model T prior to expanding to a much larger factory. The tour was excellent and we got to see two floors of the original building with about 30 old cars on display, both Fords and competitors’ models. The tour took almost 2 hours and was extremely interesting. As we prepared to leave, a wedding ceremony was setting up and about an hour away from beginning. This location is a favorite with wedding couples. From there we drove back to our campground via city streets. (Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, 461 Piquette Street, Detroit, MI 48202, 313-872-8759, www.fordpiquetteavenueplant.org.) We were saddened to see how such a wealthy & once vibrant city is slums in some areas; buildings falling apart that were once mansions and elaborate 19: Ford’s first Model A circa 1903. All were red color. 20: Model T engine, transmission, clutch and other parts. 21: Sally stands in front of Edsel Ford’s own Mustang. She had one. 19 2120

store fronts. We drove farther north in hopes of seeing hot rods, antique, and custom cars touring Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, MI, where a summer Saturday night can find up to 40,000 cars cruising this street. We were two hours too early but we got to see many beautiful homes in the Detroit suburbs. Back at camp we took a walk around one of the ponds and I helped a Canadian fellow whose bicycle had a pedal crank fall off. Later, two hot air balloons flew over our campsite and Snoopy was able to balance one of them on his nose!

Sun, Aug 9 With some time to spare before driving to church, we walked around a portion of the campground to explore its sites and sights. We then drove northeast and, still early, we stopped at a mobile home community having individual yard sales. We only found one item to purchase, so if someone tells me (Chris) to “Go fly a kite!” I’ll be ready. I’ve been looking for a nice kite that’s inexpensive, and those two qualities rarely exist together. In this case it’s a 60” (5ft) wide kite of rip-stop nylon with three spools of line. That broke the bank at $3. Down the road a half mile was All Saints Lutheran Church, Hartland, MI, which we had investigated a few days ago. Today’s worship was held outdoors followed by a picnic-style meal. We were invited to join them and took advantage of their hospitality. We met and spoke with many parishioners and enjoyed fellowship for over an hour. Then it was off to Detroit to tour the Detroit Institute of Arts downtown. We arrived in time to take the 3 o’clock tour directed by a docent. This really made the art come alive as Steve knew so many facets of the art works covered. We especially like the huge four-wall mural that was commissioned in 1932 by a famous Mexican artist who did the entire job himself in 9 months. Amazing. Leaving a few minutes before closing time we drove to Farmington Hills, MI to see Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum. We had heard of this venue and discovered it had no admission fee, but all the machines were coin operated… and the room was stuffed with all kinds of mechanical marvels, some dating back almost 80 years. We slipped a couple dollars worth of quarters into them and took videos to share with the grandkids. All in all, it was another great day on the road. Tomorrow will be our last day in the Detroit area.

Mon, Aug 10 We chose to spend this morning planning our trip from now until arrival in Buffalo. Our plans The plan covered the next two weeks, so it took us a few hours to go through all the details. When I say “details” I mean that, we select what we’re going to do each day and where we’ll camp each night, right down to m a k i n g campground reservations. Following our planning we met a couple from Canada; I had fixed his bike for him a few bike days ago. We had a good time in conversation. From there we reserved another day at our current site at Camp Dearborn. We decided to spend another day and travel to Ann Arbor, MI just down the road. There are three venues we’d like to see while in the area. (More on that tomorrow.) As we entered the parking lot for lunch the GM test car was just pulling out. These guys must come here everyday for lunch! We ate at Mi Zarape Mexican Restaurant just down the road in Milford. The food is fantastic and very reasonably priced. We split a lunch-size fajita dinner plus courtesy chips and salsa. We highly recommend Mi Zarape. It’s better than our favorite Mexican restaurant back home. (We’ve eaten here three times in the past 6 days!) (Mi Zarape Mexican Restaurant, 131 S. Milford Rd., Milford, MI 48381, 248-714-8782) It rained while we ate so when we returned to camp we stayed inside a while and did some odd jobs then, when the rain stopped, we went to the lake to see if the free paddle boats were available. They had been taken out of service due to the earlier storm. We’ll try again tomorrow or Wednesday morning before we leave. Our final fun for the evening was watching Iron Man on DVD.

22: Snoopy balances hot air balloon on his nose as it passes overhead at our camp-ground. 23: Camp Dearborn has comfort-able picnic benches with seat backs.

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24: Dutch master painting with much detail in the clothing. 25: Mural covers 3 walls in Detroit Institute of Art. 26: Marvin’s signage greets visitors. 27: Inside Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum w/ MANY coin operated marvels that move, make noise and amaze visitors. No fee, just your coins.

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28: GM test car is seen again! 29: Mi Zarape is the best Mexican food around! 28

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Tues, Aug 11 This was our last full day at Camp Dearborn. We leave tomorrow morning for Toledo, OH. We drove to Ann Arbor, MI, about a half-hour drive west. Arriving at the Univ of Michigan campus we spent about 1.5 hours at the university’s Museum of Archeology, a AAA GemSite. Though this topic is not the highest on our “interest” list, we were surprised at the collection on display. Items ranged from early Egyptian to the late Roman period, with a multitude of artifacts on display that would rival any museum we’ve seen thus far. The posted descriptions were also very interesting and enlightening and gave the visitor a lot of insight into each period of history depicted. Walking across the street we spent the next 1.5 hours touring the university’s Museum of Art. Not only were the works interesting but the building with its additions was architecturally dynamic with multiple floors, twists and turns and a floor plan that kept you wondering what would be around the next corner.Driving to Ypsilanti, MI we stopped for lunch at a “family” restaurant (those are Sally’s favorites). From there we drove about seven blocks to the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum (100 E. Cross Street, Ypsilanti, MI 48198, 734-482-5200, open 1-5pm, confirm dates & hours). Though not large, the museum had a very diverse and very interesting collection of auto-related items. Ypsilanti has been the home of several automobile parts manufacturing and assembly operations, the two biggest being the GM Hydramatic (automatic) transmission plant and the Willow Run Assembly Plant that manufactured the Corvair, Nova and similar Pontiacs. Additionally, Ypsilanti was headquarters for Kaiser-Frazier Automobile Company. The city was also famous for being the home of the last Hudson dealership that continued to sell Hudson parts and service well after Hudson died in 1957. My first car was a 1957 Hudson Hornet 4-door sedan with 327 cu. in. American Motors V8 engine and 4-speed GM-supplied Hydramatic transmission. Despite its size it was medium in weight and was quite fast for its length and width. My Hudson could easily fit 3 adults across the seat, and sometimes could even fit 4. The front seat folded down so you could go camping, too. The staff was very cordial and a member gave me a complimentary advertisement of the 1957 Hudson for my collection.Back at the campground we tried to fly the kite we bought a few days ago. Despite our best efforts we just didn’t have enough wind blowing across the campground. But we still had fun trying.

Wed, Aug 12 We truly enjoyed our time at Camp Dearborn in Milford, MI. There are so many things to do at this camp that it’s a haven for seniors and families. Everyday we found something new to do that we didn’t realize was here. Today we discovered that student helpers working a summer job ride around in a golf cart on Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings selling baked goods at the campsites. Wow, I’ve never had a campground do that before. Going to bed last night I had a nagging feeling that I had something that was not done, something that just wasn’t right. I mentioned it to Sally and then it hit me… I had purchased a Groupon certificate for Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum and we had already gone there two days ago. Hitting the road we decided to drive to Marvin’s and see if we could salvage some money back. Marvin’s was conveniently on our way toward our next destination – Toledo. If you’re unfamiliar with Groupons, you subscribe (free) to receive notices of discounts for products and services in various locations in the USA. Marvin’s sold a $14 package for two for $9 ($5 savings) and you got 2 medium popcorn and 2 medium drinks plus $6 for playing the mechanical machines. We arrived, showed them the barcode on my smartphone (you could print your coupon instead) and received the food plus $6 to insert in the coin changing machine. We ate one box of popcorn, played $1 in games (we’d already played some two days ago), left with $5 of the $6, and enjoyed our drinks in the car while driving. The drive to Toledo was uneventful and Sally read more in our mystery novel. Arriving in Toledo we toured the Wildwood Manor House, the home of the late Mr. R.A.Stranahan, the co-founder of Champion Spark Plugs. The mansion is located on the grounds of the Wildwood Preserve Metropark in Toledo. Keith, a volunteer docent and retired teacher, did a fabulous job of touring us on three floors of the home. We learned so much about the family, the era of their lives, and the fine home in which they lived & entertained. “Thanks, Keith, for the

30: Replica Roman villa walls. 31: Chris loves early Christian art. 32: Sally near ancient wine jars. 33: Chris flies a kite… almost. 34: Chris’ first car, a 1957 Hudson Hornet 255HP V8. Wow!

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terrific tour!” From the house we did some walking along one of the trails on the grounds of the former estate, now a metropark, and enjoyed the extensive boardwalk down near the creek. By that time Sally decided we needed to get to our campground at Maumee Bay State Park, set up, and get some laundry done. Between the wash and dry cycles we drove to the beach area of the park and climbed a man-made hill to get a scenic look over the bay and Lake Erie in the far distance. Maumee Bay is part of the Ohio State Park system. There’s no fee to enter the park and campsite rates are just $25 per night, but there’s only electricity at each site. You load water at the entry to the campground, and use the dump station if necessary.

Thur, Aug 13 Our day involved touring the Toledo Botanical Gardens (5403 Elmer Drive, Toledo, OH 43615, 419-536-5566, www.toledogarden.org). We were surprised by all the houses on the property. EIther the area was previously a residential neighborhood, or houses were moved into the park. Inside the houses are rooms for various “clubs” such as photography, gardening, stained glass, etc.. Very few were open because it wasn’t a weekend. The grounds are very nicely decorated with plants of all types along with several interesting lawn sculptures. We spent about two hours touring the grounds. After lunch we drove to the Toledo Art Museum (2445 Monroe St., Toledo, OH43620, 419-255-8000). The museum is actually a complex of several buildings over several city blocks consisting of the main museum, the glass pavilion (across the street), Center For The Visual Arts, the Peristyle Theater (within the main building), and several other buildings for classes, etc. We toured the main museum and the Glass Pavilion, which are free

venues with only a $5 parking fee. Within fifteen minutes we could attest to why this art museum is a AAA GemSite – the main building is very large, the collections are first-class, and there is great diversity in what you can view. Plus, there appear to many classes and activities for children, youth, adults and seniors. We chose to tour on Thursday as the museum is open until 9pm (also on Fridays). Just as we were about to leave at 5:45pm we saw a sign for a free concert inside the art museum. We stayed for about four songs before deciding we wanted to get back to camp for a needed shower before bedtime. The art museum is so large that even with a map we found it difficult to determine how to get outside to our car. A friendly docent saw our bewilderment and showed us the path to follow down the halls, plus he mentioned that there was a free glass-blowing demo across the street at the Glass Museum, sooo… we spent another half-hour there watching artisans apply their talents & skills to very hot glass. With three rows of stadium seating you’re right there amidst the action, which is also enhanced by large, flat screen monitors with cameras focused tightly on the bench where the artisan works. We both love watching craftsmen at work. Wow, we had another great day today! Toledo has a lot to offer visitors.

Fri, Aug 14 We met many nice folks in our campground today as we were preparing to pack up our trailer. Most were in the Hawaiian Luau group that is coordinating a camping event for the public around a Polynesian theme. This annual event almost fills every campsite and is sponsored by the state park. Talk about a way to make your park popular! I told several jokes and did a magic trick. Everyone was laughing and you would’ve thought we were old friends. Leaving Maumee Bay State Park we drove south on I-75 to Dayton, OH stopping only for lunch. Arriving in Dayton we toured the Cox Arboretum Metropark, a botanical garden complex that looks rather new. (Cox Arboretum Metropark, SR741 / Springboro Pike, Dayton, OH, 937-275-PARK, see photos next page) Covering some nice acreage, the facilities have nice, modern buildings while the grounds appear to be under development with many sections in the midst of construction. With the expansive grounds, this arboretum will surely be a place to

Health & happiness thought for the day: “I choked on a carrot this afternoon and all I could think was, “I bet a donut wouldn’t have done this to me!”

Toledo Gardens: 35:Japanese Garden. 36:Stone wall & door reminds me of a scene in scripture. 37:Sally examines stainless steel arches with wooden cross.

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38: Toledo Institute of Art has early Christian art especially from Middle Ages.

View of Lake Erie and Maumee Bay from top of manmade hill

stop back to in the future. We thoroughly enjoyed our walk around the grounds, stream, rock arrangements, ponds and garden areas. On our way to our campground we stopped at Baskin-Robbins and enjoyed chocolate malt Oreo ice cream. Even Sally loved it, and she’s not a fan of malt. Our campground is about 20 minutes east of Dayton. We couldn’t find a campground closer. The folks here are very nice; the facilities are adequate.

Sat, Aug 15 We arrived at the Dayton Institute of Art several minutes prior to the 10am opening time printed in the AAA TourGuide book. Exiting the car we found the times posted on the door read 11am, not 10. Hmmm. We walked around the large building and enjoyed the exterior of the structure along with its location in downtown overlooking a river. A large poster announced the time change effective Feb 2015, obviously changed after the AAA book was printed. We spent the next hour touring the grounds of what appears a century-old stone building reminiscent of many such museums in our nation’s rust belt cities. Admission was $5 and the collection was excellent; the museum earned its AAA GemSite status. We spent two hours touring the two floors remarking that the glass collection was especially diverse and beautiful.Leaving the art museum we stopped for lunch in an old neighbor that had been renovated. This was a special treat for me as it demonstrated how older cities can be attractive when businesses and residences are revitalized. We ate at Five Guys burger shop and really enjoyed our meal. Looking at the clientele we wondered if we might be in a college neighborhood. Within 10 minutes we were back downtown attending my “special treat” of the day – a special car museum. The Citizens Motors Packard dealership and museum was one of the first Packard dealerships in the USA and also one of the last to close. Its two buildings were probably constructed circa the very late 1800s / early 1900s as Packard started selling cars circa 1900. Two museum guides were excellent at answering questions and assisting in other matters. We spent about 1.5 hours looking at the cars on display and the memorabilia on view everywhere, which was all laid out as if you were in a 1920s dealership looking for a purchase or service on your Packard. I then spent the next 1.5 hours in their large library looking for technical information about the 1948 and 1949-50 Packards. Though they look almost identical, these years represent two different “series”, the 22nd series (1948) and the 23rd series (1949-50). One of the museum guides actually went to the second floor and brought me down two books he felt might supplement what was shelved on the first floor. After and hour and a half of photographing pages from about a dozen references both Sally and I were ready to head back to camp for the evening. This was a g r e a t , f u n d a y … especially for a car-guy.Watch for Issue #10 in a few weeks !

39: Pond is one of several at the Cox Arboretum. 40: Observation tower provides dramatic view of the gardens & woods hiking trails.

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41: Ceramic palm trees are faced with mosaic tiles. 42: Atrium court-yard is reproduction of famous European court. Weddings & gatherings are a favorite in this setting. 43: Intricate carving is evident in this eastern Indian artwork. 44: This 1950 Packard Super Eight Touring Sedan is the same as Chris’ Packard at home with the exception of the color.

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45: Peristyle theater, inside the Toledo Institute of Art, resembles a Roman or Greek Coliseum – just stunning!

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