Michigan - Detroit, Lansing area

We have been in Michigan for about three weeks now.   Our weather has been fantastic with sunny dry days, highs in upper 70s or lower 80s, and cooler at night.  We haven't run the A/C since we got here.  I love having all the windows open and sitting outside in the evenings.   Actually, we have been very lucky for  the entire trip.  We have had a couple days with rain but all the really bad weather has been either in front of us or after we pass through.

We spent a week at a state park campground in Monroe, about 35 miles from Detroit.  Nice campground with big sites but little privacy as there were very few trees or even bushes.  Full hookups were only on the middle circle so we elected for electricity only (30 amp) on the outer ring and backed up to trees.  It was kind of pricey at $24/night plus $8/night park pass.  We bought an annual park pass for $32 which paid for itself that first visit alone. 

We visited The Henry Ford the first day.  It is a large sprawling complex that included Greenfield Village, a recreated town from the late 1800s or early 1900s - can't remember which-, the Henry Ford Museum, and a tour of the Ford Rouge Assembly Plant.  We only did the museum and assembly plant which took us all day.  My favorite was the assembly plant which I found absolutely amazing with continuously moving assembly line of Ford F-150 pickup trucks, the robotics, and the articulated arms.  Fascinating!  Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the assembly plant.  

The museum was very good too.  Trains, planes, and, of course, cars.  

I'm sorry that we missed Greenfield Village as everyone raves about it.  Perhaps next time.

The second day we went into downtown Detroit which was surprisingly nice, clean, and bustling.  We toured the GM headquarters building, which towers 79 stories with four smaller towers at 42 stories.  It dominates the Detroit skyline and you could see the entire city from the top floor.  We walked along the riverfront with its parks and water fountains, and lots of boat and ship traffic.  The river was surprisingly clean and clear.  Then we had a fun lunch at a small downtown bar and grill.  After hearing all the bad things about Detroit on the news, I was pleasantly surprised and thought Detroit needed a better PR person.

But then the next day we saw the other side of Detroit.  We were heading to the Motown Museum but along the way were burned out building, deserted churches, boarded up homes, graffiti everywhere, overgrown lots, abandoned cars, etc.  It looked like a war zone, something we see on TV in the middle east or Afghanistan.    What a mess!  Our GPS got us lost one time.  Don started to pull over but I told him to keep moving, I didn't care where he went but don't stop!   We found but never did visit the Motown Museum as we arrived about 45 minutes before it opened.  It was very small and we didn't care to return to that part of the city.  

After Detroit, we headed north to Lansing where my cousin lives.  We spent three nights dry camping at the Moose Lodge.  Large, quiet parking lot, friendly folks, and free.   Don and my cousin played golf one day while I did laundry.

The next day we visited the R.E. Olds Museum which turned out to be a great place with friendly and very knowledgeable volunteers and very interesting displays.

         Then on to the state capitol (our 48th) -

and the state history museum.