Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan

Friday PM, December 4, 2009

It’s Friday night and we are in Dearborn Michigan having arrived earlier this evening from Louisville. Tomorrow we will tour Greenfield Village to see the Christmas decorations. The van ride up from Louisville was uneventful as we made it in less than 6 hours with only one stop (for 6 minutes) to stretch and use the bathroom. A big improvement over the earlier trip to South Dakota and the many stops we had to make. I’m not sure why that was but perhaps it was because Susie is travelling with us this time and all the guys just wanted to show off. Or, perhaps it was because they didn’t have the cooler of beer along this time. Yes, Susie (Earl’s wife) is with us this time as this was going to be our first ever “couples trip”. However, about half-way through this week The Barb decided she couldn’t go because she was still recovering from a bad head cold. Since the rooms were already prepaid, I immediately started thinking of what other FEMALE would be available to go with me in order to keep true to the spirit of this being a “couples’ weekend” and all. You know me, always willing to help the cause. I was really enjoying all the brainstorming involved in this pursuit and then that damn Tiger Woods debacle blew up down in Florida and there went my dreams down in flames. For red-blooded American males everywhere, I would just like to extend a big “THANK YOU, TIGER!!!” down Florida way. On the positive side, next year if this trip situation were to occur again, Tiger’s EX-WIFE will be available to go with me and with her new found riches, should be able to foot the whole bill. Again, THANK YOU, TIGER!! I just can’t say that enough.

Anyhow, Carlos was able to fill-in as my “date” for this trip. We are sharing a King bed which is not something we normally do on the guy trips. I’ll see how that works out.

Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan

Saturday, December 5, 2009 A cloudy and cold day

OMG, this morning it’s a frigging 19 degrees outside!! I really can’t complain though because I came prepared, even bringing my winter Tilley. And unlike this past summer (sic) trip to Michigan where I whined just all the time (The Barb, she’s a saint) I fully expected it to be cold in Michigan in December, but 19 degrees?!! And the prospects for it to get above 25 today are not very good. We are eating the continental breakfast at the hotel today and then off to Greenfield Village by 9:00am. I say we as there are six of us going; Susie and Earl, Carlos, myself and also Earl’s brother and sister-in-law (John and Nancy) who drove in from South Bend yesterday. They are staying in the same room as Susie and Earl at our hotel in Allen Park. Earl was very excited by that as it was a way to cut costs. I’m not sure who will be sleeping in the bathtub. Probably Earl, as he’s done it before on our trips. In yesterday’s postcard I forgot to mention that all of us went to dinner Friday at our favorite place “Buddy’s” in downtown Dearborn. I believe everyone enjoyed it. For those of you thinking “DOWNTOWN DEARBORN? NO WAY!!!!” I want to say no, this is not downtown Detroit. Dearborn’s downtown is very docile reminding me of Main Street in downtown Owensboro from the 60’s only Dearborn has many more eateries to pick from and more upscale modern. Very nice. If you are ever in Dearborn definitely try Buddy’s.

Since it’s so cold outside today I think I’ll send my “designated seat warmer” out to the van about 5 minutes before everyone else so he can warm up those cold leather seats. That would be Earl as even after all these years he’s still eager to please…

Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan

Sunday AM, December 6, 2009 About 25 degrees outside and partly sunny.

We made it through Greenfield Village on Saturday and even though it was cold we all dressed properly and didn’t really have a problem. I found out that the real holiday treat at the village is the night-time tours which were sold out for this weekend. That’s when they burn the lamps and have carolers, ice skating and animals all throughout the village. We took the day-time tour which was nice but not as “Christmassy” as the evening tour. Next year, I plan to come back for the evening show. The nice thing about the day-time tour was that there were only about 250 guests at Greenfield Village during the day. That made it very easy for us to get through the houses and exhibits without any interference from the crowds that are typical during the warmer months. It was like we had the village to ourselves.

After coming back to the hotel we all needed to warm up so we headed off to our respective rooms. Football games were on so I fell asleep watching that. About two hours later I woke up and found Carlos still watching games on TV. I left him in the room and went down the hall to the other room where I found everyone comfortably resting and also watching TV with the girls handing out drinks and snacks. I only stayed for about 30 minutes, enough to eat some more chocolate chip cookies and to chat some. When I got back to my room I saw Carlos was just starting to watch a movie on TV. I told him he should go down and visit Earl’s room because they girls were cranking out the supplies and they were having a party. Off went Carlos and I relaxed to watch the movie thinking he would be back soon. Two hours later, the movie was over and Carlos had never returned so I went off in search. When I got closer to Earl’s room I could hear loud noise and laughter. Upon entering I see what I had thought was a quiet party is now in FULL swing!! There are more snacks, wine chilling in the sink plus mixed drinks. Not only are there mixed drinks but there are also special drink glasses and wine glasses. I had no idea they brought all this stuff up with them in my van!! Whenever I go with just the guys all we have are chips and a cooler of beer. Somehow I feel I’ve been cheated and should invite the girls on more trips.

Everyone is talking and laughing and having a great time. Susie offers me another cookie and a chair as she goes to freshen up Carlos’ mixed drink. Carlos mentions that he normally is not a mixed drink drinker but I don’t see that slowing him down any. The girls seem content with the wine and have brought the heavier stuff for the guys and keep offering me some cheese but I stick with the cookies. Two hours later it’s getting late and since we have to get up early for the trip home I decide it’s time to get Carlos down to the room as his comment “I don’t normally do mixed drinks” is coming more frequently now as Susie keeps on refilling it for him. The King bed turned out to not be as roomy as the night before as Carlos took up 3 quarters of the bed as I clung to my little section on the edge. Had he encroached any more I was prepared to take corrective action. The good thing was the bathroom night light kept him from crashing into the wall like he did on Friday night.

Since we made good time on the trip home we stopped off in Cincinnati to see the IKEA store. Everyone liked it and wants to come back for another look when there is more time. It’s a big store and we only spent about 30 minutes there.

Until next time,

Mike A.

Subject: Postcards from Lexington, KY

Thursday, November 12, 2009 A sunny but crisp cool day.

We started our trip to Lexington from Mike H’s house. I’d already planned ahead as since I was not going to be doing the driving for a change I decided I would just sit in the back seat and let Mike drive while Earl navigated. Mike and I made such a good driver/navigator team on the South Dakota trip that I thought it would be good to let

Earl do a little “cross training”. After watching Earl struggle setting up the Garmin I was starting to wonder if that was such a good idea. As the trip goes on I soon realize that the bond between a driver and a navigator is special and requires two individuals who work together well in order to make the team a successful and finely tuned entity. That apparently is not going to happen on this trip. I don’t think Mike H and I sniped that much at each other on the whole South Dakota trip and we’ve not even made it out of Jefferson County. But hey, I’m in the back seat relaxing so let them snipe.

Our first stop is Woodford Reserve where Mike H will complete all the stops in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Earl and I had completed our distillery tour back in July but were more than willing to go again since we knew it meant more taste testing. There were only 6 people on our tour (The first one of the day) and at the end we helped ourselves to as many of the chocolate bourbon balls that we could stand. Since we had not stopped for breakfast we figured this would keep us until lunch.

We next went to the ALLtech headquarters building which is somewhere in the Lexington metro area. I’m not exactly sure where that is as the Garmin led the way and since I was sitting in the back just being a passenger, I was pretty much brain dead about the whole “getting there” experience. Gee, now I understand why Earl looked so comatose on the South Dakota trip as being a back seat passenger doesn’t do much to enliven the brain. After meeting Mike’s daughter Katie outside the main building, she took us to lunch stopping off on the way at the ALLtech farm where they have bison and other livestock they use in testing their various feed products. After lunch it was back to the HQ building for a tour. Very nice place and we all were envious that people would actually work in such a well designed and appointed building. And they seemed so happy too! They even had a replica of an Irish Pub in the building which they use as a meeting place. This Irish Pub theme would come up again and again on the tour as each ALLtech facility we toured had some sort of Irish Pub on the premises. Turns out the owners of ALLtech are from Ireland and added these pubs to their buildings to add a touch of home. And they were all working pubs too, as the ALLtech company also produces a line of beer ales and bourbon. Now I’m beginning to understand why the employees all seem so happy.

After touring the HQ we went across the road to the ALLtech golf course on Connemara Farm. There was a stately farm house on the grounds that served as the pro shop and office and also had another Irish pub in the back. They were all friendly and gave us samples from the bar. I could see where this was heading so I took the bottled water as I figured I might be needed later as the designated driver. After hanging out in the pub for a while Katie took us on a tour of the golf course in a couple of the carts. I drove the one cart with Earl and Katie drove the other with her dad. About halfway through the tour we noticed the cart I was driving had a “do not use” sign on it. I kept expecting it to break at any moment but it made it through the rest of the tour with no problems. It was a cool and windy day but being as I had on my winter Tilley I kept warm. I know Mike and Earl were envious though they didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them showed up this winter with their own Tilley, especially Earl now that he has that lump sum retirement money burning a hole in his pocket… It would look just great in that red sports car I JUST KNOW he is probably contemplating purchasing.

After the golf course tour we went downtown to ALLtech’s brewing facility to take that tour. They have TWO Irish Pubs at that location!! Again, both working pubs. Our tour guide served up samples of their products at the one pub and I must admit I sampled them too and even liked the bourbon ale one. Our guide was named Ann who is one of Katie’s friends having transferred down from HQ on Monday to start as the tour guide. Even though she was brand new in this job she did a great job and didn’t seem nervous at all which I could not say for myself had I been doing that job at her age. Actually, now that I think of it, Earl, Mike H, and I were the oldest people on all the tours today which is a definite twist from our experiences out at Mt Rushmore. Note to self; Take more trips out west next year.

The day concluded with us driving by Billy Gillespie’s house which was out in the vicinity of ALLtech’s HQ. Being the big UK fan that he is, Earl got out and walked up to the front door and looked into the window as we took his picture. Billy was not home. Probably out on a recruiting trip…

Until next time,

Mike A.

Subject: Postcards from Mt Rushmore--#1

Before I start the postcards, I just want to say that in order to protect the innocent, okay, and probably the guilty too, I have changed the names of all involved. That said you will be hard pressed to recognize anyone involved.   Mike A.



Saturday PM, September, 12, 2009

We have arrived in Waterloo, IA for our first night’s stop. The drive up today was uneventful which is always how I like to see the first day’s long drive go. I’m not sure how this town got its name, but ‘Water’ and ‘Loo’ seem somewhat cruelly ironic. With 4 adult males in the car there were a lot of bathroom breaks so I consider it fortunate that we were able to get this far the first day. I suppose I shouldn’t be giving away “Man Secrets” to the female readers, but it is interesting that when you get four men in a van without any female distractions, they can somehow solve ALL the world’s problems in just 550 miles. Yep, by the time we arrived in Waterloo that was all settled and everyone was on top of the world. Then we couldn’t decide where to go for dinner…

To recap the day:

This morning, promptly at 5:45, Earl showed up at my house having been driven in from Oldham County by wife, Susie. Even though it’s dark outside I can tell Susie is glad to see us off. She even hands me a container of homemade cookies which I take were for me alone, only to find out later that the rest of the gang pretty much helped themselves whenever my back was turned. We loaded up Earl’s gear in the van and were at Carlos’ place before the scheduled 6:15. With him loaded, we were off to get Mike H. Things were going great.

While driving to Mike’s we encountered some bad omens on the Watterson expressway that made us wonder just how perilous this trip might be. First, we almost ran into an abandoned sofa just on the side of the road in the construction zone where the road is very narrow. Close call but my super keen reflexes dodged it. At least THAT’S the way I’m going to remember it regardless of how others may tell it. Next, just about ½ mile further down, we find a car stopped in one of the driving lanes. They simply have their lights on, like they are stopped at a stop light, only they are on the expressway!! Again, my keen sense of survival kicks in too late as we wiz past the vehicle and I’m saying “What the…?” Fortunately, the car was in the other lane. I hope the rest of the trip settles down. At least we are making good time and sticking to my schedule. I just love it when a trip stays on schedule.

We pick up Mike H and are on the road by 6:45. Still on schedule! Five minutes later we are pulling into the McDonald’s on Hikes for a bathroom break. Uh-oh, this is not good. We have over 550 miles to go today so these stops are not in my plan. Back on the road within 7 minutes and heading into Indiana. Traffic is very light for a Saturday which is good. About 35 minutes into the trip we see the first rest area at mile marker 21 and pull in for another bathroom break. I think the van is still rolling to a stop when we get out for our assault on the bathroom. Going across the parking lot, we look like a group of shoppers on Black Friday trying to be first in line for the doors to open at Wal-Mart. Not good. Not good at all. I’m thinking the pioneers probably made better time driving their mule wagons out west.

We saw the world’s largest truck stop on I-80 called “Iowa 80” Truck Stop. We did not stop primarily because I was past the exit and would not go back. I’m sure later someone will say I’m not flexible but that’s not the case because I’ve got a schedule to keep.

While on the road I like to eat at local places when possible as it’s just more fun to experience the local cuisine. In Waterloo, there was a magazine in the motel that advertised food places. I saw one that was a local pizzeria and had been around since the 1960’s. Mike H. and I agreed it would be a good place and the GPS said it was close by. When we arrived at the destination we did not find any pizzeria but rather found the wrong side of town. Gee, I didn’t need a Garmin to help me find the wrong side of town as I can usually find that myself. I thought, “Oh, boy, here I go getting lost in South Chicago again…” Well, I was determined to find this place and figured we could. After all, there are three analysts in the van and a techie so we should be smart enough to figure this out as long as the techie didn’t bring us down. After some bickering, we did find the restaurant down the street a few blocks. Here it was a Saturday night during prime dining time and we appear to be the only car in the lot. We check the door and they are open so we go in and have dinner. I felt better when a few other people showed up later.

Back at the motel we turn in for an early night. The USC and Ohio State football game is on so we will fall asleep watching that. Or, at least I fall asleep. Earl is from Ohio and Carlos is from California and graduated from USC. They are rooming together so I hope all turns out okay in their room as I’m counting on both of them to continue the trip and share in the gas costs.

Tomorrow it is up early and we head on to Mitchell, South Dakota and of course, probably another 16 bathroom breaks. There we will see the world famous Corn Palace.

Subject: Postcards from Mt Rushmore--#2

Sunday PM, September, 13, 2009

Weather update: Arrived in Mitchell, SD mid-afternoon and weather is 80 degrees with clear skies. A carbon copy of Saturday’s weather.

While driving on I-90 in Minnesota and South Dakota we encountered lots of bugs. They have completely covered the front of the van and windshield. There must be 10,000 bugs on the front of the van so I go to a wand wash and clean the front.

During the drive up we told the usual stories. I’m sure the women reading this think when a bunch of men go on a trip all we talk about are women. Not true. I’m not sure what younger men talk about as it’s been a few years since I was young. Perhaps they talk about women. When you get men our age on a trip we eventually get around to talking about bathroom stuff. I’ll spare you the details, but just say it’s pretty much what you would imagine bathroom stories to be like. We did discuss the merits of which brand commodes flush the best. I think I’ll be upgrading my commode with a replacement when I get back as I have a lazy flusher. Oh, and one member of the group wants to replace their toilet seat with one of those where the two sides don’t come together in the front. They saw these in the many restrooms on the interstate. Not really sure why they want that but hey it’s the second day and I’m not going to nit-pick everything that’s said (and The Barb thinks I can’t be laid back…). I’ll save the nit-picking for day 4 and beyond.

Mike H. started with only three or maybe four work stories. Then no more work stories. Well, almost. Earl had several and so did Carlos. I’m hoping they get this out of their systems soon so we can go back to bathroom stories, which I find WAY more fun.

In Blue Earth, MN we gassed up at a Sinclair (remember them? They have “Dino” the dinosaur as a mascot). We also stopped at the “Jolly Green Giant” to take our picture with the giant who must be at least 5 stories tall. There was a platform we were all on which was right under the giant’s crotch. I’m sure that picture turns out to be a beauty. Blue Earth is just a spot in the road so I’m not sure why the Giant was there. Carlos makes his first souvenir purchase at the gas station. I believe it’s an old “Look” magazine but not sure as I’m busy trying to get the 10,000 bugs off the windshield.

After arriving in Mitchell, we go check in at the Best Western and head downtown to see the Corn Palace. They redid the palace around 2004 and the interior now has stadium seating and a basketball court plus a stage for other events. Very nice. The outside is still being updated with this year’s grain harvest for the annual fall festival. It looks about 90% complete and we take lots of pictures.

The Best Western we are staying in is one of those old 1950’s style motor courts just off the main highway. It reminds us of some of those hotels off of Dixie Highway back home, only those now charge by the hour. Actually, the rooms have been updated and the place is pretty nice. Our rooms are next door to one another so after getting my bag in place I head over to check out Earl’s and Carlos’ room. I notice it is a little stuffy inside and Carlos points to the A/C unit which is high on the back wall over top of the bathroom vanity. He says it’s turned off and he’s not going to climb up there to turn it on. I assess the situation, walk over to the thermostat on the wall and turn on the A/C. He thanks me profusely saying I’m a mechanical genius. I told him to think nothing of it as that’s what friends are for.

While in the Corn Palace, I find some postcards and lapel pin souvenirs to purchase. Earl has also gotten into the spirit and finds some thimbles.

Next we head to the big Cabela’s outdoor/sporting goods store. I say big as back in the ‘90’s I remember it was the biggest of these type stores I’d ever seen. Now it doesn’t look so big and the Bass Pro over in Jeffersonville is much larger. However, they have a lot of trophy game mounted on the walls so we take lots of pictures. And they have the largest gun arsenal I’ve ever seen. We spend some time looking at all the guns. I’m wondering just when does hunting season start up here and I hope we are long gone when it does as I notice there are not a lot of trees so what’s going to stop those bullets from just flying across the interstate?

For dinner this night I again find a local place that is a nice steak house, complete with white linen table cloths and even a gigantic concrete steer outside in the corner of the parking lot. They do seem to like larger than life sculptures up here. However, after the less than favorable reviews from the prior night’s dining, the boys were not about to let me pick the place this time. Instead we ate at Ruby Tuesdays which I was aghast as it IS NOT local. At least we knew what we were getting and no surprises.

Subject: Postcards from Mt Rushmore--#3

Tuesday AM, September 15, 2009

Weather update: Temp on Monday was 80 and then we toured the Badlands where it was 95.

We are now in Custer City, SD having arrived Monday afternoon from Mitchell. On the way, we stopped at Wall Drug and also toured The Badlands National Park.

While in the Badlands we stopped at several of the overlooks and walked around on the rock terrain and ledges. I kept telling everyone to stay on the paths as this was rattlesnake country but Earl kept wandering off trail and scurrying around on the ledges telling me there were no rattlesnakes here as it was too far north. At a later stop when we encountered the “Danger, Rattlesnake area” signs I made him stand by one of the signs so I could take his picture. Later, at the Badlands Visitor Center, Earl found the rattlesnake display and remarked they were a different color that what he thought they would be and how well camouflaged they were with the terrain. DUH! If I make it back from this trip without losing anyone it will be a miracle.

The Badlands were a big hit and everyone was fascinated by the prairie dog towns. We also saw rabbits, chipmunks, deer, pronghorn antelope and a big horn sheep. I’m sure we even saw a few rattlesnakes but just didn’t know it.

Oh, speaking of losing someone, we did have our first injury of the trip. In Mitchell, after returning to the motel, Mike H. and Earl decided to take a walk around the neighborhood for some after dinner exercise. There was a residential area behind the motel so an easy area to walk. While on the walk Earl again got off the sidewalk path and upon returning found he had cockleburs on his socks and shoes. I’m paraphrasing this as Mike H. told this story to us on today’s drive with only slight protest from Earl. Mike H. said that while Earl was removing the burrs he pricked his finger and he “cried like a girl” (I’m not paraphrasing that as those are Mike’s exact words). Mike H. had to lend assistance in removing what were apparently very thorny burrs and on today’s drive Earl kept saying a piece was still in his finger and kept trying to show it to us. Since I was driving I refrained from looking and told him to “Man Up” but not before repeating the “cried like a girl” phrase several times. I believe we will be using that one for several days to come.

We got to Wall Drug by 10:30 in the morning, having gone there first after leaving Mitchell. I wanted to wait and get our breakfast at Wall Drug so everyone could sample their homemade donuts. I knew Wall Drug is kind of spread out so not wanting to lose anyone, I broke out my trusty walkie-talkies. They did the trick and we were able to go our separate ways but get back together when needed. Wall Drug has mostly trashy souvenirs but I also discovered some high-end items. There was one sculpture worth over $28,000. I’m sure it will be there the next time I pass this way. Their western clothing, leather and hats were also the real deal and brought a high price so not everything was cheap in that place. I think everyone enjoyed Wall Drug and we each got a bumper sticker to take back home with us. Those bumper stickers were free, so technically Mike H. still has not purchased any souvenirs. The rest of us purchased something to bring home, mostly of the simple trashy variety. However, Carlos made up for Mike H’s frugality and came out wearing a new high-end western belt and also carrying a very large box that looked expensive. I believe it was a sculpture carving of some sort.

While in Custer City we are staying at The Bavarian Inn which will be our home for the next seven nights. Even being the off-season, this place was pretty packed Monday night. They upgraded us to the Chalet lodge for the price of the regular room. They only had one Chalet room available for Monday so Earl was gracious enough to let Mike H. and I have that as they would move into their new room on Tuesday. Our room overlooks the back parking lot where on the other side is the Bavarian Inn’s restaurant, which we ate at Monday evening.

At the restaurant I got a Walleye Pike fish dinner and the rest ordered from the authentic German cuisine selections. Halfway through the meal Carlos turned ill and went back to the room unable to finish his plate. Too bad, as they all said the German dishes were very good. Later, we were trying to figure out why Carlos turned ill and they decided it had been from Saturday night’s meal in Waterloo at the pizzeria where he ate off the buffet table. He and Earl said there were several items on that table that looked like they hadn’t been touched in days. Hey, I AM NOT taking the blame for that!! I may have picked the restaurant but did not force anyone to go through the buffet! Besides, doesn’t food poisoning show up quicker than 48 hours? I’m more inclined to blame it on the cooler of beer in the van and all the junk food they’ve been shoveling away while I’ve been driving.