Detroit Area

We spent brief 1-night stops at Lansing and Frankenmuth.....not much to write about. Frankenmuth, a recreated Barvarian village, has the world's largest Christmas store....this pic says it all.

Now we are located south of Detroit.....

The Rolling Rally enjoyed outstanding sightseeing at the Henry Ford Museum. www.thehenryford.org   Where American history lives...tells the stories of men and women whose vision and courage changed the world. Driving American tells about the impact of the automobile on our life. We saw a row of presidential limos from Teddy Roosevelt's carriage to Reagan's Cadillac, also the actual limo that Kennedy was riding in when shot in Dallas. Included in the museum collection is the Rosa Parks bus....on Dec.1, 1955 , Rosa Parks boarded the Montgomery city bus and inspired a new era in the quest for American freedom. We saw the red rocking chair that Lincoln was sitting in when assassinated. Truly amazing artifacts!

Part of the Henry Ford is Greenfield Village....81 acres filled with the sights, sounds and tastes of 300 years of American life. We saw the Wright Brothers workshop, Thomas Edison's Menlo Park workshop, Henry Ford's family home restored as he remembered growing up. We rode a coal-fired train around the perimeter, complete with soot. A highlight was a music hall performance of Gershwin's music....I was serenaded by the baritone.

If we thought these areas were wonderful, the big thrill was at the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Mind-boggeling, awsome, speechless....state of the art for visitors. First a movie depicting Henry Ford's history and innovative mind, then a surround theater experience describing the manufacturing process, finally on an elevated walkway we viewed the actual assembly line making Ford trucks.

An astounding example of efficiency and time management science. Each worker has a task to complete in one minute, over and over again...well paid living robots.

Today is rest day to do laundry, etc.......