Niagara Falls to Dearborn, Michigan

Last night I received a call from our friends Dave and Peggy Gill of Sacramento, California. They are the couple who are travelling across America in their 1929 Model A Tudor sedan. We met them when they were in eastern Massachusetts last week. They have touched three of the four corners of the USA having just headed west from the coast of Maine. Surprisingly, they were also in Niagara Falls and staying on the New York side. We agreed to meet for breakfast Friday morning at our hotel and our small group really enjoyed meeting Dave and Peggy. They said they will view the falls from the Canadian side today and then meet family in Buffalo, NY tomorrow.

The sun was shining brightly as we headed west for Dearborn. Our trip took us along the banks of the Niagara River where we saw beautiful homes, water skiers on the river and morning joggers. Our day took us on Ontario route 3 that runs along the western side on Lake Eire. It's obvious that we were out of any hilly country and in the flat now as we buzzed westward. We made excellent time travelling at about 50 - 54 MPH (80 KM) on our way to the border crossing in Detroit. We had a quick lunch in Simcoe, ON and when we were ready to go Doug's starter Bendix got a little hung up on the flywheel. We did a quick rocking of the car in third gear and it popped back and all was well.

We passed many farms growing cherries, wheat, corn, tobacco and apples. There were very few gas stations along the way and by the time I filled up I only had about a gallon left in the tank. We got to Windsor around 6:00 PM and went into a tunnel that took us under the Detroit River. Traffic (Friday afternoon!) was all backed up and it was very warm inside the tunnel. We were all thankful that we got our air conditioners recharged before the trip -- not! So, after 25 minutes we got to US Customs, breezed through and we were on our way to our hotel via downtown Detroit.



We went right near Comerica Park where the Detroit Tigers play and then up Michigan Avenue past the old Tiger Stadium which is being torn down. Speaking of being torn down that whole section of Detroit looks like it is in almost torn down condition. Passing the Star Motel we saw what I'll call a "business transaction" being negotiated. Jeesh! Thankfully, our hotel in Dearborn is well past all of that depressed and run down part of Detroit.



Arrived at the Hampton Inn and checked in with no problems. Tomorrow we're off to the Henry Ford Museum which is a few blocks from here.