Trip 09 : Detroit

Wednesday, Sept 30 :
Tuesday night, we were just thankful to get in after our airport nightmares... so my parents picked us up at the DTW, and we just chilled at their house, and snacked. Wednesday morning we made our way around to hit the array of stores I still remember... the disorganized but wellstocked Rock of Ages record store, the diverse and adventurous pet store House of Pets. Then more memory lane - went to Dobby's Formal Wear, where I had my first job as a teen (sorry to hear Sam Dobby & wife had passed; it was nice seeing Moe again), and Franklin High School, my alma mater (hadn't been inside since college days, none of my teachers were still there). Then caught dinner with Allison, Ben and Lila, and my parents, at Mama Mia's, a fine Italian restaurant. After dinner, went & watched Glee at their house (funny show, and well done).

Thursday, Oct 1 :
Made our way to Ann Arbor, with Ron along. Ann Arbor is such a great town - so many interesting stores (mostly Encore Records, and Dawn Treader.) Caught up with Matt Sullivan from the bus stop co-op - he's now a Sociology grad student at U-M, he made the trek around with us. Then he split off to study a bit, the 3 of us made a few more blocks, then we all met up again with John Turner & son Brody for dinner at Jerusalem Garden. Thursday night, went over to Ron's place, Andy came by, and we filled the evening with music. His band "S/N" is putting together some fantastic low-down industrial metal stuff.

Friday, Oct 2 :
In the morning, we went over to the Livonia Rec Center, for a workout and to see what the cutting edge . Then hit a few museums - MOCAD, Detroit Historical Museum, and Arab American National Museum. By then, we went back to HQ, and went to our chosen dinner place, Buddy's Pizza, I was pleased with a good turnout of folks (Floyd B, Tom M, Jenny Bags, Stef, Rebecca made it, too)! After all the festivities, went over to stay at my brother Gordon's place, since he had just gotten in from his drive across-state (he's been working in Benton Harbor, about 2.5 hours drive).

Saturday, Oct 3 :
Brunch with Gordon & family. Had some drama on the drive back to my parents' : the windshield wiper broke and got stuck off to the side of the window. After getting that all sorted, got lunch from a Chinese restaurant. The evening was a planned gathering at Andy's place, but not a lot of people made it out - thx to John for making the trek from A squared! Later that night, I had reconnected with a couple guys from my high school band, and it so happened their band was playing that night at the Lager House in Detroit! So Ron, Andy & I made it down there, and had a rockin good time.

Sunday, Oct 4 :
Last day in Detroit! Got to catch up with old friend Dan Wilson, his wife Michele and their son Ethan, we went to the DIA. Very nice being able to do a destination like that, and visit with friends at the same time! Finished at DIA, just enough time to get back, load up the car, and head for the airport. Great trip, all around!
Next up : Bonnie had to get back to work the next day, but I was taking another week off. Monday morning, I drove our house guest, Leyba, up to Sebastopol, and started on my road trip to Los Angeles!