Michigan Vacation

This is the man who started it all.

Along with this young man.

Henry Ford, this is Jack Gill, and Jack, this is...well, you know Henry Ford; you know all about Henry Ford.

Since the completion of his 4th grade Images of Greatness project in which Jack chose Henry Ford as his famous American, going to see everything Henry Ford has been a dream of Jack's. This summer we decided to go!



Jackson HENRY Gill, 4th grade, May 2008

After setting off bug bombs in the house and accidentally killing Blueberry the pet fish (unbeknownst to us at the time), we took off for Vacation '09 and made it to Debra's around midnight to spend the night. We'll blame Gary's long day of work and the last minute craziness of planning-to-be-away-for-10 days-and-having-everything-one-might-possibly-need-for-a-family-of-6-packed-in-the-van-and-let's-hurry-and-go-rush for the unfortunate end of life. End of life, beginning of vacation. Sorry Blueberry.

May 2009 - August 2009

RIP

You were a fine fish, as true blue as they come.

We had a fun time at Debra's, especially moving her washer and dryer, and chatting and eating and yelling at the kids to calm down, but then it was time to hit the road to Michigan. We met cousin Mimi in her nice town of Plymouth, MI for supper, and then headed on to our hotel in Allen Park, a 'burb of Detroit, near Dearborn, the home of Henry.

Did you know that a single hotel room with four kids that have been seatbelted in for a good chunk of the day is not an ideal recipe for adult rest and relaxation? Who knew?

We would highly recommend the particular hotel, however, with all seriousness. It was probably our best overall hotel experience ever, given the location, price, amenities, the room itself, and the staff. No kidding, Best Western at Allen Park, MI. Highly recommend it! We had a family package including tickets for the Henry Ford attractions and free breakfast at the hotel restaurant for us all each day, and it was all very nice and worth so much more than we paid, and how often can you say that?

Here's a little about what we went to see. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Henry_Ford

Since rain was in the forecast for the following day, we spontaneously decided to spend the beautiful, sunny day at Greenfield Village, the outside historical museum of Henry Ford's creation "illustrating the American experience and American ingenuity" instead of doing the Henry Ford Museum, the indoor attraction. We just flip-flopped the days which you would think sounded like the smart thing to do, but of course, was not. Should've had hindsight [famous words of Michael Scott].

Because we are a family of white white folks, some of us cannot take the sun and brightness of a beautiful summer day without adequate preparations of which we had none with us. So after trying the approach of let's-walk-a-little-bit and-then-sit-in-the-shade, finally all the whining and near-death moans got the best of us after 10 minutes. Enter the Joe Cool, made in China sunglasses from a souvenir trap kiosk that Diane gladly shelled out $15 for. Gary not so gladly, but at least Albino, I mean Grant, could enjoy the day which means we all could enjoy our day.

BEFORE

AFTER

So we spent the day at Greenfield Village and that was a blast other than when panic hit the moment we sat down for lunch and realized we didn't have Jack's medical kit with us. Where was it?! How did we not notice before?! Like Caroline said, Gary ran, in his long pants and boots for miles to get back to a place that he could call to reach the hotel and see if it had been left in the shuttle van. It had, and it had been returned to the hotel by the driver Eddie. The hotel sent the shuttle back specially to meet Gary and then he ran back with the kit across Greenfield Village which is hundreds of acres overall, but I think was across 90 acres in the area that we were in. So, our hero, the sweat-drenched, long-pant, boot-running Gary delivered the precious insulin to Jack and we went on with our day. And Eddie got a letter of recognition and praise from the hotel owner following Gary's input to the hotel owner.

So, getting on with our day involved old timey games and play on a huge lawn, kinda just what we needed with all that stress. Sam and Grant played old-time baseball with five bases. Caroline was Queen of the Tops. You should have seen all the Gills, minus Mom, working the wrought iron brain teaser puzzles. (I had to hold the camera. Yes I did!)

This the childhood home of Henry Ford.

This is called Girl on a Lamp Post.

That's not all of our adventure, but is all for today. Stay tuned for the next day's events. It involves a huge motorized hot dog.