August 12- Detroit

The girls got to swim again this morning. We enjoyed a quick breakfast at the hotel and continued westward.

We stopped for gas and got a few things for the car, including red Twizzlers, Julie’s favorite. We were driving down Route 90, and we were passing a motorcyclist several times as the traffic ebbed and flowed. The last time we saw him, he was passing us waving a Twizzler of his own at us and smiling.

At the Michigan Welcome Center, the girls played at a playground and Scott learned that we were not far from the site of the River Rasin massacre from the War of 1812. The battles took place in and around the little town of Monroe, Michigan, and there are several monuments. The official visitor’s center was closed for the day, but we stopped to stroll through the nearby park and to take some pictures.

We continued on to see both the Detroit Tigers and the Detroit Lions. Where would that happen? At the Detroit Zoo, of course. For the record, the tigers were asleep and the lions were no where to be seen, but the zoo itself was impressive. It’s much smaller than the Cleveland Zoo, but larger than Buffalo's. The zoo seems to have a bit of money coming into it because there were several impressive, new-looking displays. We all had fun seeing the life-size, moving dinosaurs. There was an extra charge to see them in a temporary exhibit, but it was well worth it. Anna took many pictures along the path, and Emma was not scared at all. The only thing we didn’t like was the Triceratops who had been attacked by nearby raptors, and was breathing his last. A T-Rex finished it all. Among the living animals, the hippo was one of our favorites. Usually, we don’t get to see much of the hippopotami who are hiding under water, but we caught this one just as he was strolling down his ramp into his pool so we got a pretty good look at him. We’d certainly come back to this zoo again.

Today’s drive ended at Aunt Delores’s house, outside of Detroit. She had a roast beef dinner ready for us. Scott loves visiting here because he remembers so much about the house from when he and his family used to visit when he was little. Parts of the house are completely different, of course, but much of it looks and smells exactly like he remembers it. We spent the evening talking and comparing pictures of trips to Europe. The girls fell asleep on the couch in the family room and they got carried back to bed. The heat had taken a lot out of them at the zoo.