Motor City Michigan Summer '08

It has been a really long time since I first heard of and decided to visit the Woodward Dream Cruise in suburban Detroit, Michigan. However with work, school and other commitments it was never possible, until now! The plan was ambitious, long and expensive but just a few days before the actual trip it all changed and to tell you the truth it was for the better.

The original plan was for me and my best friend Nick to drive to Detroit in his new Volvo S40 via Kentucky. Why? You might wonder would we make such a crazy and out of the way detour? Because the first stop on our list was the Corvette Assembly Plant and National Museum in Bowling Green, KY. Unfortunately Nick, who loves everything Corvette, had some plastic surgery and our plans went out the window.

I quickly went online and within minutes was able to book a pretty sweet deal, $230 round trip, on United to fly to Detroit. My justification for changing the method of travel was purely economical. It cost less to fly and rent a car than to drive for 9 hours each way in my gas guzzler (to my amazement I must add). I took mass transit to LaGuardia Airport and had a nightmare of an experience with United. The plane must have been the oldest in the fleet, and well after checking its registration it was made in 1989. Certainly not a JetBlue type of experience. I flew in through Chicago O'Hare and arrived in Detroit early at about 4:30pm on Friday, the day of the cruise.


For the second time this year I booked a car with Hertz. To my amazement it was significantly cheaper than all its competitors in Detroit including my favorite, Enterprise. With the weekend 50% discount the whole rental cost me $50 bux. The staff at the Hertz DTW facility was much more friendly than PBI, and even though the nice lady slipped a Hyundai Tuscon SUV into my slot, I was able to change it to a Hertz #1 Gold Ford Fusion rental with a V6, alloy wheels, spoiler and Sirius radio. The car was very nice and the overall experience was quite enjoyable.


My buddy JP volunteered his guest room for my stay in Michigan which certainly saved me a few bucks and potential bed bug bite issues cheap hotels offer. That was very helpful and I was dying to meet JP because he's been one of the most generous contributors to my SRT owner registry web site. JP gave me a pass for the 2007 SRT track experience I did at Road America in Elkheart Lake, WI a $500 value. Thanks JP! I especially enjoyed JP and Mona's company both at the Woodward Dream Cruise and hanging out. One of the most memorable experiences from the visit was a trip to the local restaurant: The Packard Grill in Shelby Township, MI. The menu in that place was outstanding, all items had automotive names, for example if you wanted to order onion rings you'd ask for "a set of wheels." The location of the grill was next door to the original Packard proving grounds which is now a historic site. JP also gave me a private tour of the Chrysler Corporate grounds in Auburn Hills.


The Woodward Dream Cruise itself was just a big car show stretching along Woodward Ave from Auburn Hills to Ferndale. With thousands of cars and a million people in attendance it was a happening place to be at but I noticed that many locals elected to go about their normal lives when this was in town. One such local, Kip Ewing - one of the big dogs at Ford in charge of development and production of the FORD GT and the designer behind Genaddi Design Group's FORD GTX1 roadster conversion, was kind enough to let me meet with him. A very cool guy that now has his own shop on a side producing some very high quality carbon fiber bits for the FORD GT and other exotics. Similarly, Rich Brooks was another cool person I had the priviledge of visiting. The GT Guy himself does some magnificent work on FORD GT including upgrading the power output of already a potent engine with twin-turbos. I love his big red barn where all the magic happens.


The flight home was uneventful. I especially enjoyed flying for the first time on regional jets, or puddle hoppers as some smug business folk joked around before getting on board. The United Express flight operated by Trans States Airlines between DTW and IAD, and Chautauqua Airlines flight from IAD to LGA were especially smooth and I'd actually prefer to fly this Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft instead of a Boeing 737 in the future. I didn't get a chance to have lunch or dinner in Detroit so I pigged out at the airport getting a sub at Quizno's in DTW and a massive burger at Five Guys at IAD.


It was an excellent trip and I wish I had an opportunity to do this more often. The last time I was in Michigan was in 2003 for the Ford Centennial Celebration after driving in a convoy of Panther Platform cars from Saint Thomas, Ontario where we did the Assembly Plant tour.


www.woodwarddreamcruise.com

www.united.com

www.hertz.com

www.packardgrill.com

www.kipewing.com

www.thegtguy.com

www.ford.com

www.chrysler.com

Southern Maryland in May 2007

What could be better than making crazy memories on Memorial Day? Nothing, thats for sure. Especially if you're friends with the Speedycop. This time around I was glad to get an invite for an event that I could actually attend because all previous years I found myself at work putting in boring hours while everyone else was having fun with their families, well no more!

There wasn't much planning involved leading up to this trip, I didn't even get a chance to get my car washed, but I figured after 256 miles drive through several Mid-Atlantic states it would get dirty anyway. So on Monday morning May 28th I headed down the Garden State Parkway to Brandywine, Maryland. I met up with my buddy Vin in Central Jersey and we hit the New Jersey Turnpike all the way down.

The drive was event-less, knock on wood. I was the lead car and we cruised at 80mph without bothering anyone along, and without being bothered ourselves by the police. We got to Jeff's house an hour and a half before we planned to do so, but the fun started that much earlier for us than everyone else...

The first thing me and Vin experienced was just how crazy the Speedycop really is. We jumped in his newly aquired (just for the event mind you) Jeep Cherokee, and hit the trails in his back yard at full speed. I almost lost my glasses on that ride, bouncing around the rear seat. We were going so fast, into so many different directions over no particular road, hitting tree stumps, loose gravel, ditches and mudd, it was the most fun I've had in years.

Once everyone showed up for the BBQ and after a few burgers, we started our paint ball games. The first two teams of 5 went out on the huge redneck back yard, we had two Jeep Cherokee's now (one older Jeep Wagoneer was bought just that morning from Jeff's neighbor just for the event) that were modified just for this battle which included removing all rear windows so that the gunners can shoot out of the back and started playing bumper cars with full size vehicles, it was insane. I drove one of the Jeeps the first game as the other four guys manned the windows, one sat next to me shooting out of the passenger window, two guys behind me shot out of each side window and the guy in the middle covered the back. It was incredible to say the least until of course I found myself going full speed into the ditch, that wasn't fun at all because as soon as the truck stalled we started taking fire and one of the paint balls splattered all over the back of my head. Another kid, one of my own crazy gunners, tried to fire forward and hit my driver side mirror splattering the front of my mask as well. It was nuts!


Besides the offroading, four wheeling, and smashing up junked cars, there was also a huge swing for some amazing pendulum fun, test driving other people's modified cars and catching up with old time friends and some new faces from the Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland area... the Beltway Bandits, many of whom wear a badge for a living in the District of Columbia.


The following day I went home via Reagan Regional airport dropping off one of Jeff's buddies. The drive there was awesome and I was very impressed with the George Washington Parkway that follows the Potomac River on the Virginia side, it reminds me a lot of the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New York and New Jersey. I went into downtown D.C. to do a little sightseeing, but decided to head home as the traffic the day after Memorial Day was supposed to be real bad, sure enough it really was. I did get to see Marine 1 on the front lawn of the White House with the propeller on, I think GW was heading to New York City metropolitan area too, but his travel time was far shorter.


It took me nearly twice as much time to get home as it did to get down there, but it was cool nonetheless. The trip also almost paid for itself because I bought my dad some smokes at nearly half of what he spends locally so everyone was happy. I got to do this more often. The last time I think I was at Jeff's house is when I did a ride along with him in Washington D.C.

Be sure to check out video's from the event on YouTube:

- The video of me taking fire as I'm shooting.
- Vin's video of the Jeff Paint Ball Game

And check out Jeff's web site at: www.Speedycop.com