I left Detroit at 4:45 a.m. and arrived in my driveway at 8:30 p.m. I hit the usual Boston traffic jam at the tolls on the Mass Pike, that extended my trip an extra hour. So the actual drive time was about 15 hours.
Detroit has always been the future in the US. Detroit pulled this country into the age of the automobile. The state that Detroit is in now is where the rest of the country will be if we stay fixed in our auto dependent economy. The other part of this equation is that we have given away all of our manufacturing jobs to the lowest bidder.
Watching the local news is like near future sci fi. Most of the commercial advertisers are for chains of GoodWill thrift stores and ambulance chasing lawyers.
I'm continually amazed by the kindness of the people in Detroit and Ohio. This afternoon I pulled into the Ohio Turnpike Tolls on my way out of Ohio. There was an elderly woman at the toll booth asking the Toll Taker for what looked like directions. My first reaction, I am ashamed to say was irritation. But then I told myself to chill out and relax, which I did. Shortly after another car pulled up in line behind me. I tensed up waiting for the expletives and honking to start. But guess what, no one honked.
I really should not have had soo much coffee yesterday afternoon. I wasn't really able to sleep much. Right now I am having the free breakfast at Best Western. The coffee cups are about the size of a shot glass so it's rather frustrating. The food looks like it has been to a few previous continental breakfasts here at this BW.
This second road trip to Detroit is starting out so much better than the first. I got on the pike today around 3 p.m. Aside from the usual jam up in the tunnel getting to the pike there was no traffic.
