June 2

Up and at 'em by 8!  Enjoyed our continental breakfast and headed for Auburn, IN - home of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. The museum is located inside the original 1930's headquarters of the Auburn Automobile Company. The classy showroom on the first floor has the original lighting and decor and has been renovated to how it would have appeared to customers in the 30's. The museum houses over 120 cars ranging from 1894-2002. The boys enjoyed the freedom of being able to climb aboard a 1916 Dodge Bros. for some hands on time. Samuel and Caleb also discovered an interactive drafting room on the third floor and took some time to design their own cars. I enjoyed the design room and clay models. It appeared to me that kids of yester year would have coveted their backseat status. In most cases there was more leg room than in front! Nathan is thoroughly enjoying the many sights to be seen here and is eager to find more history later today in Detroit and Dearborn, MI.

After we finished that museum, I climbed in the car with Andrew, while the other guys went to check out the National Automobile and Truck Museum. After some introspection, I began to understand why I felt so spent. I am a very simple person. I appreciate the art of design, but to ooh and aah over anything that is one of kind, an envy to others, worth millions, etc. doesn’t appeal to me. Though I am not a huge car enthusiast, I do appreciate the fact that the guys are. Yet this morning left me so drained! I find my pleasures in simple joys, especially those that can’t be bought.

 

We left Auburn with the intent of getting to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. On the way we came to Luna Pier, MI where we took a couple of hours to soak up the breezes coming off of Lake Erie. There was a lighthouse where we parked, though I’m not convinced it was functional; and about 8 miles off the coast, we spied Toledo Harbor Lighthouse. The winds were marvelous! The seagulls plentiful and moments of relaxation cherished!

We finally made it to Livonia to bed down. We will tour the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn tomorrow.