My turn to drive the Spyker

This photo was taken outside the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in, you guessed it -- AUBURN! The engine is on, I am in the driver's seat, but I can assure you -- the car didn't move. Today was absolutely fantastic -- borrowing a word from Stijnus -- for the Spyker and its riders (this becomes important later). We left around 8:30am, stopped for coffee with Tim and Barb at a gas station, where we decided to take a small detour to the ACD Museum. We were happy we did. The displays are awesome. The car collection is magnificent, the lighting is sharp, the original building is lovely, and the signage is well-written, concise, and fun! Did you know a Michigan automobile manufacturer called Checker Motors produced the original Checker Cabs? And they were fancy! We met Sally's son, Sam, and his family at the museum and were bummed that Sally hadn't made it -- not because she didn't want to. We also slipped next door to visit the American Truck Museum. Interesting, but not as impressive as ACD. I did see a short film on a semi truck (without trailer) that drove over 225mph before blowing a tire. That was impressive.

After leaving the museums, we headed west and stopped at a diner for a quick lunch. Shortly after we left, the rain came. Stijnus pulled into a tractor yard/ graveyard and we had self guided tour of rows and rows of late models. No one came out of the shop to greet us, so we drove in. Good timing too. The rain poured down. We took our photos posing on large tractors and dried out a bit. Will and Jan put the hood up on the Spyker, but there is no windshield or side windows!

The next couple hours were very wet. We made it into South Bend, but couldn't find out accommodations, the Super 8 (more 8 than super say the Dutch). After asking 4 locals for directions, driving to Michigan, and two phone calls to the hotel, we finally made it. Warm showers for all, a swim in the mini pool, and off to dinner. First restaurant was a bust -- no beer -- so our taxi driver drove us to Gippel's (?).

I forgot to tell you yesterday, Jan told me he sells "pot plants." Language can be very fun! Potted plants is what he meant :-)

Ah, another funny story. People frequently ask where these men are from (their accent gives them away). A frequent answer is Iceland, but yesterday Stijnus mixed it up and said Georgia. "No way," replied the girl, "they have a different accent."

"You've never been there then, have you?" Stijnus replied. End of story.