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Spring Tour 1998
The Second Eight Days Chicago through Michigan Part III; Page Two of Four We had hoped to visit my mother that afternoon, but the mechanical work had given us a late start. So we checked our camp guide and found a KOA (Campgrounds Of America) just outside of Ann Arbor on Ford Lake. It would be our first night at the private cmp with our van.
We visited all afternoon. Rodtney fixed lunch while I gave moms a foot and hand massage. This was a good thing. It was now Friday evening and we wanted to visit ‘Motown’. Our friend Buck, founder and president of Detroit ICON had offered to host us for a couple of days. Driving south on Telegraph Highway where Buck lives, I noticed the amp meter wasn’t showing a charge - we needed an alternator. It would be a good Saturday morning project and the weather was continuuing to be beautiful as it had been the entire trip so far.
First thing in the morning I took the old alternator off and Buck drove us to Pep Boys to get the new one. Only twenty-five bucks. I put it in while listening to the car show on NPR (National Public Radio). Working on the vehicles has been a Saturday morning ritual for many many years. boi and Buck stay ustairs and visit. But boi comes down just in time to help finish up. Dad goes for a test drive and brings back lunch which is by now, ‘Dunch’ (lunch and dinner). Buck needs to rest before his bar tending gig at the Eagle so we set out for a local ride and to find some ice. Buck leaves for work and we say we’lll see him there later on. When we do arrive at the Club (I’ll tell you what happened beforehand in a little later on.) we are flooded with friends from ICON and also from IML the weekend before. The Detroit Eagle’s a great place. It has a patio, a balcony and a dance floor. It also has very hot men! boi wins the door prize - a nice grey jock strap. We party until closing time. No after party for us - our’s is at home. And that’s what we do, hurry home to take advantage of all this ‘heat’ in our full leather. We discover that the bed has corner restraints already built in. Perfect for flogging and some really great fucking. We slept very well in spite of the thunder and lightning which came as a big surprise around daylight. I haden’t experienced this for over 35 years. Wow! The last Sunday in May - 11:00 hours EDT. Don’t know what to do so I’m sittin’ still. This is something I’ve learned to do later in life - just sit. When we’re young, we tend to just go, go, go. But right now It’s one of those moments when you get caught up in a loop in time and you need to find your way back. Not even anywhere to go just to go. Got up. Got dressed and went out and checked over the van. Drove around the area West of Detroit. Actually it feels kinda just like it did some forty years ago when I lived here. I knew there was a ‘betterment’ somewhere else - but I didn’t know where, so I just went - to California - actually where, at least, the opportunity for betterment was there in a less restricted way. I pretended to be going to race cars at the Winternationals in Pamona since I had won during the Summer Nationals in Detroit. It was their second year and they continue today. And I did attend as a spectator. Racing was giving way to crusing perhaps. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. Seems I’m suddenly in some sort of flaxh-back or time warp, Stopped at an independant grocery store in Redford - picked out some nice ‘unnecessary’ foods for brunch. Strawberries, cinnamon swirls, bananas, soda for later and champaign for memosas. At the checkout counter the clerk stopped when she got to the wine and said, "Not ‘til noon. It’s Michigan law". So I said, "OK, I’ll come back." Then she said she couldn’t accept the credit card because the amount of purchase was now less than ten dollars. So I left the stuff - waled across the street to Mc Donalds for an apple pie - actually two for a dollar - and a cup of coffee with lots of cream. When I got back to the complex, I sat in the truck with my pick-me-ups and listened to gospel music on the radio for a few minutes. I would haveliked to have attended church over on the East side at Unity this morning but we got in - and stayed up - late. So I decided to let my boi sleep in and rest up for the next leg of our journey. We’re slowing down some so it’ll take at least two days to reach Minneapolis instead of one. I’m looking forward tocamping in Upper Michigan actually. Haven’t done that for twenty-five years. Detroit - the Motor City - Motown - is Detroit. It's also hometown. It’s where I learned to love and rub on cars long before I began to love and rub on people. We went out on the town so to speak last night at dusk. From Bucks we headed cross-town to the east to Lakeshore Drive along Lake St. clair. It’s not one of the five Great Lakes but rather a very large puddle in the river between Lake Erie and Lake Huron. It’s a mean lake where storms can blowup quickly with big waves poor visibility. But tonight we weren’t looking at the lake so much as the palacious homes that line the shorline in these parts. The area is made up of various derivatives of Gross Point: Gross Point Shores, Gross Point Farms, Gross Point Woods. Gross Point. Gross? I wouldn’t discover until weeks later, back in California that I was actually looking for Gross Isle which is in the river to the south of Detroit. That was the memory I was chasing. Something for the next trip. It’s nearly impossible to see the lake here - homes - huge homes side by side - private drives. Access is through guarded gates leading to country clubs and private parks and marinas. The people here think they are keeping crime and unwanter lower class people (of color) out. But in reality, they are unaware victims of their lifestyle. It reminded me of South Africa before liberation - and places I’ve been like Hong Kong, Mexico City and the Malibu Colony in California. |
