Quoted from rotordave:Then, we got to visit Clay and his VFW collection.
Clay has over 400 pins, all set up and playing at his VFW compound, again, a little out of town.
(Topic ID: 221753)
Quoted from Bax1:Was a fun night and hope you had some good old Detroit ghetto hospitality!
Thanks again for taking us.
Next time we’ll do the other end of 8 Mile. Strippers and blow! 
rd
Quoted from mrWol64:Choice !!,,.. bloody envious of your trip.
Just looking back on it, we’ve done a shitload of stuff in 2 weeks.
No wonder we are so exhausted. Haha
rd
Westland, MI
Quoted from rotordave:Then, we got to visit Clay and his VFW collection.
Clay has over 400 pins, all set up and playing at his VFW compound, again, a little out of town.
When we arrived, he and a few guys were riding little motorbikes around, which he is into now. Cool!
We got to meet Aaron who used to work at Pinball Pete’s in Lansing, and had sent us some Pete’s t-shirts a couple of years back. Aaron has joined the RD Cool Kids Club and also drives a hearse! A 1985 Caddy, converted by Sayers and Scovill, same as my 93 Towncar.
Clays collection is impressive. He has a heap of Zaccarias (maybe all of them?) and lots of everything else, arranged in 3 large sheds on site.
It was cool to go there .. thanks to Clay for letting us visit, and to JM and Bax for taking us out there!
rd[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Sounds like you saw Ballykid there. He was riding mini bikes when you got there. I'm in Oklahoma at the moment so I couldn't make it.
Quoted from MrBally:Sounds like you saw Ballykid there. He was riding mini bikes when you got there. I'm in Oklahoma at the moment so I couldn't make it.
I was gonna ask where you were at.
rd
We’ve never been to Canada. So, let’s go there!
We went through the tunnel that runs under the Detroit River. Amazingly, it’s only 1 lane each way.
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Log jam at the Canadian border, eh!
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But nothing compared to coming back later.
Look! There’s America!
570A1EF1-2A79-4DAF-A2E5-9123C0F4F90E (resized).jpeg
9B3A1D68-4DC4-455E-896E-495E726ED1BB (resized).jpegB59CD0B3-35AF-4A9C-82BA-50D199037354 (resized).jpegThere’s an scungy alleyway in Windsor that has been covered in street art.
Pretty cool!
Windsor was just like Detroit really ... aside from the customs agents, you’d think you were still in the States.
rd
26D01352-BC2F-4FF4-928C-6E077832142B (resized).jpeg2C694C77-CEE0-496B-BED1-DD3DD98CBB2D (resized).jpeg359CD8E2-8825-4D17-BA70-4858AD1E291F (resized).jpeg3FD2C5A1-DD27-4E53-A566-E87619D6F9C5 (resized).jpeg70391C74-9B0C-4211-93EE-A8336A9591DB (resized).jpeg71425436-9E05-4604-9983-1B94C5979765 (resized).jpeg7CD43B84-51EC-4D84-B22F-68448C9DAE23 (resized).jpeg87F69B64-13A6-44F4-90F4-D1E29B04C4F8 (resized).jpeg8BC44FE5-604B-4593-BE11-52A8A936B404 (resized).jpeg97304397-A5C0-4452-8021-F442B31F9510 (resized).jpegB45EE8FC-5EF7-453C-B43F-8C62474EB055 (resized).jpegBD18D1B4-94AD-41BE-913C-C40EA6608FA4 (resized).jpegBFF069F8-4AB4-4C74-A3CB-A140ED3366F7 (resized).jpegD5A2ABB6-899F-48CD-9B0E-AD24EF88A116 (resized).jpegD75B6F4D-E2AE-4AED-B62A-B9FBDFD5D839 (resized).jpegDF9117DD-3545-4467-9DC6-E4C92EB87F58 (resized).jpegF413CAF3-945C-4C0D-881D-EC0F60FD8E72 (resized).jpegThere wasn’t really much happening in Windsor ... even though it was Saturday, it was pretty dead.
So after a drive around, we bailed back to the States.
As we were heading for the bridge back, this came on the radio ...
It was a sign!
F7B6C416-3A89-4D50-8297-7E32D65A4E9A (resized).jpeg
Over the bridge, and into a queue for 30 minutes at the US border. Oh well, good to be back!
Leduc, AB
Quoted from rotordave:and into a queue for 30 minutes at the US border. Oh well, good to be back!
Would of liked to see the look on the Border Guard face as you two re-entered the USA. "Your Citizenship?" (Reply) New Zealand! Did they ask if you were lost?
Windsor is a dump. Don't let that sh*thole discourage you from coming back guys 
You have to hit Vancouver or Toronto one of these trips over the pond.
Bit of history. Windsor was one of the main rumrunning/bootlegging points back in the prohibition days.
Quoted from Darcy:Would of liked to see the look on the Border Guard face as you two re-entered the USA. "Your Citizenship?" (Reply) New Zealand! Did they ask if you were lost?
No, the border guy asked “are you coming for the Kenny Chesney concert?”
Ahhhhh no ...
Evidently half the cars at the traffic jam border crossing were going to the concert.
rd
Quoted from dirkdiggler:Windsor is a dump. Don't let that sh*thole discourage you from coming back guys
For sure ... you can’t use Tijuana as a marker for Mexico either.
We will be back at some stage.
rd
Quoted from RWH:Dave this is the skyline you need to see
[quoted image]
I’ve always wanted to go there ... to see Les Nessman. 
WCRP was a big show for me when I was a kid. Probably wasn’t even filmed there, but it made me want to go there.
rd
So, at the airport waiting to fly to LAX.
My Detroit thoughts ...
- the common widespread belief is that Detroit is a wasteland - like a bomb went off and there is nothing. Seeing the photos of the bad areas and reading the media, it’s easy to jump to that conclusion. There are a few areas like this (as per my photos when I arrived) but that is actually not that prevalent, all things considered.
- the downtown area is pretty small for a big city. Downtown seems to be doing quite nicely, thank you.
- the roads are pretty crappy in places. But the traffic is pretty light. 80% of cars have dings and damage. Haha
- the outlying areas we visited like Farmington, Ann Arbor and Troy are very nice.
- lots of pinball around
In summary, I think Detroit has just been a bit slower than other large US cities to rejuvenate its downtown areas. Look at any US city back in the 70s after “white flight” and they were all much the same. I was in downtown LA in 1982 when I was a kid, and it was a real ghetto down there. Only recently has it become a place you’d want to be. I guess Detroit is like 10 years behind the other cities in that regard - but it seems to be happening now, from what I could see. Lots of apartment conversions of old buildings, which bring people and restaurants/stores into the city. I felt safe walking around, no problems.
Overall, I thought it was a cool place. Would be worthy of living there if it wasn’t for all the snow in winter. Couldn’t handle that on a day to day basis.
Good times in Michigan!
rd
Flew to LAX today. Delta has free movies, and lots of them, so fly Delta instead of United.
Land, grab a Alamo (always book an Alamo at LAX - you do your paperwork and they let you grab any car you want, you always get an upgrade without even asking) and drive straight to the hotel in Fullerton.
5 minute freshen up, straight to the supermarket for booze, and straight off to old mate @o-dins place for good times!
Odin had the Traeger BBQ fired up, and cooked up some mean ribs and hot dogs. Mix them with cold Modelos and it was good times in SoCal with Odin and the Nimblepins!
Any time is a good time for Stars:
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Here’s the site for the new Noone Lagoon:
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And these are the games you want to be playing after a dozen modelos ...
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rd
Spent the day at Castle NimblePin playing some Iron Maiden Premium.
Game is dialed in and playing fast and tough. Some good games ensued. This game I was one shot away from starting the power triangle thing and the other wizard mode for completing all the modes, whatever that is ... (I’ve only played 10 games on it ... haven’t learnt all that stuff yet ..)
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Went for some fish tacos and saw this crazy camber Evo... I bet those tires don’t last long ...
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At LAX now, about to board the best airline in the world ... thanks for reading along.
We sure squeezed in an a lot of stuff in the last couple of weeks.
Moe
safe travels and great seeing you both again!
Hope it is not soo long between now and the next time.
Maybe you will be back when Banger opens the lions den!
glad that you and fiona enjoyed your time while you were here. it was a pleasure having you in the detroit area. (next time we'll do the whole "blow and hookers" thing 
Quoted from j_m_:glad that you and fiona enjoyed your time while you were here. it was a pleasure having you in the detroit area. (next time we'll do the whole "blow and hookers" thing
now we all know why you paid the bill this time
Quoted from rotordave:In flight free wifi is cool.
rd
Yeah, but pinside is about the most private information i'd be willing to expose using it!
If you're not a sleeper like me, the price seemed actually a decent deal for a whole flight's access time. I considered getting it on my trip back to the states last time, partially for the novelty since it's the first time i saw it offered, but i didn't wake up early enough to bother. Besides, there are always several interesting movies available to watch for free. AirNZ definitely has better entertainment system than any other airline i've flown since those became common.
Do you get the surveys after every flight too? This time they got extremely detailed about beer and cider selection. They are so asking the wrong person!
Quoted from adania:Do you get the surveys after every flight too? This time they got extremely detailed about beer and cider selection
Nope, never got one of those.
I just used the 10 mins free wifi - it was really fast. Not something I need to use though, as you say, AirNZ has 100s of things to chose from on the entertainment system.
rd
Quoted from rotordave:Nope, never got one of those.
I just used the 10 mins free wifi - it was really fast. Not something I need to use though, as you say, AirNZ has 100s of things to chose from on the entertainment system.
rd
Only ever used it on Emirates to Europe and it is always ridiculously slow. Still got a long way to go before it’s useful. Not that I really care - one of the nice things about flying is having no phone or internet.
Quoted from boscokid:Lake Erie
Couldn't disagree more with suggestions for Frankenmuth. It's 100 boring ass miles from Detroit and nothing much of interest there to a well traveled person.
God that place is goddamn horrible. I know because whilst Dave was at the VFW I was in Frankenmuth. 
Quoted from TheLaw:God that place is goddamn horrible. I know because whilst Dave was at the VFW I was in Frankenmuth.
So you reckon I “chose wisely”?
That was a good night with my new Ann Arbor buddies!
rd
Quoted from MrBally:Plus mini-bike rides.
Didn’t get a go on those unfortunately.
When we were teenagers we used to have a couple of old 50cc Honda mini-bikes and we would get drunk and have races around the trees at the farm. In the dark. With no lights.
Good times.
rd
CA272497-858C-46B7-B3B6-08245F7D104B (resized).jpegQuoted from TheLaw:Pretty said when JM is considered an escorts these days. Used to only be young confused girls in my day.
I think that rob is a wee bit jealous
I think that he's finally coming to terms with the fact that he's not sexy escort that he once was, and his girlish figure has been long gone
Reply
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