D-town

Detroit, Motor City. We spent a couple of hours at the North American International Auto Show today. It has been a tradition, I think if you pay taxes in Michigan you are required to go, since Bill and I have been together. We only missed a couple of years when we were living in other states and couldn't make it back. Bill has been going since he could drive, and since we moved back to Grand Rapids, we have included Dave and Greg.

One thing I have always noticed about Detroit (and love) is the noticeable lack of foreign cars on the roads. This was more pronounced when we came back from Jersey where there are many more foreign cars vs. domestic on the roads. You can often count on one hand the number of foreign cars you pass while driving anywhere in the Detroit area. That alone makes me proud to be an American and a Michigananianander.

One thing I noticed this year was the size of the Ford display vs. all the others. All the American displays were also larger than they have been in recent years, but Ford was truly impressive. The last two years were almost non-existent and very sad.

I think the first year I ever went, in 2000 was the most impressive, at least to me. There were concept cars everywhere you turned, there were full displays on both levels (it's basically reduced to the one floor now), and it was huge. I know it wasn't just because it was my first time. It was huge. Then Sept. 11, 2001 happened and it got smaller. Then the economy crashed (which coincided with the price of oil going way up) and the American car companies were in trouble. It was obvious.

This year was better and I enjoyed it. I'm sure you can check out Bill's blog and he has a very different opinion. That's okay, that's why we go and why cars are designed and not just mass-produced. I have photos, which I hope to get on here tomorrow.

*editor's note: we only took 3500 steps at the auto show. We were able to park in a garage where there was a people mover stop and we never had to walk outside except from the house to the car. That was a first since it is the coldest weekend of the year so far (which is typical for our car show visit).