Power Tour 2009: Day Four, Mt. Clemens

By Ryan Brutt

HemiPwr70

Today was going to be a long drive, the route took us almost 250 miles. And there was a stop along the way that I wanted to make. So it wasn’t going to be the quick three to four hour jaunt that it has been.

Getting up early, I was packed and on the road by 9:30 am. Which is good for me, since it meant that I would be roughly in the beginning to middle of the pack. I wouldn’t be alone like I had the previous day.

I immediately found a guy in a Fox Body Mustang in the parking lot of the hotel I was at to drive with. We pulled out of the hotel and hopped right on the highway, along with other Power Tour participants coming from different locations.

Continue reading after the jump!

The beginning was fairly easy highway driving, nothing to strenuous. We cruised along at a good pace, until we hit the highway we were going to be on for a while. Then it hit me how long this is going to be.

Indiana isn’t know for any mountains or valleys, so there wasn’t any surprises. The Tour just went through the small towns and cities. It was nice to drive though them and see a bit of old America, with the general purpose stores and non-brand name appliance places. We passed old abandoned gas stations, and ones made into museums. I’m a fan of architecture, so this was all very interesting for me.

It was about two hours into the leg from South Bend, In to St. Claire, Mi when I needed food. I had not eaten breakfast and wanted something other then normal fast food. I was lucky enough to find a real drive in one of the small towns on the route.

The drive-in is called Allen’s and it had been in the same location since the mid-fifties. I sat down at the counter and ordered up a hamburger, fries and some potato logs (wedge style fries). Talking with the people who worked and owned Allen’s was a real treat. Truly nice people, and I recommend stopping by there anytime anyone cruises this way.

Just after I finished scarfing down my burger, I noticed my friends from the Gearheads drove by. So I jumped back in the Caprice and drove out to meet up with them.

Traffic was light, so I was able to catch up with them fairly easy. Unfortunately the lane I was in ended, so I ended up being in front of everyone. Then a few lights later, a large dump truck gets between me and the other Gearheads. Thinking they were just behind the truck, I continued on. A few miles down the road the dump truck turns off and there was no one behind him! Apparently they had gotten stuck at a light, and then went to Wendy’s. Thankfully I still had the rest of the group to cruise with.

The next few hours flew by, just driving through the towns, waiving to people as we passed. It just felt so good. I wasn’t deep in thought or worried about anything, just living in the moment.

The first major leg of this part came to an end not far from Michigan International Speedway. It is some large circle track and road racing track from what I could see. The facility was in the middle of nowhere, just fields and fields of corn and beans around it.

Next on the agenda was a stop at Ididit Hot Rod and Muscle Car accessories. Pulling into an abandoned factories parking lot was a little sobering. But the place across the street was incredible. Ididit has an incredible facility. State of the art machines and the man power to run them. The showroom they had showed us the wide range of the items they make and produce. I just wish I could afford them.

At Ididit I met up with a few of the guys from Moparts.com. A great group of guys that were doing the entire tour with a very nice AAR Cuda. I was jealous that they were able to take their Mopar and I couldn’t. We chatted for a while about a range of topics. It was nice to put a face to the people I talk with on line, sadly it had to come to an end, and we departed Ididit.

From the Ididit stop to Mount Clemens it was about a two hour drive, the last bit on a major highway. So the cruise was fairly uneventful until we reached Detroit.

I actually found the GM lead vehicle while entering Detroit, a little funny since we were hours later then when they should have been there. So I tucked into pack and drove into Detroit at the head of the pack, or what it should have been.

Unfortunately the exit that we were all getting off at wasn’t regulated to allow us to pass easily, and the backup caused a rather large traffic jam on the highway, even after we got over onto the shoulder.

All of the cars there at this time were stuck in this large jam for almost an hour, just trying to get into Mount Clemens. Making our way off the highway and onto the road to the show grounds was fun. We all did eventually make it into the grounds. It is quite the place.

The actual parking lot is huge and bordered a large lake. There was plenty of room for everyone, the weather was great and I was able to get there with plenty of time, park and start hitting up the venue.

Just walking up and down the rows was nice, most of the cars were ones I had seen before, but there were some really interesting surprises, like the chopped Monte Carlo or Valiant drag car. There was everything here.

Finally I was able to meet up with the guys from the MoPower Tour. It was nice to finally talk with them and see how everything has been going, I might go meet them up for breakfast tomorrow.

I found my friends from Wicked Rides with the Dart Nun-Runner and Hemi Challenger convertible. They had a nice trip in as well, no issues with the Nun-Runner, not as though their should be. I found JoAnne’s Daytona and talked to her for a bit. Then made my way around and found the guys from the Gearheads, moved my car and chatted with them for a bit.

On my way to get the car to move it over by the Gearheads, there was a very good looking young lady posing on a sharp Monte Carlo SS Aero Coupe. I helped her out for a moment, and snapped a few very nice photographs and continued on to the car.

The guys and I sat around for a bit, just shooting the shit, watching the cars go by. It was getting later, and we decided to call it a night. There was a cruise in Warren I wanted to hit up, so I headed to the hotel and got checked in.

Then I sat outside and watched the cars go by and talked with the car guys at the hotel up until I knew I had to finish this blog.

Tomorrow is Dayton, Ohio. Are they ready for us? I hope so!

To view all of the pictures, please see below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hemipwr70/sets/72157619518972512/