The drive involved the most harrowing incident on my trek. The weather was clear except for a stretch from the Michigan/Indiana state line to Kalamazoo, Michigan. In that stretch I was hit with lake effects snow coming off of Lake Michigan. The snow came in horizontal. Most of the way it was fairly light and my concern was more with accumulation on the I-94 interstate roadway than with visibility. However, I hit a patch in which visibility was reduced to almost zero. I reduced my speed, but kept going because I was afraid of being hit from behind. I kept the shadow image of the car in front of me. After about a half mile, visibility was restored. Shortly after that the eastbound traffic was signaled by a police officer to exit the interstate. The same low visibility that had affected me caused a series of pileups involving 65 vehicles (including 13 semis) and resulted in one dead and 14 injured. As it happens, I had stopped in Benton Harbor to get a deli sandwich. Otherwise, its possible I might have been in the middle of the carnage.
The highlight of the visit to Canton was a trip to the North American International Auto Show. Jeff and Jen had gone to the black-tie charity event last Friday, when the entertainment was Huey Lewis and the News.
Jeff, Cormick and I went to the public showing on Monday, January 18. This was the third time I had been to the show. Going with an industry expert like Jeff is particularly enlightening. Jeff has responsibility for U.S. marketing of Ford small cars: Fiesta and Focus. We spent a lot of time in the Ford exhibit, and Cormick took a turn at Ford's interactive race simulator. His primary interest was in the new Ford GT, as it was the first time he had seen it in person. He wanted his dad to borrow it from the Ford Garage so he could take a ride in it. Not gonna happen. Ford is making only 350 of the Ford GT, and they have been way oversubscribed.
The other vehicle of interest to us was the new Ford Focus RS, which is the souped-up version of Ford's standby small car. Jeff had brought the RS home a few weeks ago and the kids got to ride in it. It also drew a coterie of neighbors interested in looking at and photographing one of Detroit's latest hot products.
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| Cormick on Race Course Simulator |
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| Cormick on Race Course Simulator |
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| Cormick Gazing At Ford GT |
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| Ford GT |
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| Jeff Beside Ford Focus RS |
I stayed another day in Canton to avoid arriving in Hiawassee on Wednesday, when it is expected to snow there.
Days 15, 16 and 17 mileage: 495
Cumulative mileage: 4,790
