Detroit, Michigan.... here i come!

It's almost daybreak and in a short while, i'm off on a little roadtrip which has been planned for 6 months. i'm off to Detroit, Michigan for a U2 concert. the last time i was through Detroit was circa 1984... the summer i spent touring the USA in a 1965 Dodge Dart and took the northern route through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, south through Detroit, on the way back to Pennsylvania. This trip to Detroit will be in a 1996 Chevrolet Corsica and my approach will be from the south through Ohio.


The drive is about 500 miles (800 kilometres and should take about 8 - 10 hours. my route will take me through the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania, the glacial till country of northern Ohio and southern Michigan along the southwestern end of Lake Erie, the smallest of North America's Great Lakes.

This will be a fast, quick getaway trip... expecting to arrive Detroit sometime mid-to-late -afternoon and will spend the night in a hotel near The Palace of Auburn Hills, the sports arena where U2 will perform for an audience of about 25,000. my seat is waaaaay up high in the nosebleed section off to side stage (the side of the stage that The Edge, lead guitarist, usually takes), but that's ok. even though i would love to be down on the floor in General Admission, i'll enjoy having a reserved seat and being up high enough to see the whole of all the activity below me. [hehee, who knows, maybe i'll even be lucky enough to see some cool backstage stuff happening, but i suspect that all the cool stuff happens under the stage.] should prove to be a great seat to see the light show and, hopefully, the big screens projecting the show. i'll take my small binoculars so i can zoom in on the guys playing and watch Bono dripping in sweat as he works his non-stop unique charismatic magic on the crowd. as i type this message, i can almost feel the high energy that i know will fill the arena :) after the show i will return to the hotel and catch some sleep before hitting the road back to Pennsylvania, again. so, it'll be a whirlwind couple of days, but should still be a good way to keep the batteries recharged after my recent adventure in The Netherlands.

I'm looking forward to the drive through the western mountains of Pennsylvania.... this is my first Autumn season after 12 years in Florida and i'm anxious to see the rainbows of colorful leaves on the abundant deciduous trees growing among the evergreens as they prepare for winter. hopefully, the weather will remain bright and sunny for my journey, enhancing the brilliant earth tones of reds, golds, oranges and browns.[btw, this pic was taken the other day from the mountain ridge where i grew up as a child...pretty, eh?]

One more thought... one of U2's earliest albums is titled 'October' and upon the very first time i listened to their latest album, 'How To Disable An Atomic Bomb', i heard so many similarities to their early work. U2 have even said themselves that they have come full circle with this album, so it'll be cool to see them on this 'Vertigo Tour' in this month of October.

I hope to find good Wifi connection so i can post updates while i'm off on my U2 excursion. so..... stay tuned! :)