We woke up to an absolutely perfect, crisp autumn morning in Chicago. The warm sunshine and a cloudless sky almost made us want to scrap the rest of the trip and stay in Chicago forever. But alas, after a bit of retail therapy, we had bid farewell to our host Kimmie and hit the road toward our next destination…Detroit.

After the nightmare of our previous days’ drive, the traffic was refreshingly spare. But the blustery day had our van jumping like a bucking bronco. With the highway being so close to the lake shore, we decided to make a slight detour and spend some time at the dunes in Michigan.

The part where Nathan entertains himself by taking pictures of seagulls.

A picture perfect day at the beach

Wish you were here! <3 jascha.

Regretfully, we had to get back on the road in order to make it to Detroit for the first show.  We did however take the time to figure out an in-car hookah method:

in-car hookah method (TM)

…and saw perhaps one of the best slogans of all time:

yum

We stopped by and dropped off our non-music related gear at our new quarters with Maggie and Petra in [HIP]silanti, and got (by far) the most impressive welcome of the tour.

The Welcome Wagon

We were greeted by this message adorning the stairs, and the smiling faces of Maggie, Petra, and Kelsie. They had meals made up to take with us on the drive to the venue, and were perfectly happy to let us eat and run.

The first night, our show was in Ferndale (a suburb of Detroit). It was a show. That’s about all we have to say about it.

On the way back to Maggie and Petra’s, we got diverted off the interstate by an accident, and had an adventure in one of the more blighted areas of the Detroit metropolitan area. The urban decay here is both beautiful and depressing at the same time. The next day, with Petra as our tour guide, we went out to explore Ann Arbor. They have an incredible Downtown area that feels like a larger and more well executed version of Mass Ave., that is immediately adjacent to an enormous green space called “The Arb”. They have a great Farmer’s Market, vintage shops, bookstores, and everything is so bike friendly. I forsee a solo trip back to photograph the blight of Detroit and the beauty of Ann Arbor in my future.

The second night, our show was in Warren. It was a show. That’s all we have to say about it.

Now, it’s another beautiful, bright morning, and we must bid adieu to Maggie and Petra. On to Jamestown, NY and the Labyrinth Press Co.