RaceBuddy road blog (cont'd)

Day 10 -- Sunday, June 14

• Race day at Michigan! Time to walk the campgrounds to see what's shaking ...

• A lot of Roush fans here; Junior Nation may get a run for its money today (but really, when there are five RFR drivers vs. one Junior, who really wins?).

• I wonder what Bill Weber will look up so that we won't have to? Enjoy the race, folks ...

Day 9 -- Saturday, June 13

• Sunrise in the Irish Hills ... a lot of open space interrupted by clumps of trees. Just not that hilly, so it seems. It is cloudy, though.

• WOW! Brooklyn is home to Vivian Kellogg of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (from the movie, A League of Their Own with Tom Hanks' now famous line: "There's no crying in baseball."). She made $75 per week during her career for the Minneapolis Millerettes and Fort Wayne Daisies.

• Couple of Cup Series practices and the Truck race today ... then, what? Maybe we'll catch a movie tonight; The Hangover sounds apropos.

• Congrats to first-time winner Colin Braun, who won the Truck Series race to give Roush Racing its 50th victory in the series.

Day 8 -- Friday, June 12

• We were up-and-at-'em early. It's about an hour from Detroit to Ann Arbor, home of the "Big House" -- 106,201-seat Michigan Stadium, which oddly enough Ohio State holds the deed to.

• Never fails: Cracker Barrel chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, dumplings and cornbread taste the same in Ann Arbor as they do at Exit 44 in I-20 in Lithia Springs, Ga. That's a good thing; you always know what you're gonna get at Cracker Barrel. (Yes, chicken-fried steak for breakfast; habits are hard to break.)

• We're here for the Hands-On Museum. Where else can you stick your hand into a tornado and not be blown to Oz?!

• Lunch will have more of a local flavor. Asking around to find a hole-in-the-wall joint where we can graze ...

• Brooklyn is a village, split in half by Highway 50. Hmm, School Street -- wonder what's at the end of that road? I have Alice Cooper ringing in my ears "School's out for summer!"

Day 7 -- Thursday, June 11

• Next stop: Detroit Rock City -- but first, a couple detours. (Hey, it's only a three-hour trip around Lake Erie ...)

• Grabbed a chili on chips, fried pickles and a couple of hot dogs at Tony Packo's on Front Street in Toledo.

• We've been joking a lot on the trip about getting a tattoo. Seems almost every downtown we're rolled through has a tat parlor. ... I'm thinking Woody Woodpecker, holding a steering wheel. Maybe Tigger with a checkered flag. We'll see ...

• OK, so Grosse Pointe Blank is a cool film (John Cusak is one of my all-time faves). Outside of Detroit is Grosse Point, along Lake St. Clair. Road trip! ... Um, yeah -- the film wasn't shot in Grosse Pointe (or neighboring Grosse Pointe Farms or Grosse Pointe Park). I had to check Wikipedia; sure enough, "Large portions of the film were shot in Monrovia, California." ... We'll be in L.A. in two weeks. Road trip!

• Headed over to Hitsville, U.S.A. -- the Motown Historical Museum.

Day 6 -- Wednesday, June 10

• From what I've seen, if there is a hall of fame that NASCAR's will most likely mirror it's the Rock & Roll HOF in Cleveland. More so than any other hall, you can feel this hall breathing. It has life. It has motion. If Winston Kelley & Co. at the NASCAR Hall capture this feeling ...

• Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum looks a lot like Tony Stewart's garage (video). Cars here, there and everywhere! Included in the collection: 1981 DMC-12 Coupe, the first DeLorean produced.

• Bumper sticker of the day: "Hang up and drive!"

• One rolling stop en route to dinner: Lake View Cemetery to see the gravesites of Eliot Ness, leader of "The Untouchables," James Garfield and John D. Rockefeller.

• Starvin' like Marvin, it's time to graze! Cleveland ChopHouse & Brewery -- jumbo onion rings for an appetizer, then Porterhouse with bourbon sauce and bourbon steak butter with an American Pale Ale.

• Thursday's going to be a good day -- first stop is the answer to a M*A*S*H trivia question: Klinger's favorite hot dog joint is ... ?

Day 5 -- Tuesday, June 9

• Breakfast at Pamela's in the Strip District: brown sugar pancakes with home fries, sausage and OJ.

• Canton is about two hours away; full day -- Pro Football Hall of Fame and a moment with Munson ...

• Tucked away under the leafy branches of age-old trees is the grave of a childhood hero. Thurman Munson died in a plane crash on Aug. 2, 1979. I still remember the ABC telecast of the Yankees-Orioles game and Bobby Murcer coming up big as New York won its first game without "The Captain." My first trip to Sunset Hills was somber; the emotions of seeing the site are as real today as they were then.

• It's about time somebody came up with a flat-proof tire! Spent too long on the side of I-77; felt like we were pitting Denny Hamlin.

• If you've never been to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton -- make time. It's not that you necessarily have to be a football fan; sports fans in general will love the history of this place! Much like the Baseball HOF, this joint drips with history. The relics are one-of-a-kind and the smell ... it sticks with you. It's like Lombardi, Nitschke and Starr are standing right there, ready to whip Halas, Butkus and Sayers!

Hanging in Canton for the evening, then off to Cleveland in the a.m.

Day 4 -- Monday, June 8

• And we're rolling. First stop today: State College (maybe Joe Pa will give us the nickel tour of Happy Valley! Probably not ...).

• Alto's for lunch (Meatball Parmesan and a thin crust pizza -- yeah, we're hungry). Penn State should make the joint must-eats for recruits; they'd never leave!

On the road to Pittsburgh ...

• Rolled through Altoona and into Pittsburgh; we hit Point State Park upon arrival. This is where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River. The fountain is spectacular.

The Bucos are in Atlanta so all we can do is gaze at PNC Park. Hands-down, it's the best place to watch a big-league ballgame.

Tuesday we're off to Canton, Ohio, to pay tribute to "The Captain." Hard to believe it's been 30 years ... (Continued)