July 4th, installing the mirror and Twisted Rooster…

Our last few days we have been busy. First we were invited over to Sharon’s cousins’ house for the July 4th holiday for dinner and some relaxation time. Her cousin John and his wife Penny were fabulous hosts as we were treated to some fun appetizers and some tasty adult beverages. Later we grilled up some supper and chatted about all things imaginable. We were also treated to great little dessert and best of all Penny made many of the items she served with products that were made or produced in Michigan. After dessert we fired off a few fireworks and relived some some childhood memories with some sparklers. More chatting on the outside patio while sitting around a cool looking little table that had a gas fire in the middle of it and before we knew it the time had passed and it was nearly midnight.

We spent the night at John and Penny’s and were served a fabulous breakfast of crumpets, jams, fresh fruit along with juice and coffee before we parted ways. We picked up our mirror that had been mailed to their house for us and off we went with plans to go through the city of Detroit. But oddly enough it seemed as we weren’t destined to go there as right before we were to make our first turn we heard and saw at the same time a transformer blow up. The boom and flash of light were so loud a couple of guys right beside the pole were walking their dogs and when the transformer blew one of the dogs must have bolted so one of the boys was sprawled out on the ground. Finding this a wee bit humorous I then missed my turn toward Detroit and then we got a call that we had left something back at her cousin’s house. Furthermore it started to rain so we took all these as omens that we were not meant to drive to Detroit so instead we headed back to camp since we had to install the mirror on the RV anyhow before heading north.

Back at the fairground I unpackaged the mirror leaving the bubble wrap around it to protect both it and the paintjob on Abbey as I installed it. I had already removed the four bolts from inside the hood to take off the remaining pieces of the broken mirror and tied up the wires inside. So the first thing I did that day day was to splice in the black and white wires for the turn signal on the outside edge of the mirror. Then I had to splice in the five wires, four of which controlled the left/right up/down movements of the mirror. The fifth wire is used to heat the mirror to keep ice from accumulating on it (a feature I NEVER plan to use). After splicing in all the wires and testing them I was ready to finish up the mounting of it. Sharon assisted me in tightening down the four bolts that held the mirror to the RV since my arms were not long enough to hold the nut and turn the bolt at the same time. Once done we adjusted the mirror and tested all its functions (other than ice thawing) and satisfied with our accomplishments we headed off to Camping World to pick up some water filters that needed to be replaced.

After getting the filters we drove around the Ypsilanti Township and the small town of Belleville. While returning back to the fairgrounds we spotted a place Sharon had been told we should visit by her hairdresser in Port Huron called the Twisted Rooster. We strolled into the fairly empty place (it was about 3:45 pm Friday afternoon) and bellied up to the bar we a very friendly bar- tender who told us all about the Twisted Rooster also informing us it was happy hour and all but a few of the drafts were only $2.00 per 14 oz. glass! Sweet! He even offered us several samples. We tried several of the Michigan Crafted Beers brewed by Cheboygan, Founders, Rochester Mills, Arbor Brewing Co., Atwater Brewery and Bells Brewing Co. and my favorite of the lot was the Founder’s Pale Ale. For you crafted beer hounds I found a nifty link that maps all the Michigan breweries – click link to check it out…

We felt the Twisted Rooster was a neat place all by itself – a true Road Treat!!! Started in Grand Rapids, Michigan this entrepreneur created a bar/restaurant concept that specializes in Michigan grown products in all their recipes and provides the consumer with “twisted” culinary delights. The emphasis on Michigan products also included the crafted beers, wines and liquors sold. This “Commit to the Mitt” concept bodes well for travelers like us who like to partake in the products unique to the states we visit. The bartender also asked us if we were hungry but we really only planned to have drinks yet after he described their signature nachos made on waffle fries (I kid you not) we ordered some. Best of all he let us know that Happy Hour appetizers are only $3.00! Normally priced the Southwest Nachos are $8.59 and composed of Waffle Fries, Chipotle Chicken, Melted Michigan Cheese, Jalapenos, Fresh Pico & Cilantro Sour Cream. After eating just this one order we figured we probably wouldn’t have to eat dinner that night. If you ever are in Michigan and drive by a sign that says Twisted Rooster… stop the car and please get out to try this place as it is one of those rare Road Treats that we have run across during our travels… great food, great crafted beers, great service and  during happy hour, really great prices…