We woke up in our Kalamazoo bed and breakfast to our delightful host Bill cooking us the breakfast we had ordered.
For that unbelievable £34 they had gone out and got one of the breakfast scrambles I like, fresh bread, milk, butter, jams, eggs, brewed filtered coffee and tea. Each item was checked to see if it was to our liking and then served with freshly squeezed juice.
Bill, our host, then sat with us as we ate and we talked for over an hour about our various business lives, computers and how he loved meeting people. Absolutely brilliant, and I felt bad saying we needed to hit the road.
Packing up our stuff, we got into our Ford Freezerbox and quickly put heated seats and turned up the climate control. It was much better by the time we got to the end of the drive. Love the Ford Escape.
The drinks took longer to defrost though.
Our first port of call might seem a little strange to those not a fan of the show Hardcore Pawn, which is a reality show about a pawn shop in Detroit run by the Gold family.
The sign outside said they would be filming. People inside seemed to pay no attention to the cameras. Obviously a common occurrence.
After wandering around the store for a while and not seeing the crew we started looking at getting me an engagement ring as the one I had we returned due to me being allergic to the coating they put on white gold.
I decided I wanted a black titanium ring, and waited by the desk when Seth and Ashley walked out.
Not expecting him to say yes, as the film crews were setting up for a shoot, he was delighted to help and pose for a photo!
Then, as an added bonus he got Ashley to write us up the sale, and she was happy to do that too and pose for a picture with Mel! Happy days.
At this point things got a little weird.
Camera crew had set up shop 10 minutes at least ago, and Les has come out too.
The director had come up to us and said "we're filming, please don't look into the camera," as we were stood directly by Ashley who was in shot.
On asking for a photo Les told me "Sure, but I'm working for a moment."
Two guys then came in and walked up to the counter where Seth was stood now, and the camera crew were set up now for 15 minutes or so.
Les stood just off from us and busied himself with a sale of a fur coat at the jewelry counter, directly in shot, but a sale never actually seemed to be made.
The usual shouting and screaming kicked off. The guy was delivering his piece about the crap price he was being offered a few feet from us. If this is aired you will see us here.
The guy was ejected from the store by the big guy.
Les was now happy to pose for a photo with me. Great stuff. He shook my hand and we headed to the door.
The film crew, in that time, had got round the counter, in front of the bouncer and were between him and the guy shouting in the car park.
Just as we exited, the camera swung round to film the bouncer who was basically telling him to bring it on, and if the footage is aired you will see us there too.
At no time did the guy and his mate complain about the camera.
I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
I voiced my opinion to Ashley at one point and I thought she was going to tear my head off, and told me sternly that these people were not actors.
Next stop was Kingsville in Ontario, after heading through the Detroit to Canada tunnel.
At one point Mel got all panicky and told me to wind my window up because I was taking pictures of burnt out buildings and sadly poor people. Detroit is very, very dilapidated. My iPad SD card reader is broken so they will be on my travel blog at a later date.
Not 30 meters into Canada we almost crashed into another car, but luckily the locals have good brakes and a apologetic wave sent us on our way to our next stop.
Another AirBNB booking, this was a private bungalow set on top of a double garage. The owners live in a separate house to the side, and had left keys for us in an agreed place as they were out.
We let ourselves in, and were gobsmacked at what we had for our £124 for two nights.
The accommodation was as described. A full kitchen and dining area, bathroom, lounge and bedroom.
The kitchen was fully equipped with pans, plates, glasses and cutlery. Oils and seasonings in the cupboards, along with tea coffee and sugar jars.
Even better eggs, milk, OJ, cereals, breakfast bars, two loaves of artisan bread, fruit, sweets... All sorts just thrown in with the price !
A lovely kitchen and dining area with a full cooker, microwave and toaster.
A large lounge with sofa bed, chairs, TV with Netflix and other services, free wifi, a range of DVDs and books.
A big bed with comfy duvet and pillows, plenty of space if unlike us you like to unpack.
The owners returned and Bill (are all AirBNB owners called Bill? Lol.) came up to welcome us and ensure we knew how everything works. He also recommended a local supermarket and we headed there for tea fodder and relaxed for the evening.
One thing I have learnt is that it's difficult to get a glass of wine around here after 7:30pm. Supermarkets don't sell alcohol it appears.
Also, we learnt that Fairfax add a service charge onto any transaction in Canadian Dollars if you have a US Dollar card.
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