Chicken Charlie's Grand Michigan Adventure, Part 4

What's happening: Geocacher "Photobug" takes trackable "Chicken Charlie" on vacation with him to Michigan. In this series, Chicken Charlie relates what he and Photobug did together on vacation.

Hey guys! This here is Chicken Charlie again! As promised, here is part 4 of my Grand Michigan Adventure with Photobug. Last time, I told ya that "the best was yet to come". Well, that's right! On the fourth day of vacation, Photobug's grandpa took him, me, Photobug's parents, and even Photobug's grandma to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan!

Well, as I can see, you probably don't know what Greenfield Village is. Don't worry, I didn't either until Photobug told me! Greenfield Village is an outdoor history museum founded by Henry Ford in 1929. Whew, that's a LONG time ago!! In this museum, called Greenfield Village, Henry Ford gathered many famous buildings, such as the Wright Brothers' home and cycle shop, Thomas Edison's Menlo Park laberatory, Daniel Webster's home, and many, many others! Recently there has been more fun added, in the form of authentic Model T rides, a 1913 Carousel, and even an old-fashioned train pulled by an 1873 steam engine!

Whew, that's a lot for a little bird! I'll just let you look at the pictures now, OK?

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 ^^The view out from a real Model T! Photobug and his family being pro Model T riders, they had no problems whatsoever. I, on the other hand, was a bit surprised at how LOUD that car was, and how few luxuries there were! C'mon, where's the CD player? Oh well, guess that's what you get for riding an old-fashioned car!

 (above and below): Me on a Model T!

 After the Model T's, we all went to ride the 1913 Carousel! Evidently, Photobug's sister really liked it, as she rode it many times in a row.

 (above and below): Me with the Carousel sign!

 Above, the noise producer for the Carousel. Below, Photobug's sister having the time of her life!

^^I actually thought the Carousel was pretty cool myself! I mean, where else can you ride on a chicken?

Wait...I AM a chicken! ;) Haha, just checkin' to see if yer awake! I loved meeting this guy, who I

found it was named "Chicken Carousel".

 The picture above and the next few as well are from the Edison district of Greenfield Village. Quite frankly, until Photobug told me, I had no clue who Thomas Edison was! Anyway, here's some photos of Edison's Menlo Park lab, as well as one of his power plants.

Thomas Edison helped make light so much more accessible for everyone! (and by the way, that was quite a big sentence for me, just a little bird!)

 (above & below): my goal as a geocaching trackable is to visit bodies of water, so of course I had to visit the Ackley Covered Bridge & Pond!

 (above & below): I loved the horse-drawn carriage rides!

 (above and below): Photobug really enjoyed this play, presented by Laura Ingalls Wilder "herself"!

 (above and below): This circa-1905 forest ranger and his Morgan horse "Rosa" told us all about Michigan wildlife!

 ^^One of the last things we did that day was ride the steam train and visit the roundhouse. Above, here's the Smith Creek depot where we boarded.

 ^^Photobug's sister was ready to go and ride!

 (above and below): huff, huff, huff, huff...here comes the Torch Lake steam locomotive!

 Next few pictures are of the Village, taken from the train.

A windmill, and the Daggart farm from the era of the 1700s.

 ^^WOW, that train ride was quite the experience!

The next few pictures are of my visit to the roundhouse. The roundhouse, Photobug explained to me, was where all the trains get worked on.

 (above and below): Steam engines are pretty cool!

 Above, me with the turntable and roundhouse, which can you believe, it's not totally round! Below, Photobug and his sister help turn the turntable. I just sat back and watched, but they told me it was actually easy to move that big thing!

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And that was just the beginning! All told, I got to go to Greenfield Village three times with Photobug. I'll tell ya more in the next post! See ya!

More later,

Chicken Charlie