Bad Kitty and I are lounging in our room at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn after just having raided the hospitality suite on the 10th floor. Note to hospitality suite people: you might want to hide the self-serve Rolos and Reese's peanut butter cups and champagne while we're staying here.
We have a gorgeous view of the arboretum surrounding the Ford campus and way, way off in the distance we can see downtown Detroit under a blanket of thunderclouds.
We've had a moment to let it all sink in and...
WE CAN'T BELIEVE WERE HERE.
Tomorrow we hop into our torch-red Mustang GT coupe (with charcoal black turned leather interior and a 5-speed manual transmission) and wing our way across the state to Fennville, MI to have brunch with the lovely and talented Danielle Wiley at her cottage by the lake, and then we continue on to Mackinac Island for our "Somewhere in Time"-inspired romantic getaway. (Cue giggles.)
Four months ago when we pitched our idea for a series of roadtrips around America to celebrate our 40th birthdays, we had low expectations that the folks at Ford would say yes. But they did, and tomorrow we kick it off in grand style. After spending a couple of days on Mackinac Island, we'll return to Dearborn to pick up our next car, a Taurus SHO, and then we cruise down to Chicago for Blogher.
As we embark our adventure we'd like to thank our lovely sponsors who made this possible:
First and foremost, Ford (particularly @scottmonty) and Ogilvy, for indulging our crazy idea and for comping us our room (for one night) at the Sheraton.
To Intel and Ogilvy for providing us with an Intel-powered Dell Mini 9 minibook so that I can blog/Twitter and Facebook our adventures on the road AND for providing one for us to give away to a lucky Twitterer who follows our all-girl agency—@clevergirlscoll—on Twitter We'll pick a winner at BlogHer and if you are there, you will get to take it home with you.
To Fiona Goldstein and the Ritz-Carlton for welcoming us to our first night in the midwest with champagne, chocolate, and cookies.
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island who is putting us up for two amazing nights and who have arranged for us to interview their historian. We promise that only 99% of our questions will be about Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. (Words cannot express how magical this place is. Being in the Jackie Kennedy and Roselynn Carter suites were a luxe touch that we were NOT expecting.)
Anna at Allison and Partners and the Best Western North River for being the first stop on our 6-day long visit to Chicago. (Excellent service and family-friendly accomodations that made us feel like we were staying at a 4-star, fancy hotel.)
To PainePR and Sony Vaio for providing a minibook so that Cat and I can craft our stories and keep everyone updated on our roadtrip.
Tomorrow the adventure begins and if you follow us on Twitter (@dearbadkitty and @citymama) you can come along with us! Here's to great cars, the best of friends, and to turning 40 with no shame!