I had planned to ride back to Peoria in the car with my parents but the day before they arrived Josephine told me she and one of her cousins from Detroit were planning to take an excursion boat on Lake Erie on the day after the commencement exercises and asked me if I might be able to go along. The boat would leave Detroit in the evening and be in buffalo the next morning which was Saturday. I had never been on a large boat and I had about enough money left in the bank to pay my fare (including cabin) and get to Peoria by train after arriving back in Detroit Monday morning. The temptation was too much to resist so I asked my dad if it would be OK. I felt guilty but promised to reimburse him after I got a job and had saved a little.
Josephine's cousin was a woman of about thirty, a plump brunette with dark eyes and hair and full of fun. The three of us sat on the upper deck and sang college and popular songs until nearly eleven pm. The next day we got in touch with Arthur (I wrote him regularly) and all of us went to visit Niagara Falls where we spent the day exploring on both the American and Canadian sides. It was the first of many visits I have made to the honeymoon capital of the world. I remember very little of the return trip to Detroit except that Henry Ford (the first) had a cabin on the boat and came out on deck in the early morning and stood by the rail right next to where Josephine and I were sitting. We had heard rumors the night before that he was on board. He remained for a few minutes talking to a man who was with him then returned to his stateroom nearby. Josephine's cousin came out on deck a few minutes later to inform us that Henry Ford was definitely on board and when we told her we had just seen him she became all excited and wanted to knock on his door and get his autograph but I didn't think we had any business disturbing him.
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