I drive by Northville daily (my commute takes me from Plymouth/Canton to Farmington Hills and back).
I also try to use the Axis as much as possible. So far we've used it to tailgate two of my son's baseball doubleheaders, we've used it as a "bus" to haul around people, and we've used it for long distance drives (there is a forum topic of that very question:
http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f28...home-4243.html ).
When going to Birch Run we usually make a weekend of it and stay at either Pine Ridge, or the Yogi Bear campground in Frankenmuth both make for a fun weekend away that isn't too far.
One year we packed up the family and drove to FL in a 2012 Focus (yeah it was an interesting drive). The next year, after we picked up the Axis, we did the same trip in the RV--a much better experience for everyone involved! (Both trips were for winter break--don't think you can only use it in Spring/Summer/Fall.)