We like to stay in B&B’s but one of the hazards (some say charm) is the innkeeper. The one where we stayed was super chatty, super inquisitive, and really in love with the sound of her own voice. I can’t hack that much yakking in the morning. I can barely hack morning itself.
After breakfast we walked down the hill to the Falls. The roar got louder the closer we got. We bought an Adventure Pass which gave us access to the Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Walk, the Butterfly Conservatory, and unlimited access to the People-Mover (the bus to all the sites).
We didn’t get in line for the Maid of the Mist until after 10 a.m. I’m glad we weren’t any later as the line was starting to get long. They handed us our blue disposable rain coats and sent us down the elevators. The raincoats were surprisingly effective. It was in the 90’s so it was freaking hot wearing them. The Maid was packed full of people from all over the world. We managed to get two spots on the top near the rail in the back. The Maid chugged against the current. We got right up near the American Falls. The mist was incredible. The wind coming off the Falls whipped all around us. I can’t imagine how it must have been to discover the Falls. We got so close to the Horseshoe Falls that we were in the mist. We couldn’t see anything except water. My loving sister offered me a hundred bucks to go over the Falls in a barrel. Dad said he’d chip in $100 too. Letting them keep there money was the right decision!
We had a fast food lunch before our time for the Journey came around.
After the Maid we went to do the Journey behind the Falls. It was so incredible! Looking at the Falls from behind the Falls wasn’t anything too great, but going out on the the viewing platform was something else! The platform puts you only 25’ above the river bed. It’s at the base of the Horseshoe Falls. I’ve never had so much water in my eyes ever! I don’t I’ve had that much water in them swimming with my eyes open!
The Journey was terribly crowded. We decided not to do the cave of the Winds. 1) It’s on the US side and the line to cross the bridge was hours long 2) Kurt found out the cave is no longer there and 3) I tend to trip up and down stairs when they are dry and not next to a raging river.
Following this adventure we had a beer and sandwich at a restaurant at the top of the Falls. Watching the water as it approaches the Falls is pretty awesome, too. It was now the middle of the afternoon. We took the People Mover up River road and went to the White Water Walk (we’d paid for it after all). It’s a board walk down in the Niagara Gorge that goes along a stretch of river that has class 6 white water. The water is so dangerous, shooting the rapids is illegal and if you live, results in a $5,000 fine.
I was dying of heat at this point. Kurt was pretty hot too. We were both super stinky. We caught the bus and had it drop us off uphill from our B&B. Showers and naps followed. Nothing beats a shower after a full day of sightseeing.
For dinner we went to the Falls View Sheraton. Rooms there are way over $200. It’s above the Falls. The view from the restaurant was amazing. The restaurant was elegant, the food was fantastic. We’re there until close to sunset. We saw our first rainbows refracted in the mist. It was a great way to end the day.
Our room at the lodge accessed the garden. We sat outside in the cooling air, played scrabble and relaxed. We both slept well that night.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Day 3 ~ Detroit to Niagara
We didn’t get out of Detroit until after 10 am. That makes me crazy when it’s a driving travel day. Welcome to Canada! I had the not so brilliant idea of driving along a scenic route along the lake. It took forever to go a short distance. Ontario is very farm oriented. There were gigantic green houses everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it. The landscape and towns reminded me of the San Joaquin Valley in CA. We saw fields and fields of onions and tobacco, vineyards, orchards, wheat, and the shortest corn I’ve ever seen! It was such a contrast. In Iowa there was corn that was probably 8 feet high and starting to tassel while here there is 2 foot corn that is fully tasseled!
I bought some Ontario cherries at a fruit stand. They are sweet and juicy and deep reddish purple. The blueberries are fantastic, too.
We had lunch in the town of Erieau. It’s on Lake Erie (which is very cold, too). The lake had waves and white caps when we waded at the beach. Molly and Oj’s is where we dined. It was dark with a supper club atmosphere. We had a basket of chewy and crusty flax bread with sweet cream butter while we waited for our lunches. Our dinners came with soup so we both upgraded to the clam chowder. It was fantastic! I had a lemon pepper battered perch and Kurt had blackened rainbow trout. We were too full for dessert.
It was already mid-afternoon so we decided to forgo the scenic route and get our tushies to Niagara Falls. Evidently, Mapquest hates Canada (according to our B&B hostess); the directions I got put us in Niagara-on-the-lake which is lovely, but 20km from our destination.
We’re staying at the Eastwood Tourist lodge. We have a large room with a fireplace, a king size bed and a garden patio. We’re about 1 mile down (well uphill) from the Falls overlooking the Niagara Gorge. We can hear the Falls from here and see the Rainbow Bridge.
Once we got settled we drove down to see the Falls. UNBELIEVABLE!!! It’s truly incredible. We could see that without even getting out of the car. We drove up to the Cliffton area of town and had dinner at a great (cheap) little family restaurant. Then we rode the Skywheel. I hate shit like that so me getting on it was pretty amazing. I was squeezing the blood out of Kurt’s had though. It was awesome getting a bird’s eye view of the Falls. After our ride we drove down to the Falls and found some parking. We watched the light of the Falls while we waited for the fireworks. The city puts on a fireworks show every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday during the summer. The show was short, but spectacular. Tomorrow we will do all the Falls tours.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Meet Francis
Meet Francis. He's a 6 week old sheltie boy. He's sweet, fluffy, and likes to explore. He smells like a barn (hay, dirt, animals) but in a good way. I love him already!RAGBRAI 3
RAGBRAI arrives on Thursday. I've cleaned the kids' rooms, vaccuumed and flipped the mattresses, cleaned the bathroom, set out fresh towels and washed the bed linens. I'm now hot and tired. I saw a load of porta potties head into the park. The city is repainting the lines on the street...coincidence? I think not!
I bought some foamcore to make a sign to welcome our riders. Hopefully, it will help them find us. I'm going to make some muffins. That will probably be the extent of my hostess with the mostest-ing.
I bought some foamcore to make a sign to welcome our riders. Hopefully, it will help them find us. I'm going to make some muffins. That will probably be the extent of my hostess with the mostest-ing.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
We're Home
We're home. 12 hours in the car yesterday. 7 hours today. We don't like each other much at the moment, but we had a fun trip.
Exhausted. Plus I have another 3 hours in the car tomorrow as my mom and I have tickets to SPAMALOT in the Capital city. Ugh.
Exhausted. Plus I have another 3 hours in the car tomorrow as my mom and I have tickets to SPAMALOT in the Capital city. Ugh.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Obsessed
I'm truly obsessed. I used to love to shop on vacation and pick up all kinds of tacky souvenirs. For, I'd say the last 13 years, I've been over it. I'd rather buy 1 significant souvenir like a piece of potter, jewelry or something similar. EXCEPT for postcards. I'm still completely obsessed with postcards. I've probably bought 50 or 60 this trip. Yet, we didn't go anywhere that I could buy ones in Mystic or when we crossed Massachusetts (and 2 states to my tally - I think I only have 8 to go!). I buy them to keep. I buy them to send. I buy them to use in scrapbooking. So I might have to buy 3 of one view! I have yet to find a postcard of Utica.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Eastward Ho - Day 2
We got a bit of a late start heading out of Geneseo. Kurt says I’m a different person when I’m on vacation, since I want to get up and go where usually I prefer to laze around. If we've got miles to cover, I want to get on the road!
Our first stop was at the National Sand Dunes Park on the Indiana shore’s of Lake Michigan. I’ve always wanted to stop and see them when I’ve been on my way east, but I’ve never been able to spare the time. We hit the gift shop first and got information. We also picked up a really neat National Parks passport book. The dune’s parks were incredibly busy. Many of them were closed because the parking was full. We weren’t able to get to the beach that had been recommended to us, but we did make it to see Mt. Baldy. This is a live dune that is growing and shifting and threatening to take over the parking lot and potty area. Mt Baldy is blocked off in an effort to save her, so we walked around, up and through the woods to descend to the beach. It was gorgeous. Lake Michigan is very very blue and very very cold! We waded a bit then headed back over the dune and had a picnic lunch on the road.
Michigan is full of fruit orchards and deer from what we could see. Kurt napped quite a bit, but did manage to come awake in time to see a sign for an Air Zoo and space museum in Kalamazoo. We spent a few hours there. Kurt was more into than I was (of course). Yet, it was interesting. They had all kinds of planes and space craft. The walls were covered with realistic murals. The Air Zoo also has air themed rides such as a hot air balloon and little planes for kids. For bigger kids there is a space shuttle going to the International Space station as well as flight simulator for an F-14 tomcat (think TOP GUN). I sat those out but Kurt had a great time doing nose dives and barrel rolls. The zoo also features a WWII aircraft hangar and a simulated bombing run of a B-17 bombing run of Nazi Germany. It was 3-D and the true story narrated by the sole survivor. I did go on that one. It was really meaningful because of what’s going on now, and also because my Great Uncle Glenn went down in one of those during the war.
We only had about 45 min to go thru the second building which featured more space stuff. I looked everything over quickly then waited for Kurt outside where there was some fresh air. The Air Zoo is much like the National Air and Space museum in D.C., but I thought it was much better because it isn’t so stinking crowded! However, their moon rock in encased in glass, where you can touch the one in D.C.
We were at the Air Zoo until it closed then we got back on the road. We had a super yummy supper at a Bob Evans. You can never go wrong with a hot turkey sandwich!
We decided to drive to Detroit. Kurt was sleeping when we got into town. We ended up getting into an argument about where to find a hotel. We had a lovely (and thankfully) short tour of the burned out, abandoned, boarded up and still being inhabited section of the city. We quickly got back on the freeway and headed for the museum and downtown district. I hadn’t made a hotel reservation because I wasn’t sure how far we’d get. We ended up in a very expensive Courtyard by Marriott. I only got a room because there was a cancellation just as I inquired. The woman who checked in before me almost came unglued. She’d been trying to get a second room for months. We just happened to decide to spend the night in Detroit while the 98th annual NAACP convention was there, along with a Tigers game and an airshow. The room was nice, the hot tub was cold, and the bed was soft. Plus I should be getting bonus Marriott rewards!
Our first stop was at the National Sand Dunes Park on the Indiana shore’s of Lake Michigan. I’ve always wanted to stop and see them when I’ve been on my way east, but I’ve never been able to spare the time. We hit the gift shop first and got information. We also picked up a really neat National Parks passport book. The dune’s parks were incredibly busy. Many of them were closed because the parking was full. We weren’t able to get to the beach that had been recommended to us, but we did make it to see Mt. Baldy. This is a live dune that is growing and shifting and threatening to take over the parking lot and potty area. Mt Baldy is blocked off in an effort to save her, so we walked around, up and through the woods to descend to the beach. It was gorgeous. Lake Michigan is very very blue and very very cold! We waded a bit then headed back over the dune and had a picnic lunch on the road.
Michigan is full of fruit orchards and deer from what we could see. Kurt napped quite a bit, but did manage to come awake in time to see a sign for an Air Zoo and space museum in Kalamazoo. We spent a few hours there. Kurt was more into than I was (of course). Yet, it was interesting. They had all kinds of planes and space craft. The walls were covered with realistic murals. The Air Zoo also has air themed rides such as a hot air balloon and little planes for kids. For bigger kids there is a space shuttle going to the International Space station as well as flight simulator for an F-14 tomcat (think TOP GUN). I sat those out but Kurt had a great time doing nose dives and barrel rolls. The zoo also features a WWII aircraft hangar and a simulated bombing run of a B-17 bombing run of Nazi Germany. It was 3-D and the true story narrated by the sole survivor. I did go on that one. It was really meaningful because of what’s going on now, and also because my Great Uncle Glenn went down in one of those during the war.
We only had about 45 min to go thru the second building which featured more space stuff. I looked everything over quickly then waited for Kurt outside where there was some fresh air. The Air Zoo is much like the National Air and Space museum in D.C., but I thought it was much better because it isn’t so stinking crowded! However, their moon rock in encased in glass, where you can touch the one in D.C.
We were at the Air Zoo until it closed then we got back on the road. We had a super yummy supper at a Bob Evans. You can never go wrong with a hot turkey sandwich!
We decided to drive to Detroit. Kurt was sleeping when we got into town. We ended up getting into an argument about where to find a hotel. We had a lovely (and thankfully) short tour of the burned out, abandoned, boarded up and still being inhabited section of the city. We quickly got back on the freeway and headed for the museum and downtown district. I hadn’t made a hotel reservation because I wasn’t sure how far we’d get. We ended up in a very expensive Courtyard by Marriott. I only got a room because there was a cancellation just as I inquired. The woman who checked in before me almost came unglued. She’d been trying to get a second room for months. We just happened to decide to spend the night in Detroit while the 98th annual NAACP convention was there, along with a Tigers game and an airshow. The room was nice, the hot tub was cold, and the bed was soft. Plus I should be getting bonus Marriott rewards!
Eastward Ho - Day 1
Day 1 - July 6 -
I was so excited about our trip, I couldn’t wait to leave! I wanted to be able to see some stuff on the way rather than having to rush the 800 + miles to Niagara. I approached Kurt about leaving Friday night and driving part way. He agreed so we set out about 630 p.m. We made it about 20 miles down the road and we had to stop for supper! We pigged out at Pizza Ranch and then resumed our travels eastward. We made it as far as Geneseo, IL where we stayed at a not so cheap yet very cheap Super8. They said they had one room left, so we ended up in a so called suite. It reeked of pot so I called down to the front desk. He said he’d see what he could do. We could have a hot tub suite (more expensive, yet tempting) or a “I’ll give it to you for the same price” room with 3…count ‘em 3…double beds. We took that one. The room was humongous and freezing cold. I loved it! The next morning though, Kurt and I agreed, we are higher class hotel people despite our discount chain budget. The towels were like sand paper!
I was so excited about our trip, I couldn’t wait to leave! I wanted to be able to see some stuff on the way rather than having to rush the 800 + miles to Niagara. I approached Kurt about leaving Friday night and driving part way. He agreed so we set out about 630 p.m. We made it about 20 miles down the road and we had to stop for supper! We pigged out at Pizza Ranch and then resumed our travels eastward. We made it as far as Geneseo, IL where we stayed at a not so cheap yet very cheap Super8. They said they had one room left, so we ended up in a so called suite. It reeked of pot so I called down to the front desk. He said he’d see what he could do. We could have a hot tub suite (more expensive, yet tempting) or a “I’ll give it to you for the same price” room with 3…count ‘em 3…double beds. We took that one. The room was humongous and freezing cold. I loved it! The next morning though, Kurt and I agreed, we are higher class hotel people despite our discount chain budget. The towels were like sand paper!
Musings
Iowa is a pretty homogenous state. Most everyone you meet is Christian (or their ancestors were at one point). The east coast not so much. I love the diversity. Kurt and I were having lunch over looking the drawbridge at the S & P Oyster Bar (or company) in Mystic, CT. The two couples at the table next to us were having quite the far ranging conversation. I told Kurt it was like listening to a Woody Allen movie!
Sports
New York and the East Coast seems to be for sports fanatics. Baseball mainly. Everywhere we go people are watching baseball, listening to baseball, or discussing baseball. It seems like the entire sportscast on the news is about baseball. Right now we are only 45 min away from Cooperstown (and the baseball hall of fame). We've been past a basketball hall of fame, the boxing hall of fame, the curling hall of fame and one more it seems like. Iowa is not a baseball state. New York apparently is. I could care less.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Happy 4th of July!
Deviled Eggs....a great holiday tradition. The parade is out front at 9 am. People have been putting out chairs since early this morning. We've got a spot saved in case my grandpa comes up. I've got chicken marinating and beans ready to be baked. We have fresh black berries and raspberries to go over vanilla ice cream. I've got the sparklers and the invitation to my parents for a cook out tonight.
Even if you are against the war (like me), please don't forget the soldiers and their families - past and present. Happy Indpenendence Day everyone!!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
RAGBRAI 2 - For those of you who don't know
RAGBRAI is the Register's Annual Great Bike Race Across Iowa. It started out as a small bike ride with a few riders sponsored by the Des Moines Register. Riders start on the western edge of the state dipping their bike tires in the Missouri River. Five days and usually some 400+miles later they end by dipping their tires in the Mighty Mississippi. When it started out the few were just riding for fun and to see the state. Now more than 20,000+ riders from all over the world spend a week in our state. Smalltown organizations make lots of money selling fruit cups, pies, tenderloins and anything else you can imagine! Check it out at http://www.ragbrai.org/
RAGBRAI 1
RAGBRAI is coming again. It's always the last full week in July. This year they are overnighting here. Since we will be childless and have lots of extra space we decided to be a host family. I just got our first email. We'll have a group of 3 men from Colorado and it looks like another group of 2 from the Quad Cities. We're only a block away from one of the main areas so it should be crazy. RAGBRAI is always a rockin' good time!
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