Back on the road/ update

We are now back on the road- we left W.Bridgewater on Sat the 27th, having spent time with family after my Dad's death. We retraced our steps through NY, but first we need to update where we left off....

We left Albany, NY for Niagara Falls on Wed the 17th, driving through beautiful rolling farm country. After a 5-6 hour drive, we arrived at our hotel early enough to take a walk to the Falls. Just the sheer volume of water is incredible! The roar of the water can be heard long before you can see the Falls. We walked through misty rain over to Goat Island to Bridal Falls.

We decided to tour the American side of the Falls the next morning. The tour took us back to Goat Island to experience the Cave of the Winds. They provided us with plastic slickers and sandals, which were definitely needed (not just for the rainy weather...). The tour took us down an elevator almost to the bottom of the American Falls, where wooden walkways allowed us to walk very close to the falls. Up on one platform, the force of the wind from the falling water was incredible. The tour driver took us to explore the Three Sisters islands, which extend out into the upper Niagara rapids, and are connected to the mainland by small walking bridges. Again, the force of the water was really impressive. We then took the Maid of the Mist boat trip, which takes you up into Rainbow Falls on the Canadian side. The boats are in close enough to feel the mist as the falls curl around on 3 sides.

We toured the Canadian side in the afternoon. Except that the tour driver was so knowledgeable, we could have done without that one. The Behind the Falls "experience" was not much of one, and the view from the top of the Needle was partly obscured by the low clouds. The one bright spot was the Floral Clock. This is a working clock, about 30 feet across, that is planted with a different flower design each year- very beautiful. After dinner that evening, we attempted to stay out at the Falls until dark to see them lit with different colors. Since sunset was not until after 9pm, it was just barely dark enough by 9:30 to see the colors. You know us Sun City folks- if we are not in bed by 10p, we are at least thinking about it, so we gave up and went home to bed.

We left the next morning for Michigan and Mackinac Island via Canada. The road through Canada ran along Lake Ontario. The land is quite flat and open, with lots of farmland. The Canadian portion of the trip took about 4 hours, the worst part of which was returning through customs at Port Heron. I suppose you want you border guards to be thorough, but the removal of apples from the car in front of us doesn't really make me feel safer... The trip through customs took us almost 30 minutes.

We drove north through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and spent the night just south of Mackinaw City, one location for the ferry trip to Mackinac Island. One roadside chuckle- a billboard saying " Need a car? Got stinky credit? Contact poopycredit.com" Wonder who thought of that one?

Mackinac Island is in Lake Heron, about a 15 minute ferry ride. Its "claim to fame" is the restriction against motorized vehicles, which has been in place since the late 1800's- they were banned because they frighten the horses. The only 2 motorized vehicles currently on the island are the ambulance and fire truck. There are only about 500 year round residents, but summer can be very busy. There is a cute downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants. We took the carriage tour of the island (other options are the drive-it-yourself carriage, horseback and bicycles). I can't imagine how they deal with all the bicycles during the summer season. There were hundreds to be rented, the island is very hilly, so you have to watch it on the downhills. We spotted yellow Lady Slippers while on our tour, which neither of us had ever seen before. The horses are everywhere, used for transportation, hauling people and products, and even street sweeping. The streets are paved -thank goodness- one big drawback of so many horses is all the horse poop, which would be a disaster with dirt roads and all the rain...

After the tour, we had lunch and headed back to the mainland. From there, it was back to MA.

When we resumed our trip yesterday, we decided not to repeat the exact route we had taken previously. We crossed NY state on the southern route, entering PA near Erie. We then skirted the southern shores of the Great Lakes. We have ended our long day today just northwest of Chicago- our first time zone change! We head for Duluth tomorrow.

Paula,s Dad Passed on the 21's of June. We are back in Bridgewater, Mass for the services.

All is well, but he will be missed by Family and friends. Services will be on Thursday and all

will gather at his Church in Bridgewater after the services.

We got as far as Mackinac Island MI. and will up date Blog when all is settled, hope

by the weekend.

Kyle graduates!

Kyle graduated on 6/14/09 from Gloucester High.  He was accepted to MIT.  We always knew he was smart.  What we didn't know was what a smart class he graduated from!  The top 20% of the class had GPAs of 3.5 or better.  One of his classmates is going to Harvard, 2 to Stanford, and 3 to McGill in Canada.  We had a soggy day for graduation, but it was a great ceremony followed by a tasty cookout at Cheryls'.

As far as the rest of the Gloucester visit- Dale and I (OK Becky, you're right- too hard to write 3rd person..) had enough of riding around and shopping in the rain by Fri, so we took advantage of potentially clearing skies to play golf at Wenham, our old course.  We made the mistake of deciding to walk the course (after not having walked  a course in 6 years), and YIKES!  We had forgotten how hilly that course is!  I felt I had been run over by a truck by the time we finished.  Needless to say, not the best round I've ever had.  Saturday was sunny, and we were able to take all the dogs for a walk in the woods and a swim in the quarry.  The day finished nicely with a visit to the Lobster Pool for great fried clams.

We left Mon. for Schenectady and a visit with Dale's family.  We had an opportunity to see their new traveler trailers, installed in a very pretty campground for the summer.  Had a great dinner at Applebees with the whole group.

We spent Mon and Tues night with Lorraine and Gary on Ballston Lake.  Again, the weather was kind enough to stop raining long enough for a round of golf on Tues.  Ginny and Charlie joined us for dinner.  We left Weds am for Niagara Falls.  More on that visit next blog...

My Dad is continuing to fail.  We are checking in daily, and may need to make a decision to interrupt our journey at some point.

On our way! 5/31/09-6/9/09

Left SCHH on 5/31.  Spent a lovely afternoon and evening with Steve and Beth in Chesapeake City, MD, on 6/1.  They have a home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay- no better view (or better company) for a cookout!  Ally had her first swim of the summer vacation.

Spent 6 days with Paula's Dad and Beverly.  Unfortunately, he is not doing well at this time, but we were glad to have some time with him.  Also got to see both of Paula's brothers, Ed and Ken, along with their families.  Had dinner with Paula's old high school friend, Lu, and her new fiance.  The dinner was in Plymouth, where we had an opportunity to see the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall.  Quite impressive.

Arrived in Gloucester on 6/8, staying at the Cape Ann Motor Inn, right on Long Beach.  We will be here until after Kyle's high school graduation on Sun. 6/14, then plan to head out on Mon. for Schenectady, NY to see Dale's family.