Sun. 7/18-Mon 7/26 -Niagara NY to Vt & NH

More than a week has gone by and there's been no blogging from this source.. 1. Had no Internet connection. 2. We were visiting my mother, sister, Marj and hubby, Jim. Then it was decided that we'd get Mother's house cleaned out-sort through saleable items and get ready for a yard sale for Sat. 7/24 . Karen and the grandsons assisted -the guys cleaned out the attic and the cellar while I cleaned out 6 closets, the entire kitchen and 2 bedrooms, and Karen assisted with pricing all the stuff we figured might go in a yard sale. In the middle of the week we drove to NH for a break and stayed a couple of nights in the Crow's Nest CG in Newport. Drove back to VT (55 miles) on Fri. where we stayed in our camper in Mother's driveway. The sale went on Sat. with no advertising except signs out beside the road and we were relatively busy. At the end of the day a customer gave us her card and told us that if we had things which we wanted to dispose of that she'd come with a truck and haul away whatever we couldn't sell. She would then include our items in a large yard sale next month which would benefit a children's organization. So we packed the remains in boxes and my sister will call this lady to come collect the boxes. I spent yesterday cleaning Mother's house so it could be shown for sale as soon as practicable. Hank spent the day dealing with leftovers in the garage and repairing two garage door openers at my sister's-two totally different problems. We spent evenings with family of one sort of another for the past week. Tonight it is just the two of us back at the Crow's Nest Campground in Newport, NH where we'll camp until we leave NH for parts south. (Though we started this journey more than 6 weeks ago with no real plan, we've agreed on a plan for the remainder of the travels...More on that to come...) We'll be visiting Karen and family and old friends this week-having dinner with some of them at favorite haunts, etc. Apologies that this has been rather hum-drum, but can't make everything exciting! Not even any photos to demonstrate our week's work. Will try to do better with the next post...

Photos from Niagra Falls

Here are just a sampling of the photos we got at Niagra Falls! Crowds were such that it wasn't easy to get the shots we wanted, but such is life! It was a gorgeous evening when we were there-it was Sat. 7/17/10-and we enjoyed walking along the paths on the American side of the falls1

New Carlisle, OH to Niagra Falls, NY

After receiving routing recommendations from the Leonards we began the daylong journey from southwest Ohio to northwest NY travelling through more cornfields, and eventually into wine country in northwest PA and NY. Arrived in Buffalo late in the afternoon and when we got to the tollbooth to cross the Niagra River to Grande Island where we had reservations we found ourselves in a 6 lane traffic jam and at nearly a standstill-a good thing as the people in their vehicles on either side of us wanted to tell us about our bicycles and spare tire which were apparently about ready to come off the back bumper of the camper! Traffic was such that we just had to trust that these items would remain attached until we could get across that bridge and find a place to stop and make whatever repairs might be indicated. Once onto the bridge the 1st sign we see is: "Rough Road" -exactly what we weren't hoping for! But we edged our way off the bridge and onto the shoulder of the road. When Hank went to examine our latest "issue" he found he needed my assistance. Along our whole journey that day we had experienced some rather rough patches of road and the bumper took all that it could then started to split away from the frame of the camper-just enough to make the bikes bounce! So....we took the bikes off the bumper and put them inside the camper-hoping that we could get to our campground without destroying the inside of the camper. The spare tire went in the back of the car and we were on our short way to the campground! (We'll deal with the tired bumper on the camper when we get to NH. The bikes will have to ride in the car with us and the spare tire-after the front wheels are removed. ) We set up and got some dinner, then drove into Niagra Falls. Many years ago I had seen the Falls from the Canadian side, but I don't remember ever seeing them from the American side-it was about time I did! It was a delightful evening and we wandered along the paths with 40 kabillion other tourists-most of them from foreign lands was my assumption after hearing many languages! Took lots of photos of various aspects of the falls while we waited for darkness so we could see the lighting effects. Since we had been there an observation deck was constructed near the Maid of the Mist docks and fighting with those 40 kabillion visitors for a place by the railing was a challenge that neither of us felt up to-so we gave it up as a lost cause! Our photos taken when the lights were on the falls are a dissapointment, but at least we saw them!

At Bob & Betty's in New Carlisle, OH

Left: Lunch break (& swim) during

canoe trip down the Mad River in Ohio.

Center: Betty & Bob's Gardens Right: Busy Hummingbirds at B&B's deck

Leaving Michigan was a bit of a challenge as we had some difficulty finding a road that was well-marked on my map, but the road signs were somewhat lacking. After going nearly all the way to Grand Rapids (which is North) and we wanted to go Southeast I found an alternate route which took us through some very lovely scenic Michigan countryside! Eventually we came to our Interstate 75 which would take us to Troy, OH and our exit to get us to Bob & Betty's. Arriving at their home in New Carlisle (after missing the sign for their road and having to do a bit of back-tracking) late in the afternoon , it was great to sit on their deck and enjoy the shade. They had been experiencing heat and humidity the likes of what we see in FL. Long story: Bob's son-in-law had given him a Fishing trip on Lake Erie for Father's Day and between them the caught a boatload of Walleye. Betty frys a mean fish and dinner was that fried fish which was really really good! Their daughter and son-in-law live next door and joined us for the meal. We had met them when they visit in FL and enjoy their company! Bob had prepared a place to set up our camper in their side yard and we continued to enjoy our own "space" in our tin tent. The next day the six of us spent a delightful day canoeing on the Mad River not far from their home. The water was moving swiftly enough to make the paddle interesting without having to work very hard, and there was enough shade so we didn't get fried! We had taken a non-picnic lunch with us (Hank doesn't like picnics!) but we enjoyed eating in the great outdoors! That evening after dinner we enjoyed some games of Cribbage and Quiddler. The next morning after a blueberry pancake breakfast at Bob & Betty's daughter's we were on the road once again.

Photos from Holland, MI

Left photo: Pier and lighthouse at Grand Haven, MI

Middle: Holland Tunnel Park exit onto Lake Michigan

Right: Martha and sister Lucille enjoying the gorgeous summer day at Tunnel Park

Holland, Michigan (3 days there...)

We spent three days with Lucille and Stewart in Holland, MI while spending the three nights in our lil' tin tent. We didn't want to make work so we slept and had breakfast in our traveling home before joining family. Had a good time catching up with them and their children and grandchildren. We met my niece, Piper's husband, Ray and had a great time getting to know him. Piper and Ray have three cats and two dogs -( And Ray has two nearly grown children from a previous marriage.) The three cats and two dogs are an interesting mix-remind me to tell you all about them at some point! We drove to Grand Haven where Piper works and explored the channel from Lake Michigan into GH. After a great lunch in an outdoor patio restaurant along the channel we explored the pier and light house at Grand Haven Point. When we got back to Holland we were invited to have dinner at Piper and Ray's-so we got to play with the animals and we also shared some of the photos taken on this journey And Ray showed us photos of a mission trip to Guatamala that he took with a church group and his son and daughter. Lucille took me to her therapy pool to soak in very warm water, and then to the Holland Farmer's market which is great. Stewart took Hank to see the Corvair he's restoring, then we all went to Tunnel Park and hiked up the dune after experiencing the tunnel. Hank and Stewart went to Beer Church with Ray and some of his cronies. All in all a good time was had by all. But guests get tiresome after awhile, so we figured it was time to move along. Next stop is at Bob and Betty Leonards in New Carlisle, OH.

Sawyer, MI to Holland, MI

Having slept many hours and rested well we were ready to resume our journey to Holland, MI where we'll see Lucille (my sister). Didn't see anyhing photo-worthy along the 75 miles to Holland and accomplished the trip quickly. Now we're in a very nice campground which will be our base for the next couple of days while we visit family. There probably won't be any blogs until we resume travelling....