Day Thirty-nine

Day thirty-nine and the heat wave is still on!  We went to Akron this afternoon for the Soap Box Derby World Championships.  It was the last day of a week long event, and it was cool to see the cars in action!  This was the first time any of us have seen them in person.  Of course, we had the standard fair food for lunch, and lots of cold drinks and slushies to fight off the heat.  We even sat under our umbrellas to try to cool off a little!  A few hours was enough for us, so we headed back to the coach.

Sam and Buster had a good run in the dog park when we got back, and Sam gravitated toward the playground after.  He later had some new friends he just met come by to play with him for a while.  I used the time to catch up on my blog!  J

Day Thirty-eight

Day thirty-eight and we were on the road, heading to the Country Acres Campground outside of Ravenna, Ohio.  This is about twenty-five miles from Akron and about sixty-five miles south of Cleveland.  What a beautiful campground!  As soon as we pulled in, a man we had met in Clarksboro at the campground came up to greet us!  What a small world!  The couple running the office at this campground also knew Madeira Beach, and said they had a place in Largo, FL.  We have met someone at almost every campground who either lives in Florida part-time or has family that lives in Pinellas County.

This campground has a pool, a nice dog park, big playground, canoe rentals and a lake/river, and a jumping pillow!  Sam is a happy camper!  J  We saw some rain action for the first time in days, and even some thunderstorms came through.

Day Thirty-seven

Day thirty-seven and we had the first run of the day on the Jet Boat Tours!  We wanted to sit in the front row, but they won’t allow anyone under twelve years old and under 100 pounds in the first three rows – boo!  Didn’t matter – we got SOAKED anyway!  What a GREAT time!  I would HIGHLY recommend this one for everyone!  We did some 360 degree “Hamilton Turns” and went a few times down some class five rapids – awesome!!  Now I want to go whitewater rafting!  J

That afternoon, we decided to go back to the Canadian side to view the falls from there, as they have the best view. 

We drove around for a while before deciding to park in town and then walking down.  It has been about ten years since we last drove down by the falls in Canada, and things have changed.  We walked down to Table Rock and went on the Journey Behind the Falls to get up close and personal!  It was pretty cool, but we liked the Cave of the Winds better!

After a long walk back to Clifton Hill, we went to the Fun House and Crystal Caves, then Sam went back to Bronto’s Adventure Playland for a while (while Jim and I went to a cold beer playland next door again).  The bartender there said the heat index was being reported at fifty degrees celcius which he said equates to roughly 120 degrees farenheit.  Whew!  No wonder business seemed slow!

A stop at Boston Pizza for some food, and we played some Galaxy Golf, which was mini golf in the dark, and then toured Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  At that, we bid a fond farewell to Niagara Falls, for we were on the road tomorrow for another destination.  Just to show how quiet it was due to the heat wave, there was NO line at the border.  That was a first!

Day Thirty-six

Day thirty-six we got an early start because we wanted to hike along the river before the heat of the day.  We went back to the Discovery Gorge Center and hiked along some cool trails that were mostly shady (whew!).  Buster got to go along with us on this one.  At the beginning of the walk, he was leading the way, and on the way back, he was walking behind us.  Guess that was a sign that he was tired, eh?!

We went back to the coach to cool down and relax for a while, then went to Lockport to go on the Lockport Locks and Cave Tour.  We learned a little history about the Erie Canal and the locks system, viewing the Flight of Five, which were the old original locks built in the 1840’s.  The guide said that boats would line up at this area for over a month sometimes to get through the locks, there was so much boat traffic.  The new locks handle the traffic much quicker, and this is the largest elevation change in the system at 49.1 feet.

The cave tour portion took us through a manmade tunnel that had been dug beside the canal and under three plants that used the diversion of water to operate water wheels for providing power to their plants.  The first portion of the tour was on foot, and the last portion of the tour was on a boat.  Very cool and informative tour!  We made a quick stop at the Erie Canal Museum located right there on the locks on the way out of town.

 

Day Thirty-five

Day thirty-five we went back to Niagara Falls to tour all the places in our Adventure Pass booklet.  We started with the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, which showed a lot of the history of the falls, and some of the power plants, etc. that had been there in the past. 

There was a cool silent film shot around the turn of the century by some visitors, and it was interesting to see their vehicles and period dress.  Their faces had the same expressions as ours did when they saw the power of the falls.  There was a cool interactive display that showed what the area was like thousands of years ago and how the falls had moved over the years.  Sam really enjoyed that one.

Next, we walked over the bridge to visit the Aquarium, and saw a variety of fresh water species of fish and invertebrates.  There was an outdoor tank that housed a few harbor seals that were rescue animals, and they would only poke their heads out of the water long enough to take a breath because of the heat. 

A lady had a hot dog stand at the exit, and was the only lunch available, so she had a brisk business!  We helped her out.  J

Our Adventure Pass included free rides on the trolley bus all day, so we hopped aboard for a ride to the Observation Tower and the Maid of the Mist.  The heat wave was still upon us, and everyone else thought a ride on the trolley would be cooler, too.  Not so much.

We checked out the view from the Observation Tower that extends out over the Niagara River – you can actually view both the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls from there.  It was a good view, but the stiff breeze was magnificent!  Ahhhhh!

The elevator at the Observation Tower takes you down to board the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat tour that takes you right up to the Niagara Falls.  We got our ponchos and boarded the boat.  It was exhilarating!  Talk about feeling the power of Mother Nature!!  Woo-hoo!

After squeezing back onto the trolley bus, we decided to call it a day, and headed into town to look for a place to eat.  The Canadian side is cram packed with everything, resembling Times Square in its ferocity.  The American side – dead as a doornail.  We drove around and finally found a TGIFriday’s at a Sheraton, right across the street from the casino.  The American side needs to compete for business!

Day Thirty-four

Day thirty-four was a travel day, and we left Sned Acres Campground and the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail area for Niagara Falls.  We opted to stay at a small campground/motel in Grand Island called Cinderella Motel and Campground.  It was small with no amenities, but it was only four miles from Niagara Falls, so we liked the location.

 

Since this was a short trip, we went to the falls that afternoon.  We drove to Goat Island, and walked around to explore the falls – awe inspiring and beautiful, as always!  They are currently selling a package of tickets for several of the attractions for a savings off the regular rates, so we bought that to check out the sights. 

We planned on going to most of the attractions the next day, but we did manage to go to the Cave of the Winds that afternoon.  What a cool way to get really close to the falls!  They give you a poncho to wear, but also some sandals to change into, so you KNOW you are going to get wet!  Sam had a blast, and we all got good and wet – really refreshing during this heat wave.

After this, we decided to head over to the Canadian side to check out the tourist attractions for the evening.  This was Sam’s first trip to Canada, so he was full of questions as we stopped at the border to present our passports and answer the customs agent’s questions.  “Why did he ask us that?  Why did he want to see me?  Why did he look at the back of the car?”  J

Sam had talked about the Mystery Maze all afternoon after seeing it advertised in a magazine, so that was first on the list!  We also toured the Guinness World Records Museum (Sam has one of those books and is constantly reading it aloud to us), and we also went to the Bronto Adventure Playland, where Sam played with some ball shooting cannons for about an hour-and-a-half.  Luckily, there was a restaurant right next door with an outdoor bar, so Jim and I had a couple of cold beers while waiting and keeping an eye on Sam! 

We took a break from the heat at the Boston Pizza to have a bite to eat and watch some baseball games.  Sam played a few games in the arcade they had there, and I thought the bowling alley looked inviting, but wasn’t up to it on a full stomach.  We then finished up the evening with trip on the Sky Wheel to get a view of the falls at night while it was lit up – pretty cool!  Sam was asleep in the car before we even passed through customs at the border, and we didn’t make it back to the coach until 11:00 pm.

Day Thirty-three

Day thirty-three took us hiking!  We went to Robert H. Tremen State Park in Ithaca, NY.  They have a beautiful gorge with a five mile round trip trail hike to the top – gorgeous river views, waterfalls, and LOTS of steps! 

We were on the lookout for wildlife along the way, and I did see one garter snake.  It was a really good workout, and we all needed it!  J  Unfortunately, my camera battery died before we got to the most beautiful part of the gorge and Lucifer Falls – arrrgh!  The hike to the top is definitely worth the trip!

There is also a cool swimming area at the park, with a diving board and a waterfall to hang out under.  Jim and Sam went swimming after the long, hot hike, but the water temperature was only 65 degrees.  Sam got cold after about twenty minutes, but it was refreshing!