Stop and Pay Toll (bring lots of money)

Day 41 Grand Island NY to Lake George NY 375 Miles

(would have been shorter, but we took a 'scenic drive')

Sunday June 7, 2009

Family of geese at the KOA Niagara Falls

Woke up to cloudy skies, as predicted. No big deal, it's a traveling day and most will be on the New York Thruway, I90. Should be called the New York Screw-way. We checked the card at the toll booth and saw that we couldn't get off this highway without giving them our firstborn and a pint of blood. Our firstborn eats too much and we're both on medications that eliminate us from blood donations, so they settled for a mere $42.00. Aren't they wonderful?

We stopped along the highway at a service center for lunch. As we were leaving I stopped to pick up a Sunday Newspaper. I gave the guy $5 and he informed me that the paper was $6. WHAT?!! I decided real quick that I didn't want to read it THAT much...I mean, I'm only going to throw it away in a couple of hours!

While heading east along the highway, we were traveling along the same route as the Erie Canal. I can remember being 5 or 6 years old an playing some kiddie songs, 78rpm, on the wind-up Victrola (Man, I'm really dating myself here!) . One of the songs that I would play over and over was 'Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal'. I just 'Googled' it and was surprised to see most versions say 'fifteen miles'. I was sure it was fifteen years...apparently the kiddie version did say that. Lyrics. What a huge endeavor at the time. They dug this 363 mile canal, from the Hudson River to Lake Erie with shovels!

After we left the highway we decided we'd take a 'scenic' route around Sacandaga Lake on country roads to Lake George. And thus began our very own one hour episode of *LOST*

We actually knew where we were, just couldn't get oriented. The country roads have unmarked intersections, the locals know where they are, so why put any signs up? Poor Tom Tom was trying to get us back to the shortest route to Lake George...'Turn left, then turn left, Turn around when possible!, over and over. But Jim wouldn't listen. I wasn't much better with the map. The map had state routes, but not these county roads. Plus, we were right in the middle of the crease on the atlas where the pages meet (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it) and it was even harder to read. Jim was getting really pissed off....he'd been driving for over 300 miles already, and you have to remember that when we're towing the Jeep we can't back up and you need a LOT of room to make a u-turn. I was pretty sure we were going in the wrong direction, but with the solid cloud cover, I couldn't get my bearings from the sun. I pointed this out to Jim, who told me I was wrong. Then I noticed Tom Tom (who had been silenced) had the destination mileage going UP and not down. Then I did something that really freaked Jim out...

In May of 1976 we took our first cross country trip with the kids. My dad, who had been a boy scout and a very careful person, took me aside before we left and pressed a pocket compass into my hand. I laughed at him, "Dad, what the heck is this for?" He told me it was in case we got lost. I informed him that there were plenty of road signs that would tell me which direction I was headed. But he insisted...just to be safe. And I listened and put the compass in my purse. It must have made an impression on me because I have been carrying a compass with me ever since...just to be safe. I'm sure I'm probably the only woman on planet earth who has been carrying a compass with her for 33 years.

So with Jim cursing and Tom Tom pleading and reconfiguring at every intersection, I reached down to the bottom of my purse and pulled out...*The Compass*. Jim looked at across at me with horror, "What? What have you got there? THE compass? You're looking at THE compass???...Put that THING away!" Must have really scared the crap out of him, in all our years of traveling I'd never gone for THE compass.

Just as I put it away, we re-entered a little village that we'd 'visited' 15 minutes or so earlier. Me and Tom Tom had pretty well figured out how to get back on 'normal' roads but Jim insisted on asking the first human he saw where he had room to pull far enough off the tiny roads not to get killed.

We rounded a corner and spotted an elderly couple having a yard sale (I think every third house up here has a weekend yard sale) and he got out of the RV to ask how to get back to highway 29. He returned to the RV with easy directions and laughing. He said that he thought that the couple was going to get into a brawl, each insisting that their version was the correct way back to the highway.

So we spent an hour going in circles, but gained some fun memories....yeah, it's funny now.

A half hour later we were pulling into the Lake George RV Resort, three miles from the village. Very nice place. We're finding that so many places are near empty that we can bargain a little for price. Still, it's $50 per night.

We settled, then went for some groceries in town. Jim wanted some ice cream. We were walking down the aisle trying to decide, when we both spotted something at the same second. Friendly Ice Cream! Then we both said, "Maple Walnut!!!" together. See, Friendly's is a regional creamery that we both fondly remember from RI, but to find it in a WalMart freezer was quite a surprise...AND maple walnut is NOT available in the south. I even emailed Edy's once and they said it was a region specific flavor. Who knew?

Our evening was complete, we knew where we were and we had maple walnut ice cream!

Tomorrow we'll do some touristy stuff here in Lake George, the weather is supposed to be great!

Niagara Falls! Slowly I Turn....

Day 40 Geneva on the Lake OH to Grand Island NY
165 miles

Saturday June 6, 2009

The weather was fantastic again today as we left the Lake Erie area. We took RT531 which is the part of the Lake Erie Circle Tour. We passed mile after mile of vineyards and wineries. I don’t remember quite so many vineyards on earlier trips. At one point I90 rose on a bluff and we could look to the north at Lake Erie. The lake stretches for a far as the eye can see, hard to believe it’s a LAKE and NOT the ocean.Eventually we moved south to US20 and then to I90 for the rest of the day’s trip northeast toward Erie Pa, Buffalo NY and finally the Niagara Falls area.

We arrived in the area of the Falls early, around 2:30pm. We settled on the KOA here on Grand Island. It’s only about a ten minute drive Niagara Falls. It was early enough for us to go visit both sides of the the American and Canadian Falls.

On the US side looking toward the Canadian Horseshoe Falls


First, we went to the American side, and to the left side Goat Island and Three Sisters Island. We’ve never viewed the falls from this side before and we appreciated the different perspective and the beauty of the state park. There were hundreds of people there today. I’m sure the delightful late spring weather had a lot to do with it.


The American Falls

Norman wanted to come along, he saw the American side...
And the Canadian...(shhhhh, no passport!)

We then got in the car and drove over the bridge, crossed the border and visited the Canadian Falls. That side is more built up and geared to tourism. There were even more people there! By this time, the sun was getting lower providing us with a spectacular rainbow.

The mist was blowing UP, we got soaked

Now, THEY really got wet!

When we came back over the bridge to the US side, the agent who checked our passports and asked us where we were from in South Carolina. Seems he came from an area between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington NC. We mentioned that Jim’s mom had lived in Carolina Beach NC (small town) and the agent knew the town well and has family there. He also knew Jim’s uncle! Small world, eh? Yes, I put the ‘eh’ there for the Canadian effect…


We ran back to the RV to take care of the dogs and then ‘tried’ to go out for some dinner. Bad idea. There’s really nothing except fast food here near the KOA, so we decided to head toward the bigger city, Buffalo. Apparently no one eats out here. We did see a busy seafood restaurant, Harry’s, on the Niagara River, but couldn’t find an off ramp to get to it. So we continued on…until we were almost in downtown Buffalo. Jim took the exit to try to turn around and get back on in the other direction. Nope. The other ramp was closed down. This left us in the middle of the ghetto…no, ghetto is too nice a word. It was more of a crack house/garbage/boarded up sort of neighborhood. And we couldn’t find out way back to the Interstate without getting further into it. Finally, I saw a sign that read, ‘downtown’ and told Jim to head that way, at least we’d have a point of reference. There was also a bridge, we could have taken, but it was clearly marked to Canada and they would have just turned us around because we no longer had our passports with us.

From downtown we did manage manage to find our 190 north on-ramp and head back in the direction that we’d come from. Now we decided to head the other way toward Niagara Falls to find a place to eat. We weren’t being terribly fussy…a Chili’s or Friday’s would have fit the bill. We drove all the way to the falls, touristy/hotel area…and we STILL can’t find anywhere to eat! By now we’re getting quite hungry. We did see a few places to eat, but every one was for Indian cuisine and we don’t care for Indian.

We turned back toward the KOA, and I told Jim to try ONE more road, toward Tonawanda…the only direction we hadn’t tried. So we drove, and drove and saw only residential neighborhoods. Don’t these people eat out? Then we saw a sign for a ‘shopping mall’…aha! There are always out parcels around malls. Except when the mall is closed….as in ‘shut down’. BUT…there was a small grocery store there. I asked Jim to stop and we could grab some grape jelly and a loaf of bread (already had peanut butter at the RV) and we could have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…which by now, was sounding REAL good.

We’d been driving for almost TWO hours. I was starting to feel like we were in a Chevy Chase vacation movie! But you know what? The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were GREAT!

Tomorrow, heading toward the Adirondacks and maybe the Lake George area. We have many pleasant memories of that area from when the kids were little and always try to stop there if we’re near. Last time, in 2003 we hit town the same weekend as a HUGE motorcycle week. Everything was full and we ended up in Saratoga Springs…which was nice too.

So tomorrow, north and then east toward New England!

Day 39 Richmond IN to Geneva on the Lake OH
300 Miles

Friday, June 5, 2009

KOA in Richmond IN on a beautiful early June morning.

Brilliant sunshine and cool when we left the KOA in Richmond. It’s probably a very nice place in full season, but over-priced at $40 this time of year. There were fewer than ten spaces filled last night

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We took I70 to I270 around Columbus then I71 to I271 around Cleveland then to I90 for a few miles to US20 for the last 30 miles. Ooooh, bad idea, the road is the main business area, with narrow lanes and traffic lights every block…took awhile to do that last 30.

Finding a campsite is a little different in the northern part of the country. Most are seasonal and basically set up for summer vacationers. We stayed in. or near, this town on another trip, it may even have been as far back as 1991. The Campground we are at is very large and well cared for. Most of the spaces are extended stays and I’m sure many of the families have been returning here for years. We are across the road from Lake Erie with beach access.

A beach on Lake Erie looking West

Looking East on Lake Erie


This is a beautiful area on the shores of Lake Erie. After we got settled, it was still early, so we took a ride along the shore. We headed toward Ashtabula. There are some gorgeous homes on the shore of the lake. I was enjoying the spring blooms. Irises certainly do well here! I also spotted some clematis vines that almost made me cry with envy they were so full of spectacular blooms. Mine struggle so in the heat, I was jealous. The sun was so bright today that all the colors were brilliant….the trees and the lawns were so green!

Iris near a small park on the harbor in Ashtabula Ohio

Jim saying hello to 'Sara' in Ashtabula. Dogs know...

The state of the economy is also very evident in this part of the country. Obviously, this is an area impacted by problems in the auto industry. We have seen many closed businesses.

Our campsite is by (what they call ) the ‘lake’. It’s a pond. There’s a bunch of Canadian geese, domestic geese, ducks and one swan. We bought a quarter’s worth of feed for them. Aggressive critters, those geese…

The dogs check out the geese at Indian Creek Campground

Tomorrow we are heading east toward Buffalo.

We may visit Niagara Falls. We have not been there since 1991. I’m sure it hasn’t changed much!