Road Trip - Day 8 - October 16

Woke up today and the sun is shining!!  We have had rain for the last 2 days.  They were filming in the park in front of our hotel.  We walked over and found out from Barrel Man (a guy in a barrel suite) that it was a TV show like the Amazing Race (one of our favorites) called Cache Craze only the contestants were children.


We went on a behind the Falls tour.  It was a tunnel built in 1903 that had 3 lookouts where you could see the falls pouring down. 

 

A couple of interesting facts we learned was that the Falls are on the Niagara river which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.  Another fact was that there has been only one person who has accidently gone over the falls, a 7 year old boy who was in a boating accident.  He had on just a life jacket and a swimsuit when he went over and was rescued by one of the Lady of the Mist boats that take tourists close to the falls.  He was uninjured.  His sister was rescued before going over.  

Lady of the Mist

Here are just a few of the pictures we took at the Falls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Headed back to the U.S. and got to New York (the Empire State) about 12:30.  We are traveling east through Northern New York.  We stopped in East Syracuse, NY because our car needs maintenance light had come on so we decided to have it serviced.  It took a little while, so we just decided to stay there for the night.  We had traveled 180 miles. 

 

We went to dinner at the Dinosaur Barbeque that was recommended by one of the workers at the service shop.  Best barbequed ribs I have ever had.  The restaurant was pretty laid back ambience, but it was packed.  

 

Road Trip - Day 7- Oct 15

Before heading out, we went to a laundromat in Parry Sound, Canada.  We had to go to the bank to get loonies ($1) and toonies ($2) coins for the machine.  At the bank we saw a line that was a "Business Wicket" and found out that a wicket is the place where a customer performs a transaction (in other words, a line).  After getting our laundry done, we left Parry Sound and headed to Niagara Falls. 

Along the way, we stopped at a town called "Bradford"  which of course, reminded me of my daughter and grandkids.  Sure do miss them.

Since arriving in Canada we have seen some fast food places called "Tim Hortons".  Because we had never seen one before Canada we decided to try one out for lunch.  The menu consisted of toasted sandwiches comparable to Quiznos.  We saw they had combos so we ordered one.  It wasn't frys or Chips and a drink, it was any flavor of coffee and a donut!!  Pretty good!!

We needed gas so we took a Toronto exit.  Wow!!  Gas in Toronto was $1.27 per liter or about $4.84 per gallon. 

In Canada we traveled on the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way).  We went on a bridge over Lake Ontario.  It was called the Skyway because it was high enough for ships to pass under.  We saw lots of factories along the shore. 

Along the way we passed about 40 winerys.  A couple of the more interesting names were the Organized Crime Winery and the Foreign Affair Winery. 

We drove 243 miles today and arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada.  We stayed in the Sheraton in a falls view room.  When we open the window, we can hear the roar of the falls.  We can also see the US side of the falls.  Here are just a few pictures from our room. 

Horseshoe Falls



American Falls

Both - American on the left and Horseshoe on the right

Panoramic view -  US is just over the bridge, American Falls, and Horseshoe Falls

Our Hotel

Road Trip - Day 6 - Oct 14

Left hotel in Sault Ste Marie and gassed up since the hotel clerk said gas in Canada is over $5 a gallon. 

When going from Michigan to Canada we had to cross a toll bridge ($3) that went over St. Mary's river which separates the US from Canada.  Both sides are Sault Ste Marie.  We headed East towards Sudbury, Canada.  The scenery was beautiful.  Lots of trees in all their fall colors, yellow, reds, browns and golds.  It was too rainy to take pictures. 

Stayed in Parry Sound, Canada and on the recommendation of the desk clerk, ate at Wellington's Pub and Grill.   

Today we were in one state, Michigan and two countries, the U.S. and Canada. 

Drove a total of 302 miles. 

Road Trip - Day 5 - Oct 13

We left the motel in Wisconsin and headed to Canada.  Along the way we noticed that the rest areas in Wisconsin were called waysides and all of them were closed.  We stopped in Armstrong Creek, Wisconsin for a potty break.  The place we stopped at was a gas station, a bank, and a grocery store all in one.  It even had a bear processing shop.

 

Got to Michigan (the Great Lake State) about noon. The first town we got to in Michigan was Norway.

 

 

 

 

 We took at potty break at the Island Casino and Resort, Bark River Michigan. We commented that we didn't need to come all this way for a casino, so we just got back in the car and left. 

 

Rest areas in Michigan are called road side parks.  We saw a Bob's Big  Boy in Manistique, Michigan.  Haven't seen one of these in a long time.  It brought back memories. 

 

About 20 miles from Canada we saw snow on the side of the road.  First snow we have seen so far. 

 

We stopped for the night and stayed in Sault Ste. Marie (Sault is pronounced soo), Michigan about 5 miles from Canada.  It is the home of LSSU - Lake Superior State University. 

 

All in all, drove 330 miles today.  

 

 

Road Trip - Day 4-Oct 12

Went to the Mall of America in Minneapolis Minnesota.  The Mall is huge and has a whole amusement park on the bottom floor.  There is also an aquarium, a huge lego store, and over 400 total stores.  We got lost when we left and ended up taking the scenic drive into Wisconsin (America's Dairyland or the Badger State). 

Wisconsin was interesting.  They actually have streets that are not just numbers but have fractions also such as 16 1/2 street and 14 3/4 streets.  We drove through several unincorporated towns and mostly on a 2 lane hiway.  It seemed like every town had a bar.  Homes were all along the hiway and were set back from the road with great big front yards and dirt driveways. 

Decided to stay in Rhinelander, WI.  Went to a steak place, the Fireside Supper Club which was recommended by the desk clerk at the hotel.  While we were waiting for a table we sat at a bar.  It was so weird to see little kids sitting at the bar too.

We drove a total of 271 miles today and were in 2 states, Minnesota and Wisconsin

Country Road - Rhinelander WI

Road Trip Day 3 - October 11

Left Kearney Nebraska at about 9:00.  We stopped in the little town of Aurora, Nebraska for breakfast at the Early Riser Cafe.  This reminded me of Jessie's in it's haydays.  There were the same older farmers sitting around having coffee and the same older waitress taking care of everybody (very good waitress, though)

Eastern Nebraska was much prettier than Western Nebraska. There were a lot more trees and it was not so flat.  Along the way, we saw a town named "Henderson". 

We crossed over to Iowa about 12:30.  In Iowa we went past the Rolling Hills wind farm which had about 190 windmills.  It is the largest wind farm in Iowa which has a total of 12 wind farms.  We also drove past Desoto Iowa which was the birthplace of John Wayne (Made me think of Mike Braegger who would have been excited about that.) 

We then entered Minnesota about 4:39. 

We stayed the night in Faribault, MN which is about 50 miles south of Minneapolis. 

Today we were in 3 states Nebraska (The Cornhusker State), Iowa (The Hawkeye State), and Minnesota (Land of 10,000 Lakes)  According to the internet there are actually over 11,000 lakes in Minnesota. 

Another interesting tidbit of information is that not every state has a marker or sign saying you have entered their state.  You have to really watch the mile markers so you know when you enter a new state. 



Road Trip - Day 2 - Oct 10

Left Dillion/Silverthorne Colorado bright and early.  Because we had driven a lot of Colorado in the dark, we decided to backtrack for a few miles and see what we had missed.  Breckenridge and Copper Mountain ski resorts were beautiful.  After seeing these, we headed back towards Denver and got on to I-76.  Saw an interesting town named Lliff (I have no idea how to pronounce it, but according to the internet there was a man with that last name).   Once past Denver, no more mountains.  The road was flat and straight.  We then traveled through part of Nebraska (The Cornhusker State) and stopped for the night at Kearney, Nebraska.  Today we were in 2 states and traveled 470 Miles. 

Road Trip - Day One - Oct 10, 2012

Day One - October 10, 2012

Well, Mike and I are off on our big road trip. We left Mesquite at about 9:22 a.m. and it was 68 degrees outside. The first place we stopped was at the San Rafael Swell between Richfield and Green River on I-70.  Pretty Cool and something we really hadn't seen before. 

We drove from Mesquite to Dillion/Silverthorne (Dillion is on one side of I-70 and Silverthorne is on the other side) Colorado (about 90 miles west of Denver) for a total of 614 miles!!  The city of Dillon is close to a Dam so we ate at the Dam Brewery that night.    

During the first day of our trip, we were in 4 states, Nevada (The Silver State), Arizona (The Grand Canyon State), Utah (The Beehive State), and Colorado (the Centennial State). The drive from Grand Junction, Colorado to Denver was very pretty.  Mountains and ski resorts galore.  Along the way we saw an interesting town called "No Name, Colorado". Also along the way we stopped at a rest stop and ran into a couple who just purchased a home in Mesquite and were traveling to Denver for a birthday party.  

 



More Catching Up - Christmas 2011

We spent the Christmas holiday in Utah.   At the annual Wright family Christmas party, Emery and Lucy had a great time painting nails for all the ladies.  They were so cute and even made a couple of bucks to supplement their allowances.  We had a great time with family and friends and remembering those who are no longer with us on this earth.  We sure did miss Maggie, Keric, Boston, Melissa, Mark, Lily and Berkley and look forward to having them there next year.   We also missed Cami, Jeremy, Chloe and Mason and hope they are able to join us next year too.

Cindy, Smitty and Family

Shirley, Rudy and Family

Delaney, Bailey, Lacy and Gage

My Family

Little Mike, Cindy, Jackie, Mom, Shirley, Me and Hoke

Awesome picture of Lucy!!

Emery and Lucy.  So cute!!!

Mike, Jackie and Family

Emery and Lucy painting Grandma's nails

Walker (aka Wallyboy)

Dad's Grave

Mike's Grave

Emery performing Milton the Mouse at Grandpa Mike's grave

Jared's Grave

Christmas Day!!

Logan and Shane

Nikki

Missy

Cindy and Smitty

Rudy and Shirley

Little Mike 

Mom and Dad Henderson