bobanddenisewanderlust

Saturday – We slept in again this morning, ate breakfast, then we worked on the ceiling of the big slide.

Since it had the leak, we cleaned the carpet on the ceiling. Bob had done some outside repair to fix the issue, but we wanted to get rid of the stain on the ceiling before it became permanent.

We ate lunch at the resort, having some pretty good hamburgers. There was also a craft show, as it was their Corn Roast weekend. We returned to the MH and did some more work around the MH, including laundry.

We went to the ice cream social at around 2:30 and enjoyed some vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. We sat out enjoying the weather until the sky started to cloud over. Most of the rain stayed to the north and traveled east, so we had stayed dry.

At 5:30, we went back over and had BBQ sandwiches for dinner, with BBQ corn and coleslaw. It was pretty good. The resort was also hosting a band, but we were tired, so we stayed in.

Sunday– I woke up when we had a thunderstorm at around 1 AM. I jumped up and checked the slide, and sure enough, it was still leaking. So I pushed towels up into the corner and hoped for the best. I finally fell asleep around 2. Bob checked it when we got up at around 7:30.

The rain had cleared out and we drove out of the park at around 10:30. We traveled back to I-90 and drove northeast to Niagara Falls. The drive was only about two and a half hours, but there was an accident on I-90, and that added about an hour to our trip. We could see Lake Erie in the distance as we traveled along the interstate.

We had reservations at 4 Mile Creek State Park. We usually do not stay in state parks because they are expensive, but it was less expensive than the other RV parks in the area. We paid  $65 for two nights. Other places were $75 for one night. We only had 50amp electric, but what a view! We could see Lake Ontario from the motor home! Now we have seen all five Great Lakes this trip!

 

Monday- We left the park a little after 9AM and drove to Niagara Falls. Along the way we stopped at the Devils Hole State Park. From there we could see the huge power plant and the post falls rapids.

We continued on towards Niagara Falls and stopped at Whirlpool State Park. This park was larger and had two walkways.

On the Canadian side was this Aerial tram traveling over the whirlpool. The whirlpool was large and prior to the pool  were class  6 rapids, below.

We stopped for gas at a little gas station, right near the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, $3.87/gal.

Since we were staying in the state park, we had free parking at any NY state park, including Niagara Falls State Park.

We had arrived early, which meant we had a nice, close parking space. Just as we walked into the area my phone rang. It was the Credit Union calling about possible fraud. No fraud, they just didn’t like the little gas station where we had bought gas.

We purchased tickets for the trolley ($2 ea.) and jumped on the next trolley.

The trolley trip is 30 minutes long, and goes to all the sites. We got off on the far side of the falls and bought our tickets for the Maid of the Mist. Bob has never been to Niagara Falls before, so Maid of the Mist was a must do! ($17 each)

We went out onto the Tower,

and looked at the falls,

 

then took the elevator down to the river. They give you these blue ponchos to wear.

We waited in line. When the line started to move, the folks ahead of us all ran up to the upper decks.

We stayed on the entrance deck and found two spots right on bow of the boat. What a great spot to get soaked!

The boat ride is 25 minutes and it really was into the falls. The falls cause their own wind, and it kept blowing water up my sleeve. Fortunately I managed not to get the camera wet. Bob did better with keeping his hat dry, under the poncho.

Above is the American Falls. Below the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

We literally rode up into the mist, close to the falls, where the mist really got us wet. We were glad that it was a sunny, warm day! You can see the turbulence in the water. Below is the American Falls on the return trip. Note the falls to the right. That is Bridal Veil Falls.

After the ride, we went to get on the trolley again but the line was too long, so we went to lunch in the Visitor Center café. Bob had a burger and I had the BBQ pork. They were expensive at $8.95 each but were actually pretty good.

We walked to a different trolley site and were able to get seats in the back row. They took us out to the Discovery Center, where everyone else on the Trolley exited. We moved to a two person seat and rode back around to the Cave of the Winds. What a waste of time and money that was! They do not allow you into the cave. ($12 ea.). They also give you a poncho and this time you are also given some sandals.They would not let us wear our waterproof shoes.

The Cave of the Winds is behind Bridal Veil Falls. We went down in the elevator, got wet and returned up to the top, recycling our ponchos and sandals.

We returned to the car and drove to the Three Sister Island and walked out across the first two islands to the third one.

The islands were named for a War of 1812 hero veteran’s daughters who he took to visit the islands. Below are the rapids, between island one  and two.

We left and returned to the MH. We walked the dogs and worked on a few more items. Bob wanted to check and fix the large slide when it was not raining.

We ate dinner, then at 8, we left to go back to look at the falls with the night time lights on them. The low tire light went off on the car, so we drove to the first gas station we could find. Bob paid the $1 and put air into the tire. It was at 25 and needed to be at 30, so he put in 40. We still had free parking and we took the dogs with us this time. We could see the lights, but not very well.

We returned to the MH and went to bed.

Tuesday- We left the state park and drove north on Hwy 18. We were driving on the Niagara Scenic Route and the Great Lakes Scenic road.  We passed through apple orchards with red ripe apples, corn fields and forest on the right and Lake Ontario on the left. Some of the time we were driving right next to the water and some times there were houses between us and the water, but we could still see the lake.

We stopped to check the tire and it was at 30. Okay, it had lost 10 pounds. We stopped again, and it was 28, so we disconnected the car and I pulled the car up next to the MH. Bob filled the tire again up to 40 and we kept on traveling.

Our original plan was to take NY 18 to I-390, go one exit to NY 104 and continue east. Since there were not a lot of places to stop on that route, we decided to change plans and to continue on I-390 to I- 490, driving through Rochester NY and taking the NY Thruway, I-90, east. This way we had rest areas to stop at to check the tire.(tolls $12.90)

We stopped for lunch and the tire was doing okay at 35, so we kept going. We continued through Syracuse to I-81 north. Our destination was Bass Lake Resort ($10 RPI).

Their park map was pretty lousy, as were their signs, but we finally found our site. It was too hard to get into and I ended up calling the desk and they changed us to another site. It was really hard to get into also, as the ground was saturated. This caused us to sink in the mud, causing us to produce huge ruts in the ground, ruining their grass. They also let folks put up lawn decorations, which we had to keep trying to avoid. We finally got backed into the second site and were setting up when one of the workers showed up and asked Bob if he needed help with parking. Bob said to him, yea, 20 minutes ago! This was the most trouble we have ever had trying to get into a site. We are pretty good at this, since we do it so often!

They ended up bringing in a backhoe to fix the mess we made. We felt bad until Bob walked the dogs and found other areas with the same problem. One of the park residents said to us that they had been having real problems with parking today! Guess they really need to do something in this RV park to make it easier to park an RV, starting with keeping folks from putting lawn ornaments right up against the narrow road.

Bob took the CRV to a local shop called Dave’s and had them put a plug in the tire. It took him a little less than an hour round trip to get this done, $10, although he said it took them awhile to find the hole in the tread.

Wednesday- We drove out of the park without any issues, connected the CRV and continued on our way. The tire seemed to be doing well all day.

We drove north to Watertown, then turned onto Hwy. 11. Hwy. 11 was a nice two lane road with wide shoulders. Today we drove through dairy farms with some gardens, but no more corn fields or orchards.

We turned left in Malone, and drove 9 miles to Bubbling Brook RV Park, $33 river front.

We set up camp and went back to Malone, stopping at the Dairy Queen for some ice cream. What a mess! It was brand new, and must have just opened on Saturday. The place was mobbed. We were able to get a parking space and walked in to a long line. We ordered, waiting for our Mini Blizzards, after we found the last booth available. We left and went to Aldi’s and Walmart.

We returned to the MH and BBQ’d chicken for dinner. We sat out in our recliners, watching the Salmon River and enjoying the view.

Thursday- We left around 9:15 and went back down Hwy. 37 to Hwy. 11 and continued our journey. We drove through a number of small towns, then into Champlain NY, a pretty little town.

We crossed the bridge over Lake Champlain, going from New York to Vermont, surprised that it was not a toll bridge. We stopped at the Visitor Center and the lady there gave us a map of the Lighthouses in the area. Since we were running early, we decided to stop and visit two of the lighthouses on the Lake Champlain Islands. Our first one was back about 2 miles, where we turned and went out to Windmill Lighthouse.

Established 1858, the lighthouse has an octagonal tower of rough-hewn blue limestone blocks, an iron lantern with trapezoid panes and a passageway connected  it to a Cape Cod style keeper’s quarters. This station replaced one of the many old private lights with a new sixth order Fresnel optic. It’s fixed white light in the 40 ft. tower created a focal plain, 52 ft. above the lakes surface that made it visible for 13 miles.

Unfortunately, this was on private property! So this was as close as we could get. We retreated and drove to the next lighthouse, Isle La Motte Lighthouse. We traveled about 7 miles off the highway, then turned onto Lighthouse Rd, which dead ended at the bottom of a hill, with a rope and flags crossing the road, not letting us get to the lighthouse. So much for the lady at the Visitor Center!

We turned around and went back the way we came, off of Lighthouse Road. The Shrine of St. Anne was just a little further, so we went there.

There was nothing listed about the Shrine, but there was this outdoor church, with the 11:15 Mass in progress.

Not wanting to disturb the Mass, we turned the car around and left.

We returned to the MH parked at the Visitor Center and ate lunch. Then we hooked up the CRV to the back of the MH, drove through the town of Alburg, and stopped at a Mobile station/truck stop for diesel. $3.87/gal. A lot less than the $4.25 in NY. Thank you Gas Buddy!

We turned onto Hwy. 78 and followed that to I-89. We drove south on I-89 to Hwy 104, through the countryside of Vermont. Then we turned onto Hwy. 15, taking that into the town of Hyde Park, where we turned onto Centerville road and proceeded to friends Nancy and Dave Shambaugh’s beautiful home. Dave is working out of his home, so he directed us to where he wanted us to park the MH, then went back to work. We are parked on hard gravel with 30 amp electric. Perfect!

The dogs love it here, as they can run free. Here they are playing on the front lawn! We have to watch them closely, as there are larger animals who would want the dogs for dinner.

Nancy arrived home from work at around 5:45 Nancy’s niece Julia is staying with them for a few weeks and we took Nancy and Julia for a tour of the MH.We ate dinner and sat talking until around 10:30.

Friday- We took showers in the house, then Dave and Nancy cooked us a nice breakfast.

We left to go to Jay Peak Ski Resort. We walked around the resort looking at the changes. They now have new hotels and a nice indoor water park.

It was fun to see ski trails we have skied in the past without snow. Interesting to look at what we were skiing over! There were a lot of changes at the resort since we were last here in 2009.

We went to lunch in the town of Newport, right on Lake Memphrongog, looking across the lake at Canada Below is a picture of Julia Davis( Nancy’s niece) and Nancy Shambaugh.

We returned to the Shambaugh’s and played Mexican Trail until around 10:30.

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