Niagara Falls - Day 2

Niagara Falls Day 2

Nothing remarkable has happened yet, but I am excited to see Niagara Falls today!  I consider it an event of a lifetime!

I was first to the Drury breakfast, then Mike and Natalie joined me.  Natalie and I were laughing because Mike kept talking about sausage and coffee in his sleep last night.  Ironically, Mike didn’t like the sausage this morning and only ate a half of piece.  Who is this man, and where is my husband???

I commented that everyone was posting on Facebook that Garth Brooks was coming to Indy, and they were all excited about it.   Mike said he would be excited if Garth was coming to Indy this week.  I looked at him strangely.  He continued….Because I won’t be there.  Ha ha.

We were late leaving the Drury because a valet didn’t show up for work, so our car was held hostage until 9:34AM.  We left Cleveland, which Mike keeps calling “Cincinnati”.  As we were headed out of the city, Mike and Natalie were discussing the bumper sticker in front of them that said:  HONK if you have to poop!  I said, “Just go ahead and honk. I always have to go.”  So Mike honked and waved as we went around.  It was a young pretty girl driving.  She looked like she was trying to figure out what was wrong with her car as we went around.  It probably wasn’t her car, but rather her dad’s or brother’s.  It was good for a quick laugh.  She will figure it out later. Mike drove us out of the city, and once we were out of the city limits, Natalie jumped into the driver’s seat.  I was worried about Natalie driving today because the road is 4 lanes, the cars and semis are going very fast, and it is unfamiliar territory.  She said she wanted to drive, though.  Plus, that was what this trip was supposed to accomplish so…

Amazingly, the road does not seem as dangerous with Natalie going the speed limit.   Mike was driving fast as were all the cars around him.  There was lots of switching lanes going on, lots of testosterone and aggressiveness.  Now with gentle Natalie driving, it is calm and slower. 

More wasted time on the phone with Verizon this morning trying to figure out what was charged to the Verizon account and what is charged to the credit card.  Thank you Verizon for putting a rain cloud on our vacation.  No one can help us figure out the charges.  The charges don’t add up to the totals they charged. 

Finally made it to Buffalo, NY.  We ate lunch at a very dirty, very stinky, disgusting Wendy’s. 

Then we found the bed and breakfast, put our stuff in the room, and parked the car.

We walked down to the Maid of the Mist.  The neighborhood we walked through was bad, bad, bad.

Niagara Falls - Day 1

Niagara Falls.  This one is Natalie’s trip. 

There are several reasons for this.  To start with, Natalie and I have always wanted to go to Niagara Falls.  It is at the top of our “Wouldn’t it be great to see…..” list.  The second compelling reason is that Natalie could have attained her driver’s license in July, but because we had two teen drivers, the older took precedence.  Her brother, Harrison, was leaving for college in August and would have limited driving opportunities, so we let him drive most of the time.  When Harrison was working on getting his driver’s license, we went on a 6 week trip around the western U.S.  He got 50 hours of driving in the first week!  So this trip to Niagara Falls, if Natalie can drive most of the way, will bring her almost to the required hours of driving.  The biggest reason we are leaving though is to take the sting out of dropping our son off at Indiana University for his freshman year of college.  In our family, we take “family” seriously.  Ha ha.  It is really going to be tough on us to leave part of our family 3 hours away. It also signifies a changing of the times.  Yes, we will see him again, but it will be a new era in our family.  The dynamics will have changed.  Harrison and Natalie have always grown up almost like they are twins so it is going to be tough on Natalie to lose Harrison to Indiana University.

Side story about being like twins:  Mike is recently working with a guy he worked with when the kids were little.  He mentioned that we took Harrison to IU last weekend.  Darren asked what Natalie was doing.  Mike said that she was still in high school.  Darren said that he thought they were twins!  Case in point. 

I am excited to see the falls because it is a classic scenic getaway that people have been drawn to since the days of the American Indian’s reign.  I love history.  I especially love Indiana history.  The Francis Slocum story is an intriguing tale.  Because people didn’t know they were making history at the time they lived and due to it happening in the native culture, there wasn’t much written down about Francis’s story. The story of Francis being kidnapped from her Quaker family in Pennsylvania by the natives and eventually ending up in Indiana was only mentioned in Indiana History books.  It was enough of a teaser to make a fourth grade student want to know more of the details.   Several years ago, I read James Alexander Thom’s carefully researched  Red Heart. Oh,my!  What a great story!  When I read about the day Francis’s mother watched the Indian warriors slaughter a few family members and steal Francis and her cousin (I think it was her cousin) in retaliation to a massacre of Native Indians.  (The American Indians believed in an eye for an eye.) my four year old daughter, who was Francis’s age was napping in the other room.  Tears were pouring down my cheeks after the first chapter! They took Francis because she had red hair, which was a novelty to them.  As the white man pushed the natives west, Francis lived with the Indians in Pennsylvania, then with the Seneca Indians at Niagara Falls, then with the Miami Indians in Central Indiana.  When I read the part of the book where she arrived at Niagara Falls, I was intrigued that she could feel the pounding of the falls under her feet as they approached that area.  I am curious if we will feel that too.  Will roads and buildings have muted that thunder under the feet of observers nowadays?

Our original plan was to take Harrison to school on Sunday then spend a few days tying up ends at home, then leave on Thursday and return on Sunday.  Natalie attends an online school, which is very, very demanding, so while it is permissible to miss a few days of school without answering to anyone, you can’t fall behind, which is a daunting caveat.  She is going to have two dual credit classes to manage this year too, adding to the challenge.  Getting the chance to travel to Niagara Falls, inspired her to start school a week early so she could get a jump start. 

Michael was able to rearrange his schedule to make the trip work too.  Although, I secretly suppose that his company will flounder and fall apart while he is not overseeing it, costing us money, time, and a good reputation, I am grateful that he always puts his family first and just resolves to “clean up the mess” when we get back. 

Mike later suggested that we leave on Wednesday morning and stay overnight in Cleveland, OH so that we arrive in Buffalo earlier in the day so as to use that day for sightseeing as well.  Since he suggested it, I was more than happy to comply to more vacation!

…..Until I couldn’t get everything done that I felt needed to be done before we left!  I don’t like leaving the house a mess when we go on vacation.  I did manage to get the downstairs cleaned and organized, since sending The Son to college pretty much left the house in tornado mode.  However, I didn’t win the war on the upstairs, garage, or outdoor areas.  There were just too many meetings and appointments scheduled into that small window of time. 

So my plan was that Harrison would be left at college having a great time making new friends and using all those amenities that they lure Freshmen with.    He would be having a great time, and we would be missing him.  So we would leave on an adventure of our own.  Everyone would be happy.  First problem:  The Bursar accidentally refunded everyone’s scholarship money to their banks before their account was charged for housing.  You we had to deal with the bank about that problem.  Then the second night Harrison called home to say that his phone screen was cracked (never heard how that happened)  and while playing basketball, the phone got wet with sweat in the crack and wouldn’t work.  There could possibly be more to the story that we aren’t getting.  You know-college boy-no details-situation.  Whatever. So to make a long story short, our inexperienced son was dealing with Verizon while we were trying to guide our teenage daughter through city traffic, so consequently Verizon charged 1,400.00 to both Mike’s Verizon account and Harrison’s debit card, and Harrison ended up with lots of stuff he didn’t know he bought.  It is an old story that many, many people have experienced! Bummer.  We aren’t done dealing with Verizon yet. 
So Mike and I were up until 1 AM finishing up packing and doing the very last pieces of laundry.  Snore….

We got up at 7:30 AM. We both had pounding migraine headaches.  I took a few Excederin to take the edge off.  Mike did the same.  Then he left………………………….What the heck?????  I thought we had agreed to get an early start.  Well, he explained, I have a few things to do for work.  Ugh!  So he came home with dirty clothes.  I have no idea why we stayed up doing every piece of laundry so I could revel in my OCD happiness.  I also decided to change out the little bag I was trying to cram everything in so I could look more stylish.  I went ahead and dragged the “refrigerator” suitcase down from the attic.  A five day vacation is heavy duty stuff as opposed to the original 4 day weekend get away!

Natalie and I had cleaned up the kitchen last night and I called the kitchen “closed.”  Would you believe that Michael had the audacity to leave a spoon he dipped some chocolate sauce up with in the sink???  Natalie and I had decided that we would just have air for breakfast so that we didn’t have to do any more dishes or mess up the kitchen.  Sigh.  Another dirty spoon?  So in the morning while Mike was gone, we didn’t really have air for breakfast!  We made some dishes.  There wasn’t much to choose as I had cleaned out the refrigerator last night.  So Natalie made some kind of tortilla breakfast thing that she microwaved on a plate.  I asked Natalie what the black stuff was on her tortilla because it looked like black beans.  I couldn’t imagine she would open a can of black beans when we were trying to keep the dishes and leftovers to a minimum!  She mumbled something like, “I don’t know.”  Mike was like, “You just made it and you don’t know what you put on it??  What is that black stuff?  Olives?”  She finally admitted it was a bunch of chocolate chips.  LOL.  That sounds healthy!   I asked Mike if he would clean up the dishes while Natalie and I finished getting ready.   As he was doing the dishes, he discovered a hairline crack in the plate.  Before he threw it away, he broke it in two pieces and walked back to Natalie and told her that she used sooooo many chocolate chips that the weight of them broke the plate!  She said the crack was made by a baked potato!  What?  She knew the plate was broken and put it back in the stack?  Teenagers!  Mike finished the kitchen and declared it “Closed.”  Copycat.

While Mike was loading the car, I put a clean spoon by the sink as if it were dirty. So when he came in, he had a fit that SOMEONE left a dirty spoon in his “Closed Kitchen!”  LOL.  I put it in the drawer and we took off with Natalie driving. 

 Mike commented that we were going to be taking a 80/90, which is a toll road.  I remembered as we were already a few miles from town that I forgot to get cash from the bank.  Whoops!  When we got to Monticello, we pulled into the bank and robbed it- I mean got 100 ones- and headed on East!

Two GPS es and  a Dirty Windshield!

When we got closer to Fort Wayne, Mike started seeing charges rack up on the phone bill. He was unable to call Harrison, access his account or talk to a representative.  The charges were rife with things Harrison didn't need like insurance and a car charger.  Harrison doesn't even have a car at college.  Mike spent several miles on the verge of beating his phone on the dash or throwing it out the window as he continued to see worthless charges piling up on his account with no way to stop it.  Natalie drove on like a champ despite the temper that was going on in the passenger seat. 

My stomach hurt, my headache was back, I was hungry, I was anxious for Harrison at IU….

Natalie and Harrison as new drivers have been famous for changing lanes without checking first to make sure it is clear.  As we were driving around Fort Wayne, a lady decided to be in our lane without checking her mirrors first.  Mike grabbed the steering wheel and swerved the car over into the far left lane.  Thank the Lord that there wasn’t a car there!  Next, Mike called State Farm just to make double sure we were covered with a permitted driver.  Whew! 

Natalie honked the horn as we crossed the state line into Ohio.

We stopped somewhere for gas and there was a Verizon store across the road.  Mike took a half an hour to try to right things there.  He didn’t, but he did make it so he could view his account again. He would have to deal with Verizon later.

Natalie managed the turns and lane changes through the traffic with Mike guiding her and me clenching my teeth and hyperventilating in the back seat.  Vacation is just so relaxing!  Natalie took a ticket at the Toll booth, and we all wagered a guess at how much the toll would be when we got off.  Mike said six dollars.  I said that I thought it would be 10.50.  Natalie guessed 50.00.  I really hoped Natalie was off the mark.  LOL.  However 1400.00 for a cell phone????  You just never know!  Natalie drove a total of 5.5 hours.  Mike lured her off the road with the promise of a sandwich.  Mike took over and drove like our Escape was a racecar.  More clenched teeth and hyperventilating from the backseat because Mike was also on the phone with Harrison and trying to work through the Verizon issues. 

We finally made it to the Drury Plaza Hotel.

The valet took our car, and I practically floated into the beautiful former Board of Ohio Education Building.  It was better than coming home!  (Because my upstairs is still a mess!)  We munched on some popcorn and ate at the 5:30 Kickback.  The room is top rate and comfortable.  I have never had a Drury that I didn’t like. 

We discussed some possibilities of things we wanted to see at Niagara Falls.  I came without a plan.  Natalie said this was the weirdest trip she has ever been on.  There is no plan, she is driving, and Harrison is missing.  She is enjoying having the queen sized bed all to herself for the first time on vacation ever!

We went down to the 5:30 Kickback Dinner where Mike told the barista he was from Chicago, Indiana when asked where he was from. She called him Chi for the rest of the night.  I asked him why he did such things. He said, "Well, people remember me!"

Mike took a shower and went to bed to watch HGTV.  Natalie and I went down to swim.  The wet suits might be a problem at the bed and breakfast, but we decided to live dangerously!

Day ~ 40 and 41 The Drury Hotel ~ Kansas City

Day 40 ~ 41

Today we drove approximately 11-12 hours to get to Kansas City, Kansas.  We had to pull the tent down in the dark because leaving at 5:30 Eastern Standard Time was actually leaving at 3:30 AM Mountain Time.  Because we were parked about a mile away from the restrooms and at about a 100 ft. incline that was rocky and treacherous to walk in the dark, we just pulled down camp in the dark before anyone had a chance to use the restroom and get ready for the drive.  Then drove down the hill, quickly got ready for the day in about 15 minutes so we could get an early start.  It was only 46 degrees, so we were cold and had to pee and were stumbling around in the dark……

The roads around Pike’s Peak are mountainous, of course, so they are twisty-turny and steep.  As we came around one tight curve, there sat a moose in the middle of the road!  We almost hit this gigantic guy.  HUGE.  This was the first time we had seen a big moose with a rack on this trip.  Mike was able to get slowed down and swerved around, but……He said the moose wasn’t just “sitting” there, but had been hit.  Poor thing.  Who hits an animal that size and keeps going?  Because it was such a danger in the middle of the road, he called 911 in the hopes that they could get it removed so someone else wouldn’t have a wreck and hit it.  It was very sad to think that wonderful animal was ruined.

The lion’s share of the trip was through Kansas.  We had averaged a whopping 22 -24 miles to the gallon throughout the trip!  We had hoped to squeak by getting 15 miles to the gallon pulling the trailer through the mountains.  So we had been ecstatic with how well our car had done.  When we got to Kansas, Mike expected to really improve that number more…..flat land…. straight roads…. Unfortunately, Kansas’s strong 40 mile an hour wind from the East has pulled our miles per gallon average down to 20! Blah!

Sunrise over Colorado

 

I have only more thing to write, which is my little commercial for the Drury Hotels.  I love this hotel chain and wish they had hotels in every state.  The kids were really looking forward to this part of the trip.  I think it has something to do with the all you can eat “donuts” with the free breakfast in the morning at Drury Hotels.  The Drurys are America’s best kept secret as far as I am concerned.  Some of their flag ship hotels are about equal to a Marriott in size and décor, but usually only run a little more than 100.00/night.  Their other smaller properties are really nice too, just not as fancy.  We have stayed at more than 8 different Drury’s while on vacations over the years.  Never once have we ever had one that was not supremely clean and new looking.  That is very important to me.  I even take my shoes off when in the room here! 

This wasn't one of their fancy hotels, but it was still great!

Reading at the Desk





 

Watching TV

Getting Rid of Extra Calories

 

Here is what you get if you stay in a Drury:  A clean traditional looking room.  Very soft, comfortable beds.  Great showers. TV with great cable. Complimentary popcorn and soft drinks all afternoon when you arrive.  The very nicest people you have ever met work at the Drury Hotels.  It is like how Disney World employees used to be!  An exercise room that is never broken down.  A pool and hot tub.  Dinner at night.  Hot breakfast in the morning.  Oh, and did I mention the clean room?  I mean clean enough to pass inspection from the pickiest cleaner in the world? 

One more item about the Drury.   They are so clever that their dinner at night is made up of several different foods so you can mix and match to make a variety of meals.  They have hot dogs, chili, nachos, cheese, salad bar, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, baked potatoes, etc. So you can mix and match to have chili cheese dogs, chili mac, chili nachos, salad with chicken strips, ham from the salad bar and melted cheese on a baked potato, a chili cheese baked potato, hot dogs and macaroni…..and on and on and on and on…..the possibilities are endless.  Plus, you don’t have to go out for dinner when you finally make it to your hotel.  Breakfast is just as delicious and varied.  I rate the Drury Hotel chain with an A+.  Sorry for the long commentary, but I think they deserve it!

We will drive all day on the 41^st day from Kansas City to make it home to Wolcott late tonight.  There will be as much cleaning up and organizing to do after the trip as there was before the trip!  Our car and camper look like the Delorean from Back to the Future after going through the time continuum! Inside is just as awful as the outside!  We really tried hard to keep things clean and sanitary for the past 6 weeks, but let’s face it, we have been outside for the past 6 weeks! I estimate there will be approximately 16 loads of laundry to do and a bushel of dust to remove from the inside of the camper.  Happy 4^th of July to us!  LOL.  A grocery run will also be in order because I emptied out the fridge before we started our trip. 

I was reflecting last night about some of the things that people said and did that helped shape our trip personally for me. 

One big idea that shaped how I thought about our camping style was from my dear friend, Jenni Honegger, who is wise beyond her years.  She had described the way she and her husband take their big family camping……a tents, bikes, refrigerator, etc. all piled on a trailer.  She said they look like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the road, but she couldn’t care less because they are having so much fun.  I often thought about her words as our shabby little camper made its way across the American West!  I took Jenni’s lead and felt proud that we were doing this with our kids instead of feeling like a poor family living in a tent because we were desperate, which was probably how we were viewed going down the road or pulling into camp.

Jenni also told me to try putting a barrette in my hair as it grew out…….That has been a life savior for me for the past 6 weeks!

Chastity Robledo told Mike to use unscented laundry soap to keep bears away.  No bears ate us or our food the entire time we were in bear country!  Plus we loved the In and Out Burger place she also told us to try!

Kay Masterone gave us two big packs of individually wrapped nuts, in case of emergencies……We had so many food emergencies that the nuts are almost gone!  Sometimes it was very late before we got back to camp. 

Anita Burns……encouraged me to eat fast food once in a while.  I really wanted this trip to be a healthful venture, but I did have to break down several times and take Anita’s advice. 

Mike Yelton, who insisted on bringing the ugly tarp to cover camp…..that made putting up and taking down the camp so complicated……..That tarp changed the quality of camping for us many times.  It saved us from getting cold and wet in the rain.  It gave us shade when the sun was so hot and beating down.  It made us look like the Beverly Hillbillies when we were traveling with it strapped onto the camper, but it really did make a positive difference. 

Diane Smith, who has a beautiful grown and growing family, encouraged me to do this for my kids.  This was really a rather scary venture to embark upon for me because I am not really very adventurous.  She reminded me that in a few years, it will be too late to get these years back because your kids do grow up.   

Tommy and Lindsey, who guided us through Teton and Yellowstone and will probably name their first born after me……I think Lilly Marie would be a lovely name.  Ha ha ha!

Cyndi Crammer, who reads my blog….and actually laughs and still loves us.

Knowing you all were reading about our adventures kept me from giving up on journaling when I got busy or had trouble finding decent internet to upload pictures.  Because of my readers, I continued to work at the blog.  So now as a result, I have written a story of our adventure for Mike and the kids to enjoy forever.  Thank you!

Love,

Janelle

 

 

 



Day 40 ~ Pike's Peak

Day 40 ~ Pike’s Peak

We did end up driving to see Pike’s Peak.  We didn’t drive up it or take the cog railway, though. 

We spent most of the day reorganizing and getting ready for the long 2 day drive home.  Part of getting ready meant calling Century Link again.  We also had to pay the vacation credit card bill because when you are gone for 6 weeks, it is too long to wait to pay the bills.  LOL.  So Mike tried to pay the Chase bill from his phone, but they couldn’t seem to manage that without a paper check……?????!!!!!!  Or our bank account number….. Seriously?

I wouldn’t have thought of this, but Mike thought of finding a Chase Bank and paying it there.  It just so happened that there was a Chase Bank in the town where the entrance to Pike’s Peak is located.  So we did both. 

Pike's Peak from the Eastside

 



We also needed to stop at a Walmart and try to get a new internet modem and router for the new internet, so we would have that immediately when we got home.  Walmart didn’t carry what we needed, but Natalie and I saw a Goodwill Store nearby and begged Mike to take us there.  Harrison waited in the car because he finds shopping loathsome….especially Goodwill!  The rest of us love the challenge of finding some kind of wonderful treasure hidden in the junk. 

Mike found some new shower shoes that look way more up-to- date than his Chicago Bears Crocs.  I found a brand new Dell computer bag to replace the Vera Bradley computer bag I brought on the trip that is falling apart.  But the biggest score was a new hat for Harrison that was EXACTLY like the one that blew off on Splash Mountain at Disneyland!  At every gas station we have stopped at since Disney, we have looked for the same hat to no avail.  Ta Da!  Leave it to Mike to find one at Goodwill. 

It is pouring rain again tonight, so we will most likely be taking a wet camper home with us. 

We plan to leave very early…..like 5ish AM to get to the Drury in Kansas City with plenty of time to swim and eat and watch TV!  There is one little detail that I hadn’t thought about earlier when we were packing.  We don’t have luggage to stay in the hotel!  Of course, I brought a HUGE purse with me that can double for a suitcase.  Today, I just found 3 fashionable shopping bags, tied up tightly in the bottom of my purse, that my dear niece gave me!  I love these bags and will have to ask Lindsey where I can buy more…….but in the mean time…….They will double as Mike, Harrison, and Natalie’s suitcases!

Shopping Bag Luggage!

 

Up next:  The grand finale of the trip for Harrison:  A Night at the Drury!

Day 39 ~ Driving to Pike's Peak

Day 39 ~ Driving to Pike’s Peak

Big driving day.  So there isn’t much to tell.  It seemed like it took a lot of time to cross very little area in Colorado.  Our destination was the KOA near Cripple Creek, CO.  This was the closest we could camp to Pike’s Peak.  We are actually ready to go home.  This is the first attraction we really don’t care if we see at this point.  Family vote = Skip it.

Colorado views from the car window on the drive to Pike's Peak:

Mining Equipment

Pike's Peak from Afar

Pike's Peak

Wild Donkeys that live in the Town of Cripple Creek
 

 

Pike’s Peak has very little significance.  Zebulon Pike didn’t even make it to the top of the mountain that he tried to climb.  It is only the highest mountain from its longitude point and east.  Woop di do.  We already saw Mount Whitney from afar at Sequoia National Park, which is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states.  Pike’s Peak has a cog railway that will take you to the top…..for 350.00 for our family.  That is only a tiny bit less money than a day at Disneyland.  These two things aren’t equal!  I thought it sounded good a few months ago, but my excitement has steadily decreased for this attraction.  Plus, we are camped on the west side of the mountain, so we have to drive to the east side (1 hour each way) to get to the access side.  I had it in my mind that we might just drive to the top of it, but I just saw there is a toll road that costs 48.00 to access the road for our family of 4……again, totally not worth it to us.  We just wish we weren’t camped in CO for two more nights because we are anxious to start our drive home. 

We have a night in a Drury Hotel in Kansas City on the way home.  The kids are really, really looking forward to a stay at our all time favorite hotel chain.  So we can’t skip that.  Otherwise we would just head home now. 

Mike spent the day on the phone with Century Link to no avail.  I got an email that said I hadn’t paid our June bill…….Of course I did.  I actually paid too much because I paid one month in advance.  Mike had changed our service a few days before we left.  It was supposed to be less money a month to get a better speed of internet.  However, when they changed it over we couldn’t get our internet to work, but that was the night before we were leaving, so we just left it.  Now we don’t have internet at home, they are trying to charge us more than we were paying before, and they aren’t acknowledging we have paid for two months instead of one.  He was transferred 7 times to different people…..ultimately; they said they couldn’t help today because their system was down.  It is always so pleasant to have to deal with large service providing companies these days.  Seriously.

Tonight it is pouring rain.  With thunderstorms and lightning.  We will probably have to pack the camper up wet on our final night because they are calling for rain all week.  Oh, well!  We are almost home. 

Tomorrow:  ?????