It was Saturday and we were finally on our way. We spent a leisurely morning of coffee and conversation with Tom and Michelle, and then it was time to go. We fired up GiGi, the Garmin GPS, and told her to take us along the lake front. Hey stupid, you’re in Cleveland, it ain’t gonna happen. So instead of looking at the lake, we took the truck route around the city and headed northeast towards Erie with Buffalo in our sights. The city not the animal; we’re driving not hunting. A stop for gas and we breezed through Erie.
Still looking for the lake, Carol suggested that we drop off the 90 onto state route 5 in N.Y. I thought that was a great idea. We would have a chance to see some of Americana, things that you miss while traveling on the big roads. So we took the exit, paid the toll (yes, in N.Y. the 90 is a toll road) and took to route 5. Four lanes wide, no center divider and 50 mph speed limit, we are on it and holy crap batman, the next over pass is 12’6”. Find a wide spot quick so we can determine just how tall we are. Can we U-turn? Yeah sure, two lanes coming up behind us and two lanes head-on; and if we don’t make it with the truck in tow, we can’t back up. That would only tie up three of the four lanes. Wait a minute, wasn’t that a semi that just came through the overpass? Yeah, but is he bigger then we are? Find the dimensions. Ok, here it is: the RV is 12’3” measured to the top of the highest piece of standard equipment. Is the AC unit standard? I sure hope so. Eventually, there is a break in traffic and we start forward. I slow as I approach the overpass. Jeez is that close, but we’re clear and it’s back to the 90. Notice, that I use the SoCal nomenclature of dropping the “I” (for interstate) and just referring to the number. Most places it would be the I-90, but what the heck.
Arriving in Buffalo, I took a south exit when I should have taken a north exit. After a quick tour of downtown, not bad on a late Saturday afternoon, we were back on the correct route. We found the RV Park in Niagara Falls and got everything set up. Once settled, we were off to the falls to see the American side. The commercial area around the falls is a bit chintzy. It is as if they went for the glitz of Las Vegas and fell far short. The national park grounds are very nice in comparison. We thoroughly enjoyed walking along the river, the gorge and viewing the falls. Spice enjoyed being out and about. She minded her manners, ignoring the people and staying calm in the throngs. Carol took some great pictures even when she had to wait for people to vacate the viewfinder. I met a couple with Pitt sweatshirts and we discussed having just taken our son/daughter back to school. If you should get bored with the falls, people-watching is a decent alternative. While Carol was taking pictures, Spice and I listened to conversations in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Farsi, Indian dialects, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. There was a moment when I wanted to organize an impromptu chorus of “We are the World”. As night fell, the falls are lighted with colors; red, blue, yellow, purple. It is quite a spectacle to see, bringing a bit of a dramatic effect that would be lost in the dark. With the darkness, photo opportunities became nil and it was time to leave. Home and to bed: the Canadian side awaited us on Sunday morning.
I was going to try to insert some photos on the blog, but have been unsuccessful. If you would like to see trip pictures, go to Carol’s Facebook page. You might have to ask to be her friend, but if you are reading this, she will be happy to make you a friend.
Two other things. Should you think that we were out of corn, rest assure the crop is plentiful in Pennsylvania and New York. Several times we saw it being grown adjacent to wine grapes. Imagine that, wine and corn likker together; a bootleggers dream. Second, it didn't rain today.
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