Thursday, September 17, 2009

Western Pennsylvania and Ohio

When we left Niagara Falls area, we went on to Clarion PA to visit our friends there, Wayde and Emily. We were there for about 6 days and had a great time visiting with them, and checking out the area.
We parked in their great big garage. Wow, what a huge garage, they have hook ups in there and all. Their motor home was at factory service for repairs, so we had the garage all to ourselves.
They have a beautiful home, and very nice neighbors too, it would be nice to live in such a friendly area, and such a nice town too.



We drove up to Titusville PA to the Drake Well Museum, where the oil well was drilled that launched the petroleum industry in 1859. They have a great museum there with the original equipment on display, some still operating, and with films about how the oil well was started. We even drove through a very interesting small town named Oil City.


When we left our friend's house in Pennsylvania, we headed toward the factory in Elkhart Indiana, we had over a week to get there, so we stopped at a Thousand Trails Park in Jefferson, Ohio, just 12 miles from Lake Erie.
We spent 5 or 6 days there and just relaxed and rested, Joe even got to fish a little bit in the small lake at the campground. One day we drove up to Geneva on The Lake, they were having a motorcycle rally there in town, and there must have been over a thousand bikes there. We stopped at the city park and looked at Lake Erie, it looked like an ocean, it was so big!! We went to a couple of Farmer's Markets in the area, and a small car show at the city park in Austinburg.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Erie Canal, Lockport, NY and Old Fort Niagara

While we were staying at the Elks Lodge in Niagara Falls, we visited Lockport NY where locks 34 and 35 on the Erie Canal are still in operation. We went on a boat up the Erie Canal through the two locks and it was really interesting.




We also visited Old Fort Niagara, at the mouth of the Niagara River where it enters Lake Ontario. This fort dates back to 1726 and is a major historical site, and it is very well restored and maintained. They have actors dressed in era clothing and re-inacting those times, displaying tools and weapons and telling stories of the past.






We left Niagara Falls and are now heading for our friends house in Western Pennsylvania. We are looking forward to seeing Wayde and Emily and visiting with them again.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Niagara Falls, New York

We spent a little over a week in the Niagara Falls area, we stayed at the Elk's Lodge there. The people at the lodge were so nice, and there is a lot to do in the area, so we wanted to spend a little extra time and see more of the sites.
.
Of course, the most important and popular things to see is Niagara Falls State Park. We saw Niagara Falls about 10 years ago and we stayed on the Canadian side that time, so we decided to go to the American side on this trip. We took a tour trolley around the State Park and checked out the park from the trolley first. One of the stops was the Three Sister's Island, we walked over a bridge to the island and took these pictures there, this island is located just a little from the falls on the American side.


We went to the American Falls next, these pictures were taken there and you can see the Canadian side from these pictures, the Canadian falls is also known as the Horseshoe Falls. You can also see (if you look very close at the last two pictures) the boat that goes under the falls, we took this boat last time we came to Niagara Falls. It is called the Maid of The Mist, you get very wet, it is also a rough ride on that small boat, but it was fun and quite an experience, however, we decided that once was enough.




This is one of the most spectacular sights in the world. If you have been to Niagara Falls I am sure you agree, if not, and you get an opportunity to visit this wonderful place, you will never forget it. Niagara Falls is truly amazing.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Albany, New York Visit

We spend about 5 weeks in the Albany New York area visiting family there, Joe has sisters, a cousin and an aunt in this area. So we had lots to do, and lots of family to visit with.
We had a great time while we were in Albany, and got to spend a lot of time with Joe's sisters and their families.

Cheryl and Chris took us to some free concerts in Albany called "Alive At Five" these are evey Thursday night during the summer months, and a lot of fun. We saw some good entertainment too, The Village People, Hotel California (tribute to the Eagles), The Neville Brothers, and Tower of Power. So we had a great time with them, always something to do.

They took us on the Albany Aqua Duck, it drives around town showing all of the great history then goes into the Hudson River for a short river cruise, and shows us things you cannot see from the land. That was a lot of fun as you can see from the pictures.


Joe and his nephew Christopher played golf a couple of times and had a good time, Christopher plays at several of the golf courses in the area and was able to get them a tee time. Joe was happy to get to play at all, it was raining a lot of the time we were there.
We went to the Saratoga Race Track a couple of times and bet (and lost) on the horses. What a beautiful track, beautiful horses, lots of people there and we had lots of fun.
Everyone loved our motor home and enjoyed hearing stories about our trips, even the smallest of our family members wanted to see all there was to see of our coach. Here are pictures of Joe showing our 7 year old twin grand nephews all about our service area. Joe's sister Luanne looks a little less interested, as she walks away from the lesson. Ha Ha.

Luanne and Joe have a beautiful patio, deck and pool area in their back yard, and of course we spent some time there too. The summer was very rainy this year, but there were some beautiful days while we were there, and we took advantage of every one of them. Here are a few pictures of everyone enjoying the pool at Luanne's.
.
We had a wonderful visit with all of Joe's family in the Albany area, we always have a good time when we are there. When we left we were already planning our next trip, in two or three years. We may be back sooner, who knows, we always keep our plans flexible. We are heading to Niagara Falls, NY now for a few days, they on to visit friends in Pennsylvania.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cape Elizabeth Maine

We arrived in Cape Elizabeth on July 13th and our friends there spent the next 4 days showing us around. We had a great time with Gerry and Sharon, and a great time exploring Maine and all that this beautiful place has to offer.




The ocean and shore was absolutely breathtaking, and the beautiful lighthouses are wonderful.


What a fun time we had here. We are already planning our next trip to Maine, it may be a few years before we make it back, but we will be back, there is too much to see and do here. The fish and seafood alone is worth another trip. But most of all we want to see Gerry and Sharon again they were so much fun, and we will keep in touch.