Trip Coming to an End

 After our tour of Amish Life, we spent our last evening relaxing in froot of a fire, eating leftovers and topping it off with a slice of shoofly pie. 

Today we packed up early and got on the road by 8:30 am.  The drive home was longer because of traffic and several accidents that slowed things down on I-95 between Baltimore and DC, and again in NOVA and the Ashland area.  While we were traveling south toward home, the boys were doing their schooling using Jenna's tablet as a hotspot.  Steve and Jenna both also got some work in on the ride home.  

I am sure everyone was glad to be home, especially Gus, who needed to go to the bathroom, after passing gas in the RV and having all of us holding our noses!

This was a fun trip, and the weather cooperated most of the time.  It was our first time traveling as a family of 6, 3 generations. Amazingly, we are all still speaking to one another, and looking forward to celebrating Hayden's 10th birthday tomorrow. The hardest thing for the kids today was saying goodbye to Gus. He has slept with them almost every night, and they have played with him and loved on him a lot during the trip.

Once Jim and I get a little rest, we will clean the RV, fix a few broken cabinet and drawer latches, and get it ready for our winter trip.

Amish Countryside

 Today was an earlier start...skipping school to take a tour of the Amish Countryside by car. We followed our tour guide in our own car, driving down country roads where mostly Amish folks live. We saw laundry hanging out at these homes, beautiful gardens growing around the homes, animals in many of the yards, large barns, crops growing in the fields, and no power lines.  Our guide took us to an Amish homestead and showed us around part of the home and carriage stable.  We learned how they used propane gas and compressed air to power things like machinery and refrigeration. We got a small glimpse of the main room (kitchen & living area). The house looked like a regular house and was very tidy! The lights are powered by propane, and there are no electrical outlets and certainly no wifi.  No photos were allowed at the homes, so I can't share a better glimpse of one.  

Our last stop on the tour was a place where caboose cars were collected and turned into hotel rooms with all amenities. 

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After our tour we had lunch at Katie's Place, stopped at a local market for a few items, and headed back to the campground. Gus was very happy to see us by then, giving us his best imitation of a seal "bark", then going for a walk to "take care of business ".  

Now, it seems it is naptime for some at least. Steven and one grandson are in the back where Steven is napping and Hayden is on his tablet doing stuff.  

 

Turkey Hill Experience

 The Turkey Hill Experience is an ice cream indulgence like no other. This afternoon our group of 6 participated in this experience for almost three hours. We learned about the ingredients used, how it is made, packaged, etc. We got to create our own "virtual " flavor of ice cream, choosing from various ingredients to incorporate,  and finally naming our creation.  We visited the sampling room where we got to sample one or more flavors of ice cream, one scoop at a time. Then we went into a "classroom" where we were able to actually create our own ice cream concoction by adding a flavor, then some toppings, and finally a syrup to top things off. In each category, we could choose from about 8 items. They passed out a large cup of ice cream in either vanilla or chocolate to each of us to start things off. This all took place after we had already been to the sampling station.  Now that's a lot of ice cream!  I could not finish my ice cream, which was flavored with lemon, then almonds added, and finally raspberry syrup. It was yummy, just too much! All of us had a lot of fun, except Gus of course, since he wasn't invited to the ice cream party. He loves ice cream!

Travel Day

 Today we packed up and left the campground before 9 am this morning,  headed southeast toward Lancaster, PA. On the drive through the countryside of NY we enjoyed beautiful views of the colors of Fall, driving through farmland and small towns.  We drove for a good while along the Susquehanna River too.  The drive was long, over 330 miles, with much of it on roads with 35-45 mph speed limits, so it took us about 7 hours, including a few stops for fuel and dog walking. When we finally arrived at the Campground outside of Lancaster we all had to have out temperature checked to verify that no one had a fever.  Gus was the only one to avoid the temperature check.  Since we all passed the temperature check, we were able to get set up on our site before the rains came.  Dinner tonight was takeout of pizza, salads, and garlic knots.  We topped that off by finishing our game of Mexican Train dominoes  that we started a few nights ago. Hayden took last place victoriously and l managed to win this one. 

Rock Salt stock piles...this is just a small part of the piles

The Crew

The watchdog

The Captain

Back in PA, less color in the trees.

Visit to Buffalo

 Saturday...a day for a slow start since there's no school and no place to be in a hurry. We enjoyed a leisurely morning, then packed into the car (leaving Gus behind) for a drive down to Buffalo, through Tonawanda where our friend Mary grew up. We drove along the shoreline of the Niagara, down to Lake Erie. Now the boys can say they have seen 2 of the 5 Great Lakes. Jim and I have been to the shores of all 5 in our travels.  We walked along the waterfront where the military ships and submarine are docked. The museum and ships are closed until next year, but we were able to admire them from the shore.  

Afterward we stopped for lunch at Anchor Bar/Restaurant, home of the original WINGS. Too many wings and other items were ordered, so after filling our stomachs we brought home a takeout box filled with assorted flavors of wings.

We got back to our Campground in time to catch most of the second half of the VT vs North Carolina football game, sad to see VT lose the game.  The rest of the day is for relaxing since tomorrow we head south to Lancaster, PA for several days.

Maid of the Mist

 Yesterday we took a ride on the Maid of the Mist in the afternoon. There was a long line for this adventure and we had to wait in line about 40 minutes before boarding the boat. We got great views of the Falls as well as being soaked with spray from the Falls even with the ponchos provided.  The wind and spray were so powerful that I could not safely take any photos of the Horseshoe Falls. Just looking at them was a challenge, but a worthwhile one....so beautiful and powerful!  We were surrounded by the Falls on almost all sides for several minutes.  Jim and I had taken this boat ride 25 years ago, but my memories of it had faded much!  Now I have new memories with my family.

Thursday, October 8

 Yesterday it was a bit cooler out. The kids had their schooling in the morning up to 1:00 pm. I captured them while they were online with their teacher.  We had to separate them so they could concentrate better. Jenna has been working while the kids are schooling, and Steven has worked on and off as well. Gus hangs out on the front seat keeping watch.

After school, we headed to Old Fort Niagara and the shore of Lake Ontario. From the shore we could just make out the skyline of Toronto across the lake. 

This was the first Great Lake the kids have seen. Old Fort Niagara sits at the mouth of Niagara River as it empties into Lake Ontario.  We had Gus with us for this outing, so I stayed out in the park with him while the others went through the fort. Hayden took a lot of pictures for me with Steven's phone, but We haven't gotten then uploaded yet.