July 8, 2015
It had rained overnight so everything was damp this morning. The temps were cool enough last night to sleep with the windows open. That was a welcome change. The skies were gray and it was misting as we had breakfast and got ready to depart. Staying hooked up to the truck makes it so much easier and faster to leave in the morning. We wanted to get an earlier start than yesterday, so we set the alarm for 6 AM and were on the road by 7:30. Traffic was light as we traveled over the rolling hills and farmlands of southeastern Ohio. It continued to mist all morning and low clouds hung in he valleys between the hills.
The temperature was 63 degrees, so we both donned long sleeves for the morning drive. Yesterday, we got 9.5 mpg which is amazing since we did so much mountain driving. That tailwind we had must have really helped a lot. We picked up some light rain as we headed north to Canton, as well as some road construction, but nothing too bothersome. In Canton, we passed under a walkway that crossed over the Interstate that declared Stark County as the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was pretty impressive.
South of Akron, we hit a traffic jam because of an accident. It only caused a short slowdown in traffic (less than 30 minutes) and we were moving along again. I can’t complain as this was our first traffic issue in 3 days of driving. The rain stopped, but the skies remained overcast. We crossed the border into Pennsylvania for about all of 43 miles at 11:30.
It wasn’t long before we crossed the border into New York and ventured into the wine country. There were vineyards everywhere!
The clouds broke up and blue sky appeared as we neared Buffalo. The road took us along the shore of Lake Erie for a short distance and along the Niagara River where we saw boaters out for a day of fun.
We crossed the bridge over the Niagara River which took us to Grand Island where our campground was located.
We arrived at the Niagara Falls KOA Campground at 2:00.
We proceeded to set up camp. We both have our “jobs” to do and in no time we can be ready to settle in and take it easy.
We relaxed a bit before taking a drive into town to check out where we need to go tomorrow to see the sights. We also wanted to exchange our voucher for the Discovery Passes that we purchased online that would get us into multiple attractions while we are here. We crossed the bridge that took us from Grand Island where we were staying back to the mainland and the town of Niagara Falls.
We had a heck of a time finding the Niagara Falls State Park Visitor’s Center, but once we did, we had an easy time finding a parking space. We went inside, got our Discovery Passes, and had all our questions answered by the friendly lady behind the desk. We would be all set to see everything we wanted to see here in Niagara Falls for the next three days. We had to cross back over the bridge again and pay a toll ($1.00) to get back onto Grand Island.
On the way back to the campground, we stopped at an auto parts store to pick up a new windshield wiper. We just wore the other one out. Back at the campground, we relaxed with a cocktail before dinner and made plans for what we wanted to do tomorrow. The campground was quiet. We enjoyed finally being able to sit outside because it wasn’t so hot. The temperature was cooling off as evening fell and we even had to put on a light fleece. What a change that is! Bob grilled chicken for dinner. I bet you are saying to yourself….”those guys eat a lot of chicken”. Well, we found out that Canadian Custom regulations will not let you bring raw chicken into the country. I guess it has something to do with the “bird flu” issue, so we’ll eat our chicken before we cross the border. After dinner, Auggie and I took a long walk around the campground and when we returned we had a “fireplace night” in the trailer. So toasty!
I even had to add another light blanket to the bed for tonight. It’s nice to be able to stay in one place for a couple of days. We’ll get a good night’s sleep and be ready to take on the day tomorrow.
