New England Trip

News Flash - The blog entry for Wednesday, June 24 was incorrect. It was actually Wednesday, June 25.

This morning we ran some errands, then went to the Robert Moses Power Plant to learn about how the New York Power Company uses the Niagara River to generate power. There was a self-guided tour that was interesting and informative, with some educational exhibits about how electrical power is generated and used. The exhibits were interactive, and had us pedaling a bicycle or moving magnets to see how electric power is generated or used. We got a laugh out of the fact that several of the exhibits didn’t work because of a burned-out light bulb or other low-tech problem. As usual, budget cuts have apparently hit the PR function of the power plant especially hard. The guy at the entry desk was very helpful, though, and gave us some good maps and information for the rest of the day.

We drove north to the little town of Lewiston, north and downriver of the Falls, where we had a good lunch at a little riverside bar where the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours depart for a very wet and wild ride though the Whirlpool turn on the river. While we enjoyed lunch on the deck, we watched a busload of Asian tourists deck themselves in yellow foulies and orange life jackets for an E-ticket ride, and another group of drenched tourists return.

From Lewiston we drove the scenic route along the shore of Lake Ontario, stopping at a state park to see the lake, and on to the 30 Mile Point Lighthouse, one of a long string of lighthouses that mark the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario near the entrance from the St. Lawrence River. It was great to drive through the countryside and see the huge old trees, especially the giant weeping willow trees, the small villages, farms and vineyards along the way. Surely the best way to get beyond the stereotypes of other states and regions is to drive through their heartlands and see the homes and businesses of the people who live there.

We stopped at a state park along the way to look at the lake. Lake Ontario was shrouded in haze or fog today, and didn’t give us any great views of a distant horizon. The beach was made of small pebbles in sand, and while we were there, the wind was calm and the water flat.

After a much longer drive than we expected, we reached the lighthouse, and took some pictures. The lighthouse now has an automatic light, and is no longer tended by a keeper, but most of the original buildings are still there. On the way back, we took a different route to cross the old Erie Canal at the town of Lockport. For all its history, the canal is now apparently just a river of very consistent width without a lot of traffic.

We leave tomorrow for Seneca Falls, NY, in the Finger Lakes Region, on the way to Vermont.

A picture of the lighthouse follows.

It had rained during the night, and was still drizzling when we woke up, so we took our time, much of it spent trying to figure out why the local Internet server was blocking our attempts to post to the blog. In the afternoon, we set off for Canada.

By mistake, we left the maps in the motorhome, but we figured we could just follow highway signs to the Canadian side of the falls. Not so simple. The best way to the Canadian falls is not well marked on the highway, so we finally crossed the border several miles down-river at the I-190 crossing. As it turned out, our route from there took us along the river where we got a good view of the big power plant on the US side, and then found an “Aero Car” (cable car) to ride across the river at the Whirlpool.

The Whirlpool is a large round bulge carved by the river into the comparatively soft bank where the river makes a sharp right bend. It works like a traffic circle where you miss your turn. The river water flows into the circle and all the way around it counter-clockwise, passes its entry point, and then flows out to the right. The guide on the Aero Car ride told us that at night the river flow is reduced for power generation, and the lesser flow causes the whirlpool rotation to change to clockwise. This change has the effect of flushing any collected debris out of the whirlpool and on downstream. We could have learned more about the whirlpool, but our guide, Nicole, read her script poorly over a crummy PA system, and the river roar mostly drowned her out. You are therefore not subject to a longer lecture about the Whirlpool, so there is a good side to everything.

Following the road along the river, we came to a little currency exchange office advertising an ATM. We stopped to get some Canadian cash, and encountered a Mr. Brennen Darrell Hope, proprietor and seller of ice cream and various combination discount tickets for attractions at the Falls. Mr. Hope is a very congenial man with whom you will never have to say anything at all to keep a conversation going. He told us proudly that after many days of just breaking even, he had finally made $50 yesterday, and that he is working hard to make his entire year’s income in the short summer tourist season. He was red-faced and sweating, both from working hard and from a faulty air conditioning system. He had to re-fill the ATM machine for us to get our cash, which extended our visit with him. By the time we left, which was difficult to accomplish and still be courteous, Margaret felt so sorry for him she was thinking of just handing him the cash. If you ever need some good deals on tickets to Niagara Falls attractions, consider giving him your business at www.niagarafalls101.com. He chased us out to our car to be sure to give us his card and website. Based on our experience, the package prices he offers really are good deals, better than the deals we got with the same attractions a la carte.

Just a bit farther down the River Road, we came to the Falls, and sure enough, the view from the Canadian side was spectacular. Since the view is all spread out along a mostly straight road, with most of the Falls on the U.S. bank, there is a long riverwalk with lots of restaurants and shops, all directly across from the Falls. We found a parking place, and joined the flow of tourists, squeezing into a vacant space on the overlook rail where we could take pictures and gawk at the falls.

We went to a heavily advertised attraction called “Niagara’s Fury – The Creation of the Falls”. Cost was $17.00 each. A wad of people at a time filed into a room with a big screen on one wall and a very impressive sound system. A 8-minute animated film was eventually shown (after we stood in the room for about 15 minutes because of technical issues) about a beaver writing a research paper about the falls. It seems that a book fell on the beaver and knocked him out. In his unconscious state, he went back in time to before the falls existed. A snowy owl told him stuff about the falls and they met wooly mastodons playing hockey and a polar bear. Then he woke up and wrote his paper very quickly. The screen resolution was very high definition. Then after another wait, we filed into a room with a circular screen. Wind blew in the room and the floor shook. There was snow, rain, and fog. We got splashed. There were pictures on the screen of ice and falling water. Then there were aerial videos of the falls. We don’t really know what it all meant and can’t recommend it.

We had an early dinner at the Edgewater Grill and Tap on the river. Our table on the balcony had a great view of the falls. From time to time, mist from the falls would drift onto us. The food (a grilled chicken salad and a chicken wrap sandwich) was quite good and the portions were generous. With margaritas, the meal cost $48 – well worth it considering the view.

When we returned to the USA over the Rainbow Bridge, a Border Patrol lady took our passports and asked us about our citizenship. We confirmed that we were US citizens. We were then asked where we were coming from. Steve feared that it must be a trick question but answered “Canada.” After we declared that we had not purchased anything in Canada, the lady seemed satisfied and let us back in.

The following picture is of the Canadian Falls from the Canadian side.

We got an early start, driving north to Erie, PA where we could see Lake Erie from the highway, and across the west end of New York to Buffalo. The parts of Buffalo that we saw were mostly quite ugly - old and industrial. But the courthouse with its huge clock tower, and several churches with tall spires, had good bones, and would probably be beautiful with some sand-blasting or pressure-washing.

Our campground is on Grand Island, which sits in the middle of the Niagara River just a few miles south of (and above) the falls. It’s a bit disorienting to navigate around a river that flows north.

With most of the afternoon free, and the weather beautiful, we went to see the American Falls. On the way, we stopped at a river overlook where the strong northbound current fought with a 20-knot north wind to build very rough chop on the water. We watched a powerboat struggling against the headwind and drifting sideways.

The falls are truly amazing. The river flowing to the falls runs at what appears to be 15 to 20 mph in big rapids. Then, suddenly, the river disappears into a cloud of mist. At the edge of the falls, the ground trembles slightly from the impact of the water below and the roar is palpable.

After viewing the falls from several locations above, we took an elevator down to the base for a ride on one of the Maid of the Mist boats. We were issued blue plastic ponchos to keep us not so wet. The falls are at least doubly awesome from below. The boat took us up the river along the base of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls to the center of the base of the Canadian Horseshoe falls. There, the river was very rough, the wind was gusting, and the air was dense with mist. We could see the green water coming over the top but nothing below 150 feet or so. There was too much spray to take a picture at the base of Horseshoe Falls. Below is a picture of the American Falls from the boat.

Apparently, we bought the lottery ticket a day too late – not a single number on our ticket was drawn, not even a seven.

Two pictures follow – both taken of the American Falls from the Maid of the Mist boat.

Another travel day, this one almost 400 miles through the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia into Pennsylvania. Although there were no really significant mountain passages, we struggled all day with uphill grades where we could not maintain minimum speeds and downhill grades where we had to hold the motorhome back. A big part of driving this rig is managing inertia.

West Virginia is the home of two great whitewater rivers, the New River and the Gauley River. Lots of people come here to raft down the rivers on guided tours. Paul Jennings, we thought about you and your stories about raft trips up here.

We stopped at a visitor center with an overlook of the New River Bridge, advertised as the longest arch bridge in the northern hemisphere. The bridge is a beautiful design that we saw repeated in several smaller spans as we drove on through West Virginia. (The bridge builds up a patina of rust that actually helps protect it from more damaging rust in the structure. It is as tall as the Washington Monument plus twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. Coal mine tunnels had undermined the ground where the base footings were built, so the engineers developed some special concrete footings for the bridge arch.

Steve drove most of the way, but Margaret drove through Pittsburgh, and on the north side we encountered a great deal of road construction with very narrow lanes. Much of the way there was a barrier at the right edge of the road with no shoulder, and a median wall on the left side of the left lane. We had to thread our way through the narrow lanes with big trucks passing. For future runs through big cities, we will use the Internet to try to find road construction advisories and alternate routes.

We bought a Powerball lottery ticket with 7 as the Powerball number -drawing for $61 million to occur tomorrow night. What shall we do with all that money??

We arrived at the Bear Run Campground in Portersville, PA in late afternoon, and will travel to Niagara Falls tomorrow.

Picture of Wicket at the bridge overlook follows:

Hello all,

Our first day on the road was full of lucky sevens – a good omen for the trip, we think.

Leaving Hartwell, we took GA Hwy 77 to pick up I-85 at Exit 177.

After taking I-85 to Charlotte, we turned onto I-77 North, and drove through Statesville, NC to the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the skinny south-western tip of Virginia. The motor home handled the drive through the rolling piedmont without much trouble, but the rise to 3,500 ft. across the Virginia state line was a challenge. The engine temp gauge stayed on the cool side of center the whole way, but we stayed with the big trucks in an extra right lane for under-50 speeds for about 10 miles. There were times we were making only 30 mph up the steepest grades.

The views, however, were beautiful. Broad valleys with small farms nestled in thick hardwood forest. There were no billboards in sight, just sweeping views of mountains, valleys and a good road. If not for the cell towers, it would have seemed completely unspoiled. Some day we hope Georgia will outlaw the TOPLESS billboards that welcome travelers to Hart County.

Strangely, I-77 North merged with I-81 South just north of the Virginia line. The two routes cross in an X and briefly merge in a sort of do-si-do before going their separate ways. While the two highways were merged, I-77 borrowed exit numbers from I-81, so we took Exit # 77 to the KOA campground in Wytheville, VA where we had reservations. (Thanks to our Virginian friend Spencer for educating us that Wytheville is pronounced Withville.) At the KOA we were assigned camping site # 77, a pull-through site where we did not need to un-hook the Acura and can get a simple and early start in the morning. After our first fill-up, we found that we obtained 7.4 mpg today.

As soon as we can buy a lottery ticket, we will play some sevens!

It’s wonderfully cooler here, only about 300 miles north. The high was around 79 degrees, and the low tonight is forecast to be 53.

Not much excitement to report yet, but when you’re just trying to make time going north, that’s exactly what you want – no excitement.

Hi friends and family,

In this blog, we will share the story of our RV trip to New England and Canada in the summer of 2008.

We are traveling with two young animals.  Pumpkin is a girl cat about 1 year old and Wicket is a boy dog - a 7 month old Shih Tzu.  They recently joined us after our two elderly animals (a fourteen year old cat - Spice and a 15 year old dog - Bogart) died last summer and fall.

We are traveling in a 2002 Southwind 32VS (by Fleetwood) motor home that we recently purchased in early 2008.  We are towing a 2000 Acura 3.2 TL behind the motor home for transportation from campgrounds. 



Here are some pictures of the inside of our traveling box:

Dining Room - rear end of sofa in foreground:



Kitchen - Stove burners and sink under countertop covers:



Bedroom - queen width bed but double length:


Our plan for this trip is as follows:

June 23 - Leave Hartwell
Stop in Wytheville, VA for one night.
Stop in Potersville, PA for one night
3 nights in and around Niagara Falls, NY
1 night in the Finger Lakes region around Seneca Falls, NY
2 nights on Lake Champlain around Burlington, VT
3 nights in the mountains of New Hampshire near Errol, NH
9 nights in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada
5 nights in Bar Harbor, ME
5 nights on Cape Cod, MA
4 nights near Mystic, CT and Newport, RI
Stop in Abingdon, MD (north of Baltimore) for one night
2 nights in the Shenandoah Valley, VA
Stop in Statesville, NC for one night
July 31 - Return to Hartwell

Not counting side trips, the route is about 4,300 miles.

In most locations, we are supposed to have WiFi internet access and plan to post reports of our adventures to this blog.

We hope you enjoy reading about our travels.

Steve and Margaret