Virginia Beach, Virginia

Thursday 7/17/08 and Friday 7/18/08

Today we continued our trip south to Virginia Beach, VA. There we spent two great days with the Brauch Family. We parked the RV at the church parking lot and went to stay at Becky and Jeff’s house for two nights. We were able to catch up on our laundry and just relax. After a fantastic lasagna dinner, we played Wii with the family. Lynn thinks she may have been a little hasty when she didn’t encourage Ed to buy the system before we left on our trip. We found out we are pretty good bowlers!
Jeff came home from work about 1 in the afternoon on Friday so we went to Norfolk and toured the Meyer House and Museum. This is one of the oldest houses in Norfolk, VA. Then we also saw a church that still has a cannon ball stuck on the outside wall. The shot was fired in 1776. The graveyard around the church had grave stones from the 1600’s.
On the way back to the house, we finally had a chance to do some geocaching. We located three caches hidden in the area and we were able to find one of them. It was fun searching for the caches with Becky and Jeff. It was hard continuing our trip because of their great hospitality.

Pennsylvania

Monday 7/14/08 thru Wednesday 7/16/08
Today we drove to the Philadelphia/Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. We found gas to be very expensive in NY State, over $5 a gallon. We went over the border into PA and it dropped again. We were driving to a campsite where we had no reservations. We had found it in the AAA book or online. We were following the instructions of our GPS which started taking us on all these little roads. We knew we were going to a small town but it seemed we were in a residential area. We followed each step and as we arrived at the address it was definitely not an RV Park. This was the tightest spot we have been in yet and we were a little concerned about getting out. We turned to the GPS again and found another campsite. We were traveling all over these little country roads following the instructions but not feeling too confident. Finally a local came to our rescue and showed us the way to the camp.
We got a spot and set up camp. After having a quick dinner, we decided to look around the area so we would know what we were doing tomorrow. We were given a local map of all the Amish things in the area. Well, the map was not to scale and things that on the map were right next to each other were miles apart. We kept getting turned around and having to make u-turns. It was getting dark and we weren’t making much headway but at least we knew what road we wanted so we turned around and went back to the campsite.
In the morning, we took off to visit the Amish country. It didn’t take too long before we were seeing horse drawn buggies filled with children. It looked to us like they were going to school. We drove to Strasburg and took a ride on the Strasburg Railroad. It was a 45 minute ride through Amish country. From there, we drove to Intercourse, PA. This city has developed into a tourist area for Amish goods. We walked around through the shops for awhile. We even took a buggy ride ourselves. The ride took us through the countryside and through an Amish farm where we bought some lemonade and pretzels from an Amish girl.
On Wednesday we went to Philadelphia to do some sightseeing thru the Philadelphia and Independence National Historical Park. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Carpenter’s Hall, Franklin Court, Christ Church, Betsy Ross House and the Congress Hall. We saw a lot of history packed in about three hours time. We rushed out of Philly to go to Morristown, NJ to visit our friend Dave Scott. On the way there I got pulled over by the NJ State Police for driving too long in the left lane of the Turnpike. I was told that I could only be in the left lane long enough to pass and then I had to move back to the center lane to let other pass me. Even though I pleaded ignorance to that law he still gave me a ticket. I believe he was just picking on out of state drivers because I noticed that no one else was following that particular law. That kind of ruined the afternoon trip but we still had a good time with Dave.

St. Johnsville, NY

Sunday 7/13/08
We left our campground early this morning and stopped at a little restaurant for breakfast. We began the days driving at about 9. Almost as soon as we were on the road, we were driving in a pouring rain. It was a constant downpour for about three hours. Just before we reached our next camping site it stopped. We were staying at Crystal Grove Diamond Mine and Campground. Ed was going to dig for diamonds and get rich.
We were able to find the campground and got quickly set up so we could head out to the diamond mines. We were told the rain we had just come through was coming this way so we wanted to get started. We were given a hammer, shovel, and chisel to break the rocks. We also received a wire mesh tray to sift the dirt looking for the diamonds and a bucket to carry all our diamonds back to the campsite. Ed took to this mining thing, breaking apart rocks with his chisel and hammer. It didn’t take too long before he decided he would not become a miner. There were a few other people there who were kind enough to show us what we should be looking for. Meanwhile, Lynn is sifting dirt just expecting these diamonds to fall from the dirt. It didn’t take too long to realize the mesh was too big and she wasn’t going to find anything but rocks. She abandoned the tray and just looked through the dirt with her hands.
These “diamonds” we were looking for are Herkimer “Diamonds” or world famous quartz crystals found only in specific locations in New York State. They really are very pretty if you can find a complete diamond. Anyway, we are bringing home lots of rocks with crystal pieces in them. I don’t know if we can do anything with them when we get home except to use them as a door stop.
After working for a few hours and watching the sky and hearing the thunder, we decided we had better head back to camp. We were about 200 yards from our site when the heavens opened up. It was coming down so hard we were almost soaked in a few seconds. We had the awning up on the RV and it was like a waterfall coming off of it. We just stared at all the water coming down all around us. We knew we were staying put for the rest of the evening. That was a good thing because Ed was worn out from all his mining.

Niagara Falls

Thursday 7/10/08
We left Joanne and Dave’s at about 8 this morning. We had a pretty long drive ahead of us going to the Lansing, Michigan area. This is the first time we haven’t had reservations so we are not sure where we are staying. We found a nice campground and had no problem getting a site.
Friday 7/11/08
Ed decided to have the oil changed in the truck this morning so we didn’t get off until almost 10. We were making good time traveling through Michigan on our way to Canada. When we got to the border, we were following the trucks and by the time we saw we were to be in the auto line no one would let us move over to the line. They waved us over to the truck line. That’s where all the trouble began. The border officer wasn’t too pleased with us because we were in the wrong line. She proceeded to send us to the immigration office to have our passports checked along with a few other RV people. They were checked and then we had to go to the customs office where they took our passports and we were told to wait in the trucker’s waiting room. There we waited with the other RVers and truckers for about an hour and a half. The other RVers were released and they finally came and got us so they could do a search of the truck and RV. After about a 20 minute search of every cubby, drawer and door they said we could leave. Ed’s parting comment was “how did you like the RV?” So the lesson learned from this is when you are in Canada, don’t ever get in the wrong line. They don’t like it!
We finally made it across Canada and to the US border crossing. There they also wanted to see inside the RV. The Canadian’s must have called them and warned them about us. Ha, Ha.
We proceeded to find our campground which was about 12 miles outside Niagara Falls. This camp is a state camp and the sites are wonderful although it wasn’t a full hook-up. We only had electricity. Next time we need to be better prepared for dry camping. We didn’t carry water with us. This camp is right next to Lake Ontario and we could see the lake from our site.
After we set up camp, we took a drive to Niagara Falls to check out the place. By that time it was dark so we saw the falls lit up with flood lights of different colors. Another surprise we had that evening is that at 10pm they shot off some fireworks over the falls. This again made up for missing the fireworks over Mt. Rushmore.
Saturday 7/12/08
We got up early so that we could be in town by 9am because we were warned that the crowds would be large and we might not find parking. When we got there the place was pretty empty and we had no problems parking. The first thing we did was ride the boat Maid of the Mist which cruises the base of the American Falls and then the basin of the Horseshoe Falls. Even wearing the flimsy rain poncho they gave us, we got pretty wet but it was well worth the ride. We also walked the Crows nest trail which took us right next to the American Falls. After that we took the trolley to Goat Island so we could go see the Cave of the Winds. This trail takes you to the base of Bridal Vail Falls and you can even touch the falling water. For this trip we were again given flimsy rain ponchos and sandals to use in place of our shoes. This was good because we could stand right under the water fall. If you haven’t done this you need to experience it yourself.
We spent a few hours walking around the National Park looking at the other sights. In the afternoon we walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada were we walked along with about a million other people to see the falls from the Canadian side. This time they let us in without any problems since we were in the right line! But we did have to pay 50 cents to get out of Canada and cross the bridge back to the US side.

Wisconsin

Monday 7/07/08 to Wednesday 7/09/08
We had an uneventful ride from Minnesota to Wisconsin. We arrived at Joanne and Dave’s (Lynn’s sister and brother-in-law) about 3 in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon talking and resting. On Tuesday, we went to see House on the Rock. This is a house that a man, Alex Jordan, built on top of a pinnacle of a rock. He was a collector of many things so he started adding buildings to house all his collections, from many animated and automated music machines to a five million dollar carousel (the world’s largest), he has a collection of about anything you can think of.
On Wednesday, we awoke to a beautiful clear and sunny day. We had decided to go bike riding in Madison around the lake. Debbie and the kids were going with us. We met at about 11 and started off. We didn’t get too far when part of the group stopped to see otters and a turtle in the lake. The problem was the rest of the group didn’t know they had stopped. We regrouped and started off again. We then stopped at the convention center where we could take the bikes on and elevator and go up to the top. We spent some time looking at all the views and started off again. We only stopped one other time when there was a disagreement on the route to take. It was 5 to 3 with neither group giving in. Alicia came over to our side and then we finally got Ed and Dave to come over. We started off again and made it to our lunch stop where Chris was meeting us. We had gone five miles. Some in the group were feeling pretty good about that.
We stopped for lunch at the Madison Gardens so after lunch we toured the gardens. There were so many beautiful paths and flowers to see. We spent a while wandering through the gardens. It was beginning to feel warmer and getting later so we started off again.
There was some discussion as to whether we should go back the way we came or continue around the lake. The problem with continuing around the lake was that it was not always going to be a path, we would be riding on some streets, too. Again, we were divided on who wanted to do what but we soon decided we could all make it around the lake. Well, we had quite a ride. We were on some streets and we had a few hills. Some in the group had a little trouble with the hills (I won’t name names) but we all made it. We finished our ride having gone 13 miles. Everyone was a little tired but we all felt good and the locals felt they could do that again.
We all went back to Joanne and Dave’s and had a very nice dinner. We showed them the pictures of our trip so far. We said goodbye to Debbie and Chris and family and prepared for our tip to Michigan the next morning.

Faribault and The Mall of America Minnesota

Sunday 7/6/08
We were on our bike ride by 9:30. It was in the high 70’s with the sun shining and not too humid, yet. The trail was a nice paved trail, very straight and pretty flat. It was a nice ride passing one or two lakes and we went through the Sakatah State Park. We went off the trail at Morristown to ride around the town a little bit. Again, it was pretty quiet and closed up. Back on the trail we road to Waterville and stopped for an ice cream. After touring the town, we turned around and headed back down the trail. By this time is was in the high 80’s and pretty humid. It was a very easy ride but it was 38 miles. We were pretty tired by the time we got back to camp.
We cleaned up and headed to Bloomington, MN for the Great Mall of America. Once again Ed is just thrilled. We got there about 5pm and decided to have dinner first. We had a nice dinner at Tony Romas. We were looking through the stores when we heard the announcement that the stores would be closing at 7pm. We found out that the rides would be open until 9. So, we really didn’t get to do much shopping. We found the rides and had a ride on the roller coaster. So we can now say we have been on a roller coaster at the Great Mall of America. We left the mall and headed back to camp. It was raining when we got back, so we did not have a campfire. Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin.

South Dakota to Minnesota

We have not been able to connect to the internet until today Tuesday 7/15/08. They don't have a Starbuks on every corner around here so we'll try to do some posting today. Also, thanks to all who have responded to our posts. It's great reading your comments.

Saturday 7/5/08
The four of us had a leisurely breakfast talking about old times and catching up on our lives today. The kids were still in bed because of the late night last night. We walked around the property and were introduced to the chickens and kittens and enjoyed their beautiful yard. We had to leave our best campsite yet and were on the road by 1pm. If you are ever driving by Brookings, SD and you need a nice place to relax, give Bob and Donna a call.
On the way to Faribault, Minnesota, we stopped in Walnut Grove at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. We are still trying to make up for Ed missing The Corn Palace! We ate at Nellie’s diner and saw Oleson’s Mercantile. We needed to be here a week from now because they are having The Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant and they expect people from all over the world. It lasts for three weekends. While we were there, on the 4th of July weekend, it was pretty quiet with not many places open.
We pulled into Faribo RV Park at about 7pm, we missed the brats and hot dogs. After setting up we did some grocery shopping and checked out where the bike trail started. We went back to camp and had dinner with a camp fire. It has been very windy here today so we want to try to get a bike ride in tomorrow morning.