Day 29 - The Sights and Sounds of the Midwest

Thursday, June 28, 2018
Posted from: Kamp Komfort - Carlock, Illinois
Miles driven: 420
Total trip miles: 4,819

A couple hours into today’s trip, we were suddenly very much in the Midwest. We saw the first corn field, the first Casey’s sign, and a Ruan Transport semi within 20 minutes of each other.

Caleb slept the first two hours of the day. Nothing could wake him up. 

Other than the excitement of being back in the Midwest, today was relatively uneventful. 

We arrived at the campground (we have not had advance reservations for the past week, so we are never exactly sure where we will be staying. 

This one was a really nice and simple interstate campground. Great for an overnight stop. There were only two things worth commenting on. 

1) The pool equipment had broken down two days prior, so they had to shock it yesterday which made the water look funny. But today was the hottest day of the vacation so far, so we all swam anyway. 

2) This is an interstate campground, so it is understood that there will be interstate noise. Today however was special. There was serious road construction going on directly on the other side of the bush hedge from our campsite. I’m talking jackhammers, heavy trucks, concrete cutters, and anything else they could think of that might make noise. Standing outside our camper about 10 feet from each other, we were yelling and still could not hear each other. It was insane. But I figured, their day would end by 4:00 or 5:00. I figured wrong. They did stop at some point before we went to bed, so that was good. It was actually surprising how quick I got used to the noise. 

And then the train went through. Like I was pretty sure it went through the campground. Horn blaring the whole time. Loud like nothing I’ve heard. 

Observe the map below. Camping is so freaking peaceful. 

We are the red circle; Construction is the yellow circle; Freight train is the green arrow. Yippee!

Not sure why we all piled on the couch, but Dad had the camera handy to take a picture.

After a salad dinner (to use up produce, cheese, eggs, and meat) and prepping the camper for our final short day of travel tomorrow, we relaxed and watched the last half of the last Harry Potter movie. Good news: the evil people lose; the good people win. 

Day 28 - The Long Way Home

Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Posted from: Wolfie’s Family Campground - Zanesville, OH
Miles driven: 351
Total miles: 4,399

Today was one of those moments in a marriage where you really have to on the exact same page or abort the mission. My brain could not comprehend that we would spend a month traveling out east and not enter one of the states. West Virginia. There was simply no easy logical way to get to this state based on the route we were taking. We came close early in the trip, but not close enough to make sense. 

We have three days to get home and we plan to use them all, though we could easily do it in two days. Driving through West Virginia would add a total of three hours to our three day trip home. 

But the driver had to be on board. And without really saying anything it was just understood that this was the route we would take home. We did not want a replay of the North Dakota scandal of 2016. You may have noticed that North Dakota is a giant white rectangle on our map. Oh the agony! Matt wanted to try to go on our two month vacation, but it would have added an extra day that we just didn’t have. Thus the giant white space. Not this time. 

So we started out. It was noted that whoever put this "Pet Area" sign at this rest stop is not a big fan of pets...or their owners. It is hard to see in this picture, but the road behind the sign is the interstate. There was maybe 15 feet between the sign and the 70 mph interstate. Sorry Fluffy. 

So we finally arrive in West Virginia. We needed fuel, so we pulled off to fill up at what Google considered a truck stop. Picture the smallest gas station in your hometown. Yup. Here we are. The diesel was an old separate pump. We should have known better. We are smarter than this. Aren’t we? 

Next door was a Pizza Hut. Below is a picture of the parking lot of said Pizza Hut. We actually were smarter than this. We decided our lunch meat sandwiches sounded better. 

So we fill up and try to pull back out. The only way to do this was to block traffic momentarily until the light turned green. This really pissed people off. Honking and yelling ensued. Not kidding. Matt just tipped his hat. It took all of 15 seconds for us to wait at the light and move through the intersection. 

As if the warm West Virginia welcome wasn’t enough, about 20 miles later the truck went into limp-mode. Matt was immediately sure it was bad fuel. Ugh. 

As luck would have it, there was an exit one mile ahead with a large abandoned Kmart parking lot that appeared to be used as an unofficial truck stop. With the four-ways on and running at about 25 mph, we got off the interstate. (Limp mode means it won’t accelerate much or shift. It is designed to protect the motor and transmission when something goes wrong, but still allow you to get off the road.)

We had plenty of space to swap in a new fuel filter. (Matt always travels with two for just such an occasion.) So all hands were on deck to get Dad what he needed. Step stools, cups, trash bags, paper towels, water, moral support, prayers, etc.

The truck started up and the engine seemed to rev up just fine. Back in the truck. Back on the road. It ran like a dream. Whew. That could have been much worse. 

And speaking of much worse...we saw this guy. It appeared this trailer had met up with some sort of giant can opener. Several possible scenarios were tossed around, but the most likely was that this trailer was hauling Oreo cookies and tipped over. The Jaws-of-Life had to be used to save the cookies. Probably. 

What our camper map would look like if we chose the short way home...It gives me anxiety just looking at it. I mean, North Dakota is bad enough, am I right? To do it once is forgivable, but twice? 

Ahh. Much better. Introducing the final map picture of the trip. 17 new states filled in. 36 total. 20 total on this trip.

Happy travelers!

The sunset at the campground was beautiful. Matt and I went on a walk while the kids washed dinner dishes.

Oh, and then we laundered some money. Not sure who’s to blame for this, but I’m pretty sure it was a minor, so prison time should be minimal.

We ended the day watching the first hour of the last Harry Potter movie before bed.
Another travel day in the books.

Day 27 - Niagara Falls

Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Posted from: Sleepy Hollow Lake Campground - Akron, NY
Miles driven: 79
Total miles: 4041

Today we get to experience Niagara Falls.

We left the campground around 9:30 am. We slept in a bit after our late night last night. It took about 45 minutes to get to the falls. On a Tuesday at this time of day, we found rock star parking by the visitor center.

After doing a little research, we decided the simplest option for us was purchasing a discovery pass that allowed us access to the most popular attractions. There were three we knew we were going to do and the individual price for these added up to the cost of the pass, so if we didn’t have time to do the other three things we didn’t lose any money. I like easy vacation decisions!

First on our list was Cave of the Winds. We did this first because of a travel tip we read online. The person said that you are required to wear and then get to keep a pair of sandals at the Cave of the Winds. Then you can wear these sandals on the Maid of the Mist boat ride into the falls where your feet can get pretty wet. Made sense to us.

Mandatory sandals

Mandatory selfie

Bridal Veil Falls is the smaller of the Niagara Falls behind us. American Falls is the larger falls to the left.

The kids loved this whole experience. You could get as wet as you wanted...or stay somewhat dry (except your feet and pant legs if you are wearing pants).

They build this whole red decking structure each spring and tear it down each fall. Crazy.

This part of the deck is called the Hurricane deck. You can stand here and feel in a small way what the power of this water feels like. It was actually pretty intense.

After the Cave of the Wind experience, we ate lunch at the park cafe.

After lunch we walked to an overlook. The picture below is a better view of the complex deck structure we were just on.

In the picture below you can see the American Falls, the observation tower where you take elevators to board the Maid of the Mist, and Rainbow Bridge where you can cross via car or on foot from the United States to Canada.

Next stop: Maid of the Mist.

Again, we were got right on the boat and we were almost first in line so we could stand wherever we wanted.

Almost to Horseshoe Falls!

Our next adventure was a walk across Rainbow Bridge to get to Canada.  Caleb was so excited to be in another country and use his passport for the first time. There was a bit of a line to get through boarder control, but it only took 12 minutes. 

Once in Canada we enjoyed the better views of the falls, as we walked toward the zip line. A few of my friends had recently mentioned this new attraction added in 2016. I’ll admit that it sounded awesome. I mentioned it to the kids last night to see what their reaction would be. I was surprised that all three wanted to do it, especially Caleb who has a tiny fear of heights. 

So we asked how long it would take, and they said it would take about 60-90 minutes. We were meeting Matt’s cousin and her husband back at the campground for dinner, so we would be cutting it pretty close...Ah heck. Let’s do it! 

So we paid and signed in blood and off we went to...stand in line. And wait. And wait. After about an hour, it became clear this was going to take longer than 90 minutes. 

Yeah! We finally got helmets. 

This little kid was waiting in line with his older siblings and mom. He was not zip lining but he was very bored. He started playing with a blue piece of gum someone had stuck to the wall. He even put some in his mouth! His mom was standing right there watching him, so no one felt like they should say anything. It was so odd. 

We rode the elevator up to the platform, and got our harnesses. 

And finally we were up towards the front of the line. Caleb was getting a little panicky and asked if he could go back down. I said nope.

They have four zip lines, so Dad had to go with a separate group. He went first. 

Dad snapped some pictures of us coming down. It took Caleb about twice as long to come down. Grace and I tied. Cam was in the middle. 

Caleb made it! 

So fun!!

We all made it and enjoyed a great view of the falls. Zip lining isn’t so much a reckless roller coaster feeling, as just a joyful, free, wind-in-your-face kind of feeling. Euphoric might be the word. Pure fun. 

Zip lining took two hours from beginning to end. We have just enough time to get back to the camper if there isn’t a line to get through the United States boarder. There wasn’t! Whew! 

We arrived at the campground about 10 minutes before Amy and Pete. 

When we arrived, this was waiting for Caleb on the picnic table. Giving away toys for a kid is a big deal in Caleb’s opinion, so he said to me, "Mom, that was a big deal that he left his toy behind. And I love this car." And he did. He played with it the rest of the night. Thanks Cooper!!!

It was so good to spend time with Amy and Pete. We had just seen them at their wedding in St Paul in May, but it was nice to have a chance to relax and chat. 

We made pizza pockets with the pie irons over the fire. 

Caleb loves to start a fire and patiently continue to feed it and watch it. This is when he is at his most calm. (Mini Matt) There was an unused fire pit just a few feet from where we were sitting that no one was using, so we let him start his fire and enjoy it. 

Cameron went over to enjoy the fire for awhile.

At the end of our wonderful evening with these two, I realized we hadn’t taken a group picture! Arg! (When I get to campgrounds, the phone gets put away. That why we have so few pictures of campgrounds.) 

By now it was really dark. We tried to take one outside by the map, but it was so dark. So we went into the camper. It was so funny. We kept trying to get the lighting right. The whole time I’m kicking myself for not doing this in the daylight. 

Too dark!

We finally ended up with this and called it good. We won’t forget this fun evening with or without a picture. :)

Wow! We didn’t waste a single second of this day.