Movin' on Up!

Grace has been 'pounding' the turf as she starts the high school band.  Evening practices on the football field to get the show ready for the new school season.  With tears of joy we moved Ella to Eau Claire so she too could get the show ready and start about nine days of band camp with the UWEC marching band.  She was able to move into her dorm earlier than most although the cafeterias aren't open yet so she is eating a lot of microwave oatmeal....while she waits for her roommate to arrive with the refrigerator.  It took a loaded truck an a trailer to get her dorm to feel like home, but we did it. Her and Amy did hit the tattoo shop the day before she moved out to get matching ink, a little something to keep both of them reminded that they aren't that far away from each other.  So excited for Ella's new adventure and to watch her emerge from her own chrysalis as she becomes her own women during these next few years.

Road Trippin'

 

We loaded up the family truckster earlyish on Friday Morning and headed to Cinncy.  All the Klans were gathering in that old German town with their cinnamon sliders.  Grace had the brilliant idea to not repeat the White Castle event of last year, so we packed up sandwiches and assorted car snacks before we left.  Mine were delicious even if they were gone by 10:30 am.  We did almost have a minor urinary issue on the north end of Chicago when we hit some traffic north of the Lake County Oasis and all the coffee I drank decided that it was only rented...but after we emptied containers in the truck just in case the traffic started to move and I made it safely.  The plan was to buy a lotto ticket (over $1B at the time) every time we stopped.  The rush to park made me miss the gas station exit at the oasis and we couldn't turn around to get a ticket, missing our first albeit not the last, chance at a big payout. The drive through IN and OH was mostly easy with limited construction.  We played a road/card game that Amy had picked up called "ShotGun" and laughed for an easy 90 minutes as we tried to rank each others outfits, admit to speeding fines, and try to get other drivers to wave to us all for game points. We spent two days there for festivities and catching up and tossed in a baby shower for the soon to be newest edition (coming in late September).  There were evening campfires and  yard games and Merrick and Nolan spent plenty of time on the Trampoline with Jack doing flips.  Jack was not to be wore out...at least not on that day.  Sunday morning we packed it up and headed north to Niagara Falls for the second part of the trip.  The drive was easy enough, with Bob, Nance and Nolan in tow.  We arrived to the house we rented and started to second guess our decision to stay.  It was passed the stage of run down and had clearly entered late stage blight.  The houses across the street had roofs falling in an fancy OSB windows. The houses behind were the same condition just closer to the abandoned and boarded church.  We googled a grocery store for supplies and drove through really tough neighborhoods to get there before just turning around and heading back to the house to wait for Bob, Nancy and Nolan.  There were less than impressed by the surroundings and Nolan just wanted to get 40s and sit on the porch while Grandma kept asking about the cancellation policy.  There was an old arcade cabinet with Rampage in the basement so that was a pleasant throw back while we debated the general safety of the area.  We found a WallyWorld on the map and drove there for some supplies before heading downtown to look at the falls and grab a burger at Hard Rock Cafe.  

Monday we were at the falls by 9 and in line for the Maid of the Mist.  It was awesome and we got soaked, not taking the elevator back up until we hiked into the Crow's Nest to watch the rainbows dance all around with the low angle of the morning sun.  We were mostly dried off by the time we walked over to the Cave of the Wind to get a yellow rain jacket to replace our Maid of the Mist Blue ones and head back down to river level.  We sneaked in some education for the three kids via short video about to economic history of the falls and Edison/Tesla battles of electricity transmission before descending the 180 feet to the river.  We were soaked as we hiked up to Hurricane Deck to feel the power of 60,000 gallons of water crashing down every second and the 75 mph wind that is created.  We could reach out and touch 'the falls' but the entire atmosphere was water.  Fortunately Grandprize and Grandma made it to the observation deck above us and picked out Grace's hair in the crowd and were able to watch us and we spotted them in time to wave back.  We headed back to the heat at the top of the falls and dried off as we walked to Anchor bar for lunch and the best wings we have every had. We did a little touristy shopping but no tchotchkes were purchased.  It was mid afternoon and we decided to drive north...mostly to avoid returning to our 'crib.' Heading toward Whirlpool State park to watch the massive sucking pools created in a belly of the river.  We hiked the trails and eventually put 14K steps on Grandpa's new knee...He did comment that "Andy, I just realized you hiked us!" The drive was fruitless as I didn't want to pay the entrance fee to Fort Niagara park so we just returned to the house to regroup and find a place for dinner.  Amy picked, and a solid pick it was, The Craft Kitchen for dinner.  The bar tender was a hoot and our Turkish waitress had us laughing as well, telling Grandma that "I am new here, and you are new here" as we worked through a slight language barrier to get our food....amazing pizza.  After dinner with the sun setting we walked back to the falls and the observation deck to check out the lights shining on the cascading water.  And hit our last souvenir shop for a sweatshirt and made our way back to the arbnb.

Tuesday meant it was time to head across the boarder and into Canada for the return along our northern circle.  Rainbow bridge was fast, although we were hesitant after the previous night had hours long lines to cross.  The trip across Ontario wasn't simple.  All of our phones/GPS guidance went haywire in both vehicles once we crossed the boarder.  Cell phone communication was also limited but ultimately we made our way and met up with the others in Sarnia before crossing the Blue Water Bridge back into USA.  We had a nice lunch at a little deli and Amy bought a cute little "Black Velvet" plant that was promptly confiscated as the boarder when we tried to reenter.  From Blue water it was just a matter of heading north out of Flint (although Grandprize headed towards Detroit for the second time that day) and into Mackinaw City to Cross yet another massive bridge, Mackinaw Bridge.  The green beast is a thing to see as you move along between Lakes Michigan and Huron into the UP.  We drove straight through, a long day, but made it home without incident on around 11 pm.