So Kristen finally got to see Niagara Falls. While we were pulling into the parking area she turned to me and said, "it's all just buildings and tourist crap." I reminded her that is what I said about it when she informed me of her plans to drag me to the retchid place.
I was actually surprised at how nice it was this time around. We walked along the river, looked at some incredible looking rapids, and then went around the point where the main falls is. Got some great pics of it all but I'm sitting in some BS campground near Erie, PA and my internet is being a bit bitchy. I'll put them up on this entry later on, hopefully when I find a spot where this damned thing actually gets a good connection. Ben (from the Verizon store in Newington) if your reading this I'm not what you would call a satisfied customer.
Anyway had a good couple of hours in Niagara along with Kristen and the Billiken. We then hit the road heading for the western NY wine country. This was astounding to me that there is a wine country as close as NY and nobody has ever told me about it. And to top it off it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It's like driving through the middle a cow pasture and then BOOM, wineries. Kris and I stopped by two along the way. The first was Sparkling Pond where a lady, whom reminded me very much of my mother, berated me and told me that if I wasn't quiet she would slap me. She was very knowledgeable about the many wines that she allowed us to taste and at the end I came out with a much better understanding of the 1100 meals you can pair with wine... We then headed over to Mazza Vineyards and entered the knock off stuccato (spelling?) building they built to pass as genuine. This must not have been the place to be as we were the only ones around but
the young lady working behind the counter was very friendly, polite and put up with our endless shortcomings.
Back in the van with 3 fresh bottles of wine, a sherry included, we were just a quick hop back to our campsite on route 5. When we entered we noticed that the front door had a strange sign on it that said "closed". We couldn't understand why on Earth a campground would be closed on April 14th, but the proprieter explained that just about every campground is closed at this point and offered us a nice dirt parking lot down near the lake. He said that if we were there in the morning he would "settle up with us". Thank god we didn't take his word for it or we would have spend another night in a sketchy parking lot surrounded by truckers.
So as I write this I'm sitting near the fire, having a beer (Dead Guy ale) and Kris is reading a book. All in all not a bad place to be on a blue bird evening. Just about ready to cook up some beans and franks and settle in for the night.
Tomorrow we may try to get past Chicago. I think with some luck and some 5 hour energy shots we can push past "Chi Town".
Hope you're all well!
I was actually surprised at how nice it was this time around. We walked along the river, looked at some incredible looking rapids, and then went around the point where the main falls is. Got some great pics of it all but I'm sitting in some BS campground near Erie, PA and my internet is being a bit bitchy. I'll put them up on this entry later on, hopefully when I find a spot where this damned thing actually gets a good connection. Ben (from the Verizon store in Newington) if your reading this I'm not what you would call a satisfied customer.
Anyway had a good couple of hours in Niagara along with Kristen and the Billiken. We then hit the road heading for the western NY wine country. This was astounding to me that there is a wine country as close as NY and nobody has ever told me about it. And to top it off it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It's like driving through the middle a cow pasture and then BOOM, wineries. Kris and I stopped by two along the way. The first was Sparkling Pond where a lady, whom reminded me very much of my mother, berated me and told me that if I wasn't quiet she would slap me. She was very knowledgeable about the many wines that she allowed us to taste and at the end I came out with a much better understanding of the 1100 meals you can pair with wine... We then headed over to Mazza Vineyards and entered the knock off stuccato (spelling?) building they built to pass as genuine. This must not have been the place to be as we were the only ones around but
the young lady working behind the counter was very friendly, polite and put up with our endless shortcomings.Back in the van with 3 fresh bottles of wine, a sherry included, we were just a quick hop back to our campsite on route 5. When we entered we noticed that the front door had a strange sign on it that said "closed". We couldn't understand why on Earth a campground would be closed on April 14th, but the proprieter explained that just about every campground is closed at this point and offered us a nice dirt parking lot down near the lake. He said that if we were there in the morning he would "settle up with us". Thank god we didn't take his word for it or we would have spend another night in a sketchy parking lot surrounded by truckers.
So as I write this I'm sitting near the fire, having a beer (Dead Guy ale) and Kris is reading a book. All in all not a bad place to be on a blue bird evening. Just about ready to cook up some beans and franks and settle in for the night.
Tomorrow we may try to get past Chicago. I think with some luck and some 5 hour energy shots we can push past "Chi Town".
Hope you're all well!
Good to hear that 5HEs are helping fuel this ride--I have thoroughly enjoyed your opening posts and look forward to more. Enjoy yourselves.
ReplyDeleteWilliam. I enjoy these posts immensely because:
ReplyDelete1. I can track the great trek of 2k10.
and
2. You have a rapist's wit.
but,
if you could tell Homeslice to throw up an entry - that would be rad.
Also.. more pics!!
Also, also.. love that you guys are out there actually doing this. Keep going.
J