Enjoying Our Dash

After Niagara Falls, we began our trek west. Our first stop was south of Cleveland. Here we checked out the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a 33,000-acre park that borders Cleveland to the north and Akron to the south. The park protects 20 miles of the Cuyahoga River, which flows north into Lake Erie. This park has a lot of different types of areas to explore. Unfortunately we only had a short time to explore the park. From the map below, you can get a sense of just how large the park is. We headed over to the Brandywine Falls area and hiked the Brandywine Gorge loop. It was very hilly, but a good time was had by all. The ‘falls’ were pretty, but considering where we had just come from, they looked more like a faucet! Our next stop was the Toledo area. Ed and I both lived in this area for several years. We had a chance to drive past our old houses and the Chrysler (Jeep) factory we were part of building back in 2000. In additio...

We had a great time in the Niagara Falls area. The first day we were there, we went over to see the falls during the day. As a kid, I remember going to Niagara Falls, but there were several things that I didn’t remember. First off, I didn’t remember that there are more than one fall. The most well known is the Horseshoe Fall, but there is also the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls. Below are pictures of the Horseshoe Falls. I also didn’t remember how close you can get to the falls. The Bridal and American falls are just as beautiful. In several of the pictures, you can see people on one of the tours. They have their yellow ponchos on and are getting soaking wet on the boardwalks and around the falls. Looks like fun, but not for me. I’ll stay at the top nice and dry, thank you! We had some intel that at night time, they light up the falls and there are also fireworks, so back to the falls at night to see more beauty. It was just beautiful to see...

Our first stop in New York was at a campground on Lake Champlain. It was a scenic ride getting there from Vermont. We stayed at a beautiful private campground that was essentially the homestead of the owner. For this location, I had to call to make the reservation. No online booking. When we checked in, the person opened the file box and pulled out my hand written reservation with all the information that the owner had gathered when she took my reservation months ago. Kind of amazing in this day and age. Our site was beautiful and Cole loved the open field, so he could explore off leash. One morning I had a chance to put the drone up and get a picture of the lake. It was a little foggy, but the lake was still beautiful. default While in the area, we took a ride to Lake Placid to do a little exploring. There we saw the ski jumps and the Whiteface Mountain ski area. These places look much different (and steep) without snow! As you cross the bridge over Lake Champlain, you com...