We have been relaxing and enjoying the campground and surrounding area here in Austerlitz, NY, awaiting the arrival of our fearless leader.  It’s so pretty here.  It was hot and muggy the first day we arrived and then the next day it cooled off.  It is suppose to rain this week.  We went to a great  winery here.  We bought some wine and hard cider.  The winery was surrounded by lots of beautiful apple trees.  It reminded me of Apple Hill in the Placerville area.  They were making apple cider donuts.  Still warm, yum.  

Fall Colors in Austerlitz

It’s so nice to have a beautician on board.  Joleta cut my hair yesterday and she did a great job.  We got caught up on our laundry and we are ready to go.

Our leader has arrived.  It was good to compare stories.  We had cocktails and dinner together and discussed the up coming tour.

The official Fall tour has began.  We went to Chesterwood, which is the home and studio of Daniel Chester French.   Beautiful home and gardens and what a view. 

View from Daniel Chester Frenchs Porch

He created the minute man statue in MA and Abraham Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial. 

We had lunch at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA.  This Inn was built in 1773.  Absolutely  gorgeous.  I now feel like I’m in New England. We walked around this cute little town that Norman Rockwell also lived in.  So nice. Then we went on to the Norman Rockwell Museum.  This is the largest collection of Rockwell’s original art.  We saw some of his greatest art. He was a most fabulous artist.

We moved on to Rutland, Vermont, Ralph’s home town.  On the way we stopped in Manchester, Vermont and walked the town.  Lots of outlets and nice shops.  We all parked the RV’s in the Orvis parking lot.  It’s a high end store for fisherman and hunters.  We arrived at the Rutland Elks lodge.  It was a trick getting us in the parking lot but Ralph got it done.  Had dinner at the Elks and played Bingo.  Debbie won a game but had to share it with 6 others so she only made $12.00.

Wednesday we headed to the Vermont Marble Museum.  They had a nice theater and we learned that they quarried a 56 ton block and carved it into the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1931..  They had the hall of presidents all carved from marble.  A wonderful gift shop and a great tour.

We all had lunch together in a neat little restaurant that the locals told us about.. Then  on to Ralph’s Aunts original home that has been turned into an Antique store. 

We drove to Ralph’s old family home{1850’s} and dariy farm. 

 Ralphs childhood home

It was 200 arces when his family lived there, What a beautiful setting. His father sold it in the early 60’s and built a smaller home nearby.  The new owners sold off the property so houses have been built there.  His home now has 7 acres.  What a wonderful place to grow up.  Lots of great memories for Ralph.  We were glad to share this with our great friend.

What a treat we had for dinner.  Ralph’s cousins fixed a wonderful Prime Rib dinner for us all. 

Ralph and his two cousins

We were lucky enough to meet his Sister, cousins and several of his classmates.  All such nice people.  Charlie and Carol have a beautiful home and property with a wonderful view. How sweet to entertain all of us. We also heard some Ralph childhood stories. Seems he was into bomb making in his younger years,. We now call him the MAD BOMBER.

Ralph, sister and brother in law

Today its raining and it’s a free day so we will see what everyone does with there time.

Tonight,  Doris has promised us a Lobster Roll dinner at a place in town.

Tomorrow off to Woodstock and Plymouth.

Just a pretty picture

We have finally completed the first leg of our journey. We are in Austerlitz, New York awaiting the arrival of our fearless leader, Ralph Davis. Ralph and Doris will join us on Sunday.  He is attending his High School Reunion in Vermont.  We won’t mention the year though.  Bill and Ginny Mather will also be joining us and then our group will be complete.

Our tour guide Ralph has been great.  He has given us advice on attractions to see, road conditions, where to buy cheap liquor, all the essential ingredients for a great trip. 

Thank goodness John Becker told us about the EZPass.  Don’t leave home without it.  Ironically the states with the bad roads {Indiana, Illinois, and New York} have toll roads.

When we started this trip on Sept 1, I wondered what we would do with all that time.  It went fast.  We are having a great adventure and loving seeing this beautiful country.

The last few days have been full.  I loved the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.  I heard about it for years, so I was really looking forward to it.  I wasn’t disappointed.  All the great 49er legends were there. All the Super Bowl Rings.  They had the Refrigerator’s Ring {William Perry} a size 22.  It was the size of a large plum.

Football Hall of Fame

The next stop was Cleveland.  We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.  So many great Artist.  Cars and Motorcycles from greats like: Springsteen, Elvis, Bon Jovi.  Costumes that the greats wore.  Buddy Holly’s glasses.  There was a nice theater and it showed entertainers from the past.  Well worth the visit.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

We stayed in a state park in Lewiston near Niagara Falls.  Each site was the size of  3 normal sites.  We even got to put our feet in Lake Ontario.  A beautiful park.

We took a 4 hour tour at Niagara Falls.  We went on a boat called the Maid of the Mist. 

Niagara Falls

Everyone is issued a rain poncho and boy did you need it.  You get right next to the Falls, what a thrill.  Later in the day we went on the Cave of the Winds.  There we got another poncho and sandals.  You walk right out under the Falls.  It creates its own wind.  Fun, Fun, Fun.

We walked across the Bridge to Canada.  Had a great dinner there and watched the lighting of the Falls at night.  Just lovely.

Niagara Falls

Last night we spent the night at Syracuse, NY. At a Wal-Mart.  We had a 3 hour ride today.  New York is a very pretty state.  The trees are starting to turn colors and it was very pretty.  We drove past the Boxing Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  We are Hall of Famed out.

We are staying in a wonderful campground.  Lots of beautiful trees and very quiet.

Buddy has enjoyed the trip and been great.  We have let him out on his leash at most stops.  He has been content.

Time to relax…….

Buddy Enjoying  Our Trip

Our time in the Amana Colonies was fun.  We had a great German meal at Ox Yoke Restaurant.  We bought some nice Rhubarb Pie and German Chocolate Cake for desert for the next week.  We have been having dinner together most nights.  It works great with everyone providing a side dish and one couple making the main dish or all of us barbequing . 

We saw our first Fire Flies the last night at the Amana’s.  It was cool. I had not seen them since I was a kid.  Debbie had never seen them and she was like a little kid.  It’s fun to share the excitement of new experiences.

Tom & Sheryl Relaxing

We drove to Davenport, Iowa.  We spent the night at the Elks.  Really nice people.  They have 570 members.  The camping was inexpensive and we all played Bingo and that was more costly.

Chicago, what can we say.  Fantastic, Beautiful, First Class City.  We loved it.  We went to the Navy Pier. Chicago’s number one attraction.  You can see Michigan across the lake.  They have many options if you want to take a boat tour.  It was fun walking down the pier.  I have never seen a city with so many flowers.  They have potted plants everywhere.

Navy Pier

We went to Wrigley Field lots of history.  We walked the neighborhood and Al checked out the firehouse.  The firemen told us a great place to get a Chicago “Hot Dog”.  They were right, it was really good.  The traffic coming back to the RV was bad.  We stayed in Joliet about 30 miles away.  That was as close as we could get to Chicago. Thank God for GPS.  We would still be driving.  We drove pass the old Soldier Field.  I enjoy seeing all the stadiums in other cities.  San Francisco get with it!

The second day in Chicago we took the Double Decker Bus Tour.  This is a much more relaxing way to see the city.  They had 15 stops at attractions that you could get off and check out and then return to the Bus.  We had a great Tour Guide.  The architecture in the city is wonderful.

Chicago

 There is a mixture of old and new.  The Michigan Bridge is a draw bridge and they have to lift it for all the boats to go second day.  The city was so clean and everyone we met was helpful and friendly.  I want to come back.

We went to Elkhart, IN and took a tour of the RV Hall of Fame.  They had some classic old Trailers and RV’s.   In the future they are expanding but we were a little disappointed that they didn’t have more there.

RV Hall of Fame

 We drove to Decatur, and stayed in a Wal-Mart.  This is Amish country and how fun.  They have a barn in the parking lot of Wal-Mart for the horse and buggy’s.  We could hear the clip clop of the horses going by. 

Amish Carriages at Wal-Mart

We drove to Millersburg, Ohio a very large area of Amish people.  What a beautiful state.  We saw more trees and lakes and less corn.  The trees are starting to turn.  A lovely drive. Tom found a computer store there and we had the computer worked on. They had to reload Windows. It’s like new now.  Millersburg and the surrounding towns had lots of shopping.  It was exciting driving down the road and slowing to pass a horse and buggy.  They had the usual tourist items to buy.  Also they had a cheese factory, crafts, furniture, antique’s, and a lumber store nicer than I have ever seen any place.

Amish Familys Barn & Laundry

Today we went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Wow was it interesting.  I took lots of pictures of my favorite players and favorite team.  A good afternoon.  That’s it from Canton, Ohio

Sorry for the delay on this update, but the computer got a virus and in the process of moving some files to a back-up computer it got the virus also. Three days later and minus about 250 files, we are up and running again on both computers.

Our second week of traveling has been a little more relaxed. We have been traveling only about three hours a day.

We spent three nights in a small town called Elm Creek, Nebraska. Population was 894. The two restaurants in town were both closed on Sunday and again on Monday {Labor Day}. We have learned that you really need to be prepared and plan ahead. Luckly, Tom prepared and froze about 20 days of meals before we left. We have been eating in the RV a lot. There isn’t much available or close by. Next time we get to a Safeway we will be loading up the shopping basket.

We are getting tired of miles and miles of corn and soybean. The corn we have seen is mostly seed corn. It’s drying on the plant. They will use it next year to replant.

Elm Creek had Chevyland USA. The owner was interesting. A retired farmer who was given a book on 60 years of Chevy’s. He said if someone can write about it I can collect them. He did and also a lot more. He said every time he sold a crop he would buy a car.

Chevyland USA

We took a day trip into Kansas. My Grandparents lived in a little town called Logan, population 600. It was about 90 miles away. I met my cousin Gary. He was nice enough to give us a tour of the town.. There was a small grocery store, hardware and one café open. We had a nice lunch in the café and the best rhubarb pie I have ever eaten. Not much going on in town. We checked out the golf course. $2.00 to play around or $20.00 for the year. My Mom loved this little town so it was nice to get some pictures to show her. It was also nice to meet my cousin Gary. Some homes for sale around $15,000. I’m not ready to move. Nothing to do.

                                                Sheryls Grandparents and Parents house

We traveled next to Council Bluffs, Iowa. We stayed at the Horse Shoe Casino campground. We paid our Iowa taxes.

Horse Shoe Casino

Al and Debbie and Tony and Joleta met us there. They had been up at Mt. Rushmore. We watched Dog races for the first time. Tom and Tony had a theory. Everytime a dog would take a dump on the way to the start line, they would bet on that dog and they won some money. Tom won almost $60.00 on one dog. Omaha was just across the river, so we went to Lauritzen Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. The Model Railroad Garden was great. They also have two of the worlds largest locomotives, one steam and one diesel-electric.
We found another Diners, Drive in and Dive in Omaha “California Taco” It was 4 miles from our campground, but it took us 30 minutes to get there. The city is frustrating. Our GPS had us going around in circles. We had some good tacos but I don’t ever want to drive in Omaha again.
Today we toured the Amana Colonies in Iowa. Settled in the 1850s.by members of a religious sect mostly Germans. They lived communally until 1932. There were many shops: Furniture, Clocks, Wineries, Meat Shop, Christmas, Woolen Mill all in original historic buildings. Really a lovely area. Great weather and roads.

Heading to Chicago from here.

Mormon Tabernacle

In Salt Lake City, Utah, we went to see and hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We loved listening to the Choir. Something to scratch off the bucket list. We spent several hours in Temple Square touring the buildings. They were beautiful and very interesting. The grounds were full of flowers and everything was so clean. Well worth the time. Downtown Salt Lake has grown so much. There were high raise buildings everywhere. Lots of crane's working on new buildings. Lots of new construction. Road construction everywhere. The workers in Utah have jobs.
We met up with Debbie and Al Rizotto and Tony and Joleta Fernandes. We toured "Sweet's" candy making company. You could eat off the floors it was so clean. We bought freshly made taffy. So many flavors. Chocolate Chip our favorite.

Sweets Candy Co. Tour

We went to "Moochie's" for dinner. It was one of the diner's on Diners-Drive Ins and Dives recommendations. Great! We were happy. Had a fun day and evening together.

We moved on to Wyoming on Friday. Had trouble finding a campground in Laramie. We ended up staying at a KOA right on the highway. Couldn't wait to leave there. We did check out the old town and take a tour of Wyoming Territorial Prison. Built in 1872. Butch Cassidy spent some time there. They put people in there for writing a bad $25.00 check. Boy have times changed.

Wyoming Territorial Prison

Wyoming University is here and it looked pretty. Couldn't believe all the bikes. I guess the students don't all drive cars.

We drove several hours today and we are in Sidney, Nebraska. We are staying at a Cabela's campground. We will take a walk over and check out the store. World headquarters here, a huge warehouse next to the store.

We have had excellent weather 75-85*. They have tornado shelters in the bathrooms here at Cabela's. Hope we don't have to use them.

More to follow