Tag Archives: Harvest Moon

Day 10, Wallmart, the JETS, Niagra Falls, Cinderella

Just as with Woodland Park, today we could slow down and breathe.  We boondocked last night at the Wallmart in Lexington Ohio.   That Wallmart is a guarded 24hr store that does not discourage overnighters.  We replenished our supplies and called it a night.  It had been a 555 mile drive from Missouri.  We were bushed.   Around 3:30 AM some inconsiderate trucker pulled in and fired up his generator.  That’s not cool.   He drove off half an hour later.  Surprisingly Ellen slept through.

The next morning we bought some popcorn from a cub scout family before heading off.  We mentioned we were from California and the woman said incredulously, “WHY?”  She assumed we had moved to Lexington, Ohio.  We had a great conversation.

DSC03789  DSC03804

The drive from  Lexington Ohio to Syracuse Ny is a relatively short one.  We stopped a few times to pick flowers along the road side.  This brings back strong family memories when I was very young.  The flowers we picked were beautiful.   Erie county is home of vineyards and wineries.

DSC03785   DSC03794

Lush Trees, Farm Land, and Vineyards dot the landscape in Erie County.

We could have make it a long day, but it’s Sunday and the JETS were playing.  At this point we needed to find a place to stop, watch the game, do laundry, and perhaps take a shower.  The JETS game showed at 10 AM PST, we were in EST a difference of three hours.   We could drive 2-3 hours then watch the game on DirecTv which assumes we’re still in Pacific Time! Ellen found a TA truck stop at Harbor Creek Pennsylvania that had it all plus a truck wash, and was a bit over two hours drive away.  Perfect.

TA Truck Stop, Harbor Creek New York

At that TA station, the laundry was great, we gassed up, filled DEF, and settled in, but the JETS lost.  We packed in the last of the laundry and headed off to New York easily forgetting the debacle we had witnessed.   Passing Buffalo, we both though, “why not stop at Niagara Falls?”  We could catch sunset over the falls.   Again with AllStays, Ellen found two campgrounds on Grand Island.  She called both and we made a reservation at Cinderella Motel and Campsite and we continued on to the falls.

DSC03808

What Is This?

Niagara Falls

Somehow we drove right into the closest Niagara Falls parking lot and walked to the overlook.

DSC03868   DSC03869

DSC03850   DSC03894

We hope to ride “Maid of the Mist” tomorrow.  Being off season and in the evening, the falls were not crowded.  The US side of the falls is commercialized, but it is nothing like the Canadian side with two casinos dominating the night-time view.

DSC03899

We saw sunset from the US side and we’ll see sunrise from the Canadian side tomorrow morning before pushing on.

DSC03848

We backtracked to our campsite, connected, and found that the trees to the south blocked our DirecTv antenna.  The off-the-air HD antenna worked fine and we’re watching CSI Las Vegas.  Ellen grabbed me to go out and see the eclipse of the Harvest Moon.  I ran back, grabbed my long camera, and took this photo.

IMG_9966

Crickets!

Two more things before we head off this morning.  << No Photos This Post>>

Harvest Moon Eclipse

Kim “reminded” us that there will be an eclipse of the moon this Sunday.  The moon will be a red harvest moon.  Don’t miss it!

Lazy Day Campground, Danville Missouri

We are up early this morning.  One RV was leaving and two gals were setting up to go.  We will not be the first ones on the road today.  Sunrise was welcome with clear skies of a wonderful pale blue.  I heard the unmistakable call of a raptor walking back to The Beast.

Last night the crickets were riotous.  I think the occasional frog threw a croak into the cacophony.  It would be fun to explore the state park and to stay another evening for the cricket concert.  I would rather spend a day in Dayton and Yellow Springs.  We’ll push on.

Ray and Ellen

Yesterday we stopped at a home depot; I wanted to get a kneeling pad like the one Jim loaned me at Woodland Park.  Walking back to the RV, there was an SUV pulled right up to our rig and a couple engrossed in conversation with Ellen.  Ray and Ellen saw us pull in and are thinking about touring the country.  Ray would be gone already, but wanted to show his wife what an RV is like.  They had all sorts of questions about Li’l Beast, but mostly wanted to get our impression of life on the road.  A bit embarrassing, we’re having an issue with the stair motor.  Sometimes it refuses to extend.  A few swift taps with a rubber mallet is enough to bring it back to life.  Ray was amused.  His wife climbed aboard and spent some time getting a tour while I spoke with Ray.  Ray said there’s no reason a Jake Brake could not be added to the diesel.  He had worked as a boat builder in Mendocino Ca,, then as a mechanic, and is now working as a respiratory technician.  We left with Ray more firmly convinced he’ll tour the US in one and I think we went some distance to assuring his wife it would be fun and not misery.

It amazes me how talkative the people we’ve met on our trip have been.  I think the pace of life in the Bay Area is messed up.  It feels like everyone has so much to do in a day, they do not have time to simply “be”.   I feel that the people in the states we’ve visited take things much more slowly. The first few days this was annoying.  Standing in line at Safeway or Home Depot waiting for people to check out was frustrating.  It took “too long” as they slowly loaded up the conveyor or spent that extra four minutes talking to the clerk.  After a while it dawned on me that it’s not so bad to take time to “be with” other humans.  Slowing down and cramming less into a day makes for much more courteous and fun exchanges with people.

I think of my conversation with Charles at Woodland Park RV Campground as we prepared to leave.  It was a good twenty minute conversation and it was FUN.  I learned a bit about Charles, more about the campground and local politics, and he learned a bit about me and our travels.  He is a believer.  I am not.  We found common ground in disparaging televangelists and the like,  We both share similar beliefs in how to live life:  with god in his case, without in mine.  We were not all that different, though I’ll never be able to talk as slowly or as convincingly as Charles, a true Texan.

Everyone has a tale to tell if you simply listen.