Saturday 29 June
Our blood pressure dropped a little further today. We were up at 7am and on the road by 7.45am, for the 4-5 hour drive to the Florida Keys. I reminisced about the good Tom Cruise days and the ‘Cocktail’ movie as we drove through Key Largo (perhaps to some of you that means a Beach Boys song rather than a movie…) and even though we weren’t stressed before that, we became more and more relaxed with each bridge we crossed and each Key we drove through. The whole area has such a relaxed, carefree, summer holiday feel.
The weather is warm and balmy, and everyone we pass is dressed to swim or fish. We enjoyed seeing so many ‘Slice of Life’ type boats (sorry, you have to have seen Dexter to understand that reference!). The Overseas Highway linking all the Keys has been named one of America’s most scenic drives, and we understand why.
We headed straight for the KOA RV park at Sugarloaf Key to book in. The kind manager was going to give us a site near the pool, but decided there was a noisy group of 20-something’s there, so upgraded us to a beachfront site. We reversed our RV into the spot, and the photos below show what was on our doorstep!
After a late lunch, we headed straight out to the beach behind us and then the pool for a swim. We then drove the motorhome into Key West at 4.30pm to explore Mallory Square and the main shopping strip of Duvall Street before the famous sunset at Mallory Pier. This is the southernmost point of the USA. I found a little takeaway place for dinner as the restaurants we looked at were expensive and didn’t have kids’ menus. The Conch Shack as it was called had three awards of excellence from Trip Advisor up from this year and the last two (is that what the Eagleview award looks like, Robyn?). We were too hot to eat much, so the kids and Ross all chose a hot dog, and I tried Conch Fritters with lime aioli. Now those who know me know I don’t try new things, but as this area is known as the Conch Republic, I had to be brave! And the fritters were delicious! With newfound confidence, I went in search of key lime pie, another specialty of the area. We opted for icecreams instead as we sat at the pier, planning to buy some pie on the way out.
We wandered back up to Mallory Square with our icecreams, where a crowd was gathering. It was surreal to see so many people all heading in the same direction, talking in hushed tones as if moving towards a religious experience. The Pier itself is busy and full of buskers and entertainers, on the pier (jugglers, firebreathers and singers), and in the water (jet pack joyriders, which the kids loved!). The sunset was amazing at first, but clouds covered the sun as it got closer to the horizon, so there was no grand finale.
We wandered back to where we had parked the RV next to a naval base and Coast Guard boat exhibit, and headed back to Sugarloaf Key, WITHOUT key lime pie! The route back did not take us past any of the stores we had previously seen selling it, so we have decided we will not leave here tomorrow until we have tried it!
It is now 10.45pm and the kids are back in the pool, as are half a dozen others! The weather is still so warm, we decided to take them for a rare treat of a late night swim. I am writing this as they cool off…oops! The manager just came to tell us the pool is actually closed! Abi saw a sign today that said the pool was open from 8.00am to 0.00 (ie. midnight). It now turns out that there should have been a 1 in front of the 0.00 (ie. 10pm)!! He was very nice, and the kids thought it was funny we had broken a rule!
Tomorrow we head to Miami…after key lime pie of course…

Friday 28 June
After a leisurely set off from Perry, we drove ALL day. Our goal was just to get down the Florida coast as far as Ross could cope with, to get us closer to the sightseeing destinations we are aiming for of Key West and Miami.
I served snacks and supervised homework as Ross drove, so our first stop was lunchtime. One thing we think Australia does better than the US is roadside rest areas and playgrounds. We have had trouble finding them along the way, and the couple of times we have asked the Navman for suggestions, it has taken us to dead ends! After finding such a dead end today, we turned down a nearby road and saw an oval and a parking area ahead so stopped there, planning to park under the shade of a tree, eat at the picnic table there, and play some soccer (with a soccer ball purchased at our outlet shopping day).
As we set up, a man drove up in a golf buggy to ask us were we the missionary family they had been expecting! We then discovered we were not at a local park, but were on the grounds of Ruskin’s First Baptist Church. He kindly let us use the space to have our lunch rather than remove us for trespassing. I suggested to Ross he had just missed his calling for a new career – it might have been an opportunity to live in another country and escape the embarrassing circus that is Australian politics! 😉
We reached a KOA RV park in Naples at 4.30pm, where Ross called time out. The kids were able to spend a good hour in the pool and time at the playground, I had all my laundry washed and dried and folded before dark, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. Recommended to us in Kentucky by the KOA manager who sat up talking to us half the night, we have looked for the restaurant since. It has even inspired me to try and recreate a couple of the dishes when I get home – shock horror! 😉

We all camped in the motel room and left the RV empty last night, as we felt it was secure and it was just too hot to stay in. We returned to it for breakfast though and headed east after that. We soon left Mississippi (again) and drove through part of Alabama (the city of Mobile) on our way to Florida. Ross mapped out our way last night, deciding to take the scenic route along the Gulf Coast. I have had a lot of reflection and reading time while Ross is driving. I have given a lot of things consideration, and discovered I am not very patient at home-schooling 😉 I am now onto the fourth book I brought with me, a collection of true stories about people at the end of life’s journey…I am self-analysing the choice of literature I brought with me…
The scenic route landed us at Panama City Beach at lunchtime. We decided to stop there for a break, some lunch and a swim. The sand was so white, and the water so warm it was like a warm bath rather than a refreshing swim in the ocean. (The kids loved it anyway, although Ross and I found the shower at the end of the beach more refreshing than the ocean!) It was a lovely swim, and a nice break from all the driving. We had to limit our time to make sure we didn’t burn.
The lunch stop gave us the energy to continue on for another 160 miles to our destination for this evening, a KOA campground in the town of Perry, chosen purely because Ross needed to stop and it gets us that bit closer to our goal of Miami. It is strange to read of the cold and rain, flooding and missed soccer games at home, as we are very hot! We have arrived in daylight, so we have time for another swim for today and the luxury of finding the facilities and setting up before dark!! 🙂

I was keen to go to New Orleans via Baton Rouge today, but the lack of wifi last night meant I couldn’t research the destination well enough. We drove through Baton Rouge anyway and down by the riverbank in the Louisiana State University area, but could not find anything tourist worthy, so travelled on to New Orleans. We stopped in the suburb of Kenner on the way in to walk over the levy bank to see the Mississippi River up close, and then headed downtown.
The detours were costly. By the time we arrived in New Orleans and found a visitors centre, we had just missed the departure of both paddle steamer cruises we had considered going on. Ross was not keen to stay there overnight because we have a big drive to Florida to do, but we were disappointed to miss the river cruises. It was also disappointing to find it would be impossible to take the RV into the French Quarter. We drove down to the Warehouse/Convention Centre district, and walked back up to the French Quarter.
Our walk up from where we parked the RV took us along the Riverwalk. Loud claps of thunder accompanied our steps, so while the intention had been to seek out some lunch (it was by now after 2.30pm), we thought we should explore the French Quarter first and then seek shelter and lunch when the storm hit. The IMAX theatre was showing a movie called “Hurricane on the Bayou” which looked interesting, but our parking was only for two hours, so we thought we would consider that on the way back if there was time.
We explored Jackson Square and some streets in the FQ, and stopped to listen to some buskers play. The music was great. We noticed one group with a big audience as we walked past took a break, and when they returned to play again the entire audience had moved on. Jarrod at that point commented “if that was me busking there, Snowy would tell me to toughen up and not take a break if it means the audience leaves!!” 😉
The storm never arrived, and by 4pm we hadn’t had lunch (as Jarrod and Zac kept reminding us). We didn’t think we had time to sit in a restaurant by that stage, as our parking was due to expire, so went in search of something to go, only to find food court cafes had closed for the day! We finally found a cafe at Canal Place shops still open, so ordered a shrimp platter and gumbo just to try it! We then returned to the IMAX to find the movie was only on twice a day at 1pm and 4pm, so we had missed that too! I was regretting my lack of research in all the time wasting and missing activities we had been planning to do.
My view of New Orleans is that it is probably another city to explore as adults and in a smaller group than 8. We had some strange people and some beggars approach us, and felt we should keep the kids close!
We decided to leave the city by taking another detour, as Ross had discovered in his research at home an exit from New Orleans that took you over the longest continuous bridge in the world (26 miles long) over Lake Pontchartrain. It was an interesting detour. From there we travelled as far as Ross was willing to drive. He was hoping to get as far as Mobile, Alabama, but we stopped in Moss Point, Mississippi. Being back in Mississippi, we opted for a motel again rather than an RV park, so I price shopped and scored with a Quality Inn motel that offered free popcorn and icecream, and was next door to a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. It is so hot here that we opted for a swim in the pool before a (very) late dinner at the restaurant next door. Unfortunately, eating after 9pm meant we couldn’t fit in icecream or popcorn as we had planned!!
It is now after 12am, everyone has crashed for the night and I will too once my laundry load finishes 🙂 Our goal now is Miami, which is a long drive from here so we will have a full day on the road tomorrow.

Tuesday 25 June
Our accommodation last night was in West Memphis, which was actually across the border in Arkansas. So we drove the long distance (well, 20 minutes) back into Tennessee to Elvis Presley’s home. The tour of the Graceland Mansion was actually much more impressive than I expected – we did it because we were in that part of the country, but it was very informative and made us want to buy some Elvis albums!
We followed into the parking lot a car with a number plate that said ‘Elvis’ so were concerned we would be surrounded by extreme fans, but the day was just fine. The tour of the mansion was well organised, walking you through the house from one end to the other, listening to your own audio tour through headphones, and the tour and commentary ended at Elvis’ graveside. I paid $3 extra per ticket (the little kids were free) to upgrade us from the mansion tour to a “Platinum” tour, which included six extra exhibits including Elvis’ car museum and exploration of his private planes.
We considered an early lunch at the Rockabilly cafe but as each meal would have cost at least $10, we skipped that in favour of a $2.99 icecream cone. The kids thought it was great we have had icecream for dinner on this holiday and now lunch…
We then left Memphis and went in search of somewhere to print, scan and email some work documents back to Australia. At a post office I was told they couldn’t do any of that, but the kind lady did photocopy my documents for me anyway. We then had a laugh about our language barrier, as I asked her if I could post them to Australia – she told me you post things up on bulletin boards, you MAIL documents…;) three pages in an envelope and $45 (!!!!!!!!!) later, the docs are on their way home! We then tried a uni and a local library, but nowhere would scan documents for me. The librarian did direct us to an Office Depot where I could get the help I needed. So now as well as missing my wonderful laundry, I also miss my printer, scanner and photocopier at home!
Ross used the time to start the necessary grocery shopping…in Target! It is so weird here, their department type stores are a one-stop shop where you can pick up any and all shopping items. Their Walmarts, Kmart and Targets are a Big W and Woolworths rolled into one store. Which is very convenient for an RV that can’t move easily from one shop to another. The downside is we probably do more impulse buying (like $3.98 T-shirts…).
The detour lost us some travel time, so we then went in search of an RV park. We have been staying mainly in parks branded ‘KOA’, as we find them superior to the competition in terms of service, cleanliness, and facilities. (There is a very broad spectrum of RV parks over here!) However, the state of Mississippi has only one KOA, over the other side of the state. I saw on a billboard a website for all the state-owned and run parks, so we headed for the closest one. The RV parks here are well off the highway, and not all on sealed roads. We found the park in a dodgy area (well, that was our judgement based on the people and homes around it), but missed the actual turnoff. Ross decided then to just keep going! At the next town called Brookhaven, we found a cluster of motels, so I price-shopped around and found one for $46 for the night. So we repeated the process of parking the RV in the car park, and the kids enjoyed sharing a king bed, cable tv and a bath!

Monday 24 June
Our first stop today was Nashville, Tennessee. It was a much bigger city than we expected. My research had focused around their visitors’ website, mainly “the top 10 things to do in Nashville”, and a hope we would run into Keith or Nicole on our way 😉
We intended to start at the Music City Walk of Fame, but a storm hit as we pulled up near Bicentennial Park, so we toured Music Row instead, full of famous recording studios used by Elvis, Dolly Parton etc. We considered a visit to the Grand Ole Opry, but were not too keen to pay to do a backstage tour as we are just not big enough country fans (sorry, Dad!). Instead we visited the Parthenon, the world’s only full-scale reproduction of the one in Athens, Greece. It houses a museum and art gallery in Centennial Park, but as Mondays is the only day of the week they are closed, we didn’t get to explore inside it.
From there we went on to Belle Meade, to tour a historic plantation mansion. We enjoyed lunch from the RV in the grounds, the joined the 2pm tour of the mansion, winery and grounds. The front of the house still has bullet holes in it from a scuffle during the Civil War, but Belle Meade’s real claim to fame is breeding thoroughbreds. Seabiscuit and Secretariat are direct descendants of the most famous horse from here, and the last Kentucky Derby was full of Belle Meade plantation descendants. As Zac missed a school excursion to Vaucluse House last week, I thought this was a good replacement lesson. And the fact the tour ended with wine-tasting in Nashville’s only winery made even Ross a willing participant! The winery is actually one of the only non-profit wineries in the world, and puts its proceeds back into the historic house maintenance.
We drove three hours from there to Memphis, ready to tour Graceland tomorrow. It is getting hotter as we head further south! And we have not turned on a tv or seen any news, as we set up too late each night to bother with tv. We are close to Tornado Alley, which we think about each time we go through a patch of storm along the way, but we assume the season for such weather is past?
After my comment yesterday that we are all healthy and well, it was almost the end of the world this morning for Sam (aka Mr Drama King) when he was stung under his foot by a bee. Then Belle fell off a footpath and opened up a small wound created by falling off a gutter in the Grand Canyon – there was momentarily quite a lot of blood, and Belle was afraid she was going to die!! Apart from such dramatics, all are well, although Zac is slightly disgusted I am trying to make him write a report on his visit to Belle Meade – I am apparently interrupting his holiday…

Sunday 23 June
For those journeying with us through the blog, thankyou – today is the halfway point of our trip!
The changing time zones caught us out again travelling this part of the country. We thought we were up at our usual time of 7.30am and on the road by 8.30am, but our clocks hadn’t updated, so we were actually up at 6.30am! At that point I regretted staying up until after 1am organising all my photos, but at least I have now been through the 1,510 photos on my phone.
Our first stop was at the world’s largest windchime (seeing as we were in the town of Casey we thought we should check it out). It was impressive, and at 8am all the kids had a turn at pulling the cord to make it work. The neighbours must be used to the noise I guess…I hope…
From there we decided to visit the world’s largest golf tee in the same town. Jarrod and Tim had a photo in front of it to show their golf teacher. The man at the golf course club house asked us to sign his guest book, because once he reaches 5,000 signatures he can have a sign on the highway. We had the distinction of being the visitors from the furthest distance – he said he was going to highlight our entry!!
We drove for two hours then to St Louis in Missouri to see the Gateway Arch. Ross and Abi were particularly keen to see this because it features in a Percy Jackson book they had read. It was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and is the centrepiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It has a viewing platform at its top and midpoint, although to look at it one wonders how it is possible to reach it!
After morning tea in the RV in downtown St Louis, we wandered down to the waterfront and Arch. Crowds were huge and ticket lines were long. I lined up at 11.30am and by the time I reached the front of the queue, the earliest tickets I could get were for the 1.35pm trip up. As it is part of the National Parks program, the kids were given booklets to complete as they made their way around the underground museum. This kept them busy while we waited and earned them a Junior Ranger badge when they handed in their completed booklets. (The National Parks pass we bought in week 2 would have also provided us with a discount on the ticket price, but not knowing this we left it in the RV – oops, don’t tell Grandpop! – but at $10 per adult and $5 per child it was a reasonable excursion anyway).
Our transport to the top of the arch was a little space-age-looking trolley car, seating 5, in a group of 8. These climbed the 192m in 4 mins (and disturbingly descended in 3.5 minutes!). The viewing platform was crowded and we could feel some movement in the arch due to wind. We were given unlimited time up there, but didn’t need long to enjoy the view but then wish to be back safely on the ground!! We grabbed some sandwiches on the walk back to the RV as it was by now 2.30pm, and set off for Kentucky aiming to get closer to Nashville.
I did realise then how well it turned out that we arrived in Indianapolis yesterday and St Louis today on weekend days. Being downtown areas of cities, we would just not have been able to park the RV close to the tourist attractions on weekdays. And since our Boston experience, we have approached every city since with some fear and trepidation!
On a sad note, I made the decision to skip Chicago. It was less than three hours north of Indianapolis, but it would have been another place difficult to visit with an RV. I am devastated to not be visiting Oprah or Harpo Studios – after all, as part of her Sydney audience I have intended since then to return the visit 😦 It is just something else to add to the list to do next time. On a positive note, by saving that trip, we are now a little ahead (by half a day) on our itinerary. Given we have been falling behind our ambitious schedule since week 1, this news makes me slightly deliriously pleased! For however long it lasts! 😉
Reflecting on the 28 days that have been (and reflecting on the books I brought to read in the RV with themes of gratitude and making the most of every day), it is appropriate to acknowledge how blessed we have been. We have discussed doing a trip like this for the last two years, so I pinch myself every day to think it is now a reality. And despite Ross’ pains towards the end of the first RV trip, everyone has been very healthy and happy! And while there have been mistakes and tough moments, we are all really enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity together.
Tonight we have stopped at Kentucky Lake, Calvert City. The RV park managers recommended the Cracker Barrel restaurant for dinner, where we all enjoyed some southern home cooking (ie. baked and steamed vegetables!) and the bill was just over $40! I needed to print a bank document to sign, so asked at reception. The manager there is a lot like our grandmothers, so after taking a good amount of time to work out how to print it for me, she was quite excited to learn we were in the caravan park business. She then encouraged me to pull up a chair while she gave me some advice from her 39 years owning this park, which led on to discussion about politics, prayer in schools, Baptist preachers v Church of Christ, and Joel Osteen. Ross came in search of me at 10.30pm! Lovely people here, and very real hospitality. I am thankful we didn’t bypass it in a rush to get to Nashville!

Saturday 22 June
We were thankful this morning to have achieved some rest last night. Despite our nervousness about our accommodation, the only disturbance was some people talking loudly outside the motel door early this morning. After breakfast in the RV in the parking lot, we headed towards Indianapolis via Dayton.
Dayton’s Visitor Centre was closed on weekends, and no one was very helpful, so we kept moving out of Ohio and into Indiana. As we got near, there were roadworks that delayed our trip along the highway by a WHOLE HOUR. Ironically, we crossed a time zone and earned that hour back! Ross needed a break, so he asked to stop for lunch at a restaurant called “Steak n Shake” (he is still in search of a decent milkshake over here). We were accosted by an older African American lady as soon as we exited the RV. She needed $20 for gas, she said, because her daughter and newborn granddaughter were waiting in a nearby car and she had no money left. Zac wanted to return to the motorhome and get for her the $1 the tooth fairy had left for him a couple of nights ago (yes, the tooth fairy found him in America more reliably than she arrives in Oyster Bay), but Ross took the approach of offering to call 911 for the lady to get her some serious help, at which point she walked away. The kids are still talking about that tonight.
The restaurant Ross wanted to try was so packed with customers the empty tables hadn’t yet been cleared, so we decided to skip it and return to Denny’s, where kids eat free today 😉 The waitresses there were lovely, but the whole operation was quite inefficient which made me wonder if the other restaurant was really packed or just inefficiently run as well.
Lunch took longer than we intended, so we got into the city of Indianapolis after 3pm. We headed straight to Monument Circle intending to climb the 331 steps of the monument there. The Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument is only 21 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty, and was erected to honour veterans of the American Revolution and US Civil War. As we approached the stairs to the observation deck, we were told it was closed for the rest of the afternoon because someone had thrown up up there and it had not yet been cleaned!! I considered offering to clean it just so we could climb it… sadly, Ross was really looking forward to it, so told me he would put it on his bucket list to do someday. I was quite pleased he was making a bucket list, until I saw the gleam in his eyes and his sarcastic snigger…
From there we drove 8 miles to the Indiana Motor Speedway where the Indy 500 occurs. We missed the only entrance not fenced off, so just drove slowly around the perimeter looking in. It is smaller up close than it seems.
My original plan was to reach St Louis tonight, but that is too far, so we are stopping along the way. We picked the town of Casey (famous for the largest wind chime in the world according to the Guiness Book of Records…not that I am reading the Guinness Book of Records, the announcement was in the RV guide…), arriving at 6.30pm thinking that would allow the kids some out-of-RV playtime while we unpack and cook dinner. Unfortunately it is raining!! (Stay tuned, there may be a future post entitled ‘Cabin Fever’ hahaha) 😉
Actually, the managers here put on an all-you-can-eat icecream social for $2.50 per child (Tinks, I had to be social!!!!), followed by a free movie and popcorn night. The kids enjoyed watching Kung Fu Panda, I had all my laundry washed and dried by the time the movie finished, and on the way back to our motorhome we saw fireflies nearby. A lovely evening enjoyed by us all!

Friday 21 June
Our accommodation at Erie last night put us close to the border, so we were soon into Ohio this morning. Our main goal in this state was to catch up with Nathan Lindsay, who is over here on a work secondment for twelve months. We had left a message for him to let him know we were in the area today, but I thought his “area” was Ohio State University Golf Course. We were heading there when he rang us from his place of employment at Kirtland Country Club, NE of the state and not far from where we crossed the border into Ohio!
By that stage we had stopped for lunch at a little town called Lodi. The kids were not impressed because we stopped at more factory outlets, but Ross needed a break from driving…and saw a Levi’s store there from the highway 😉
After a short shopping trip, we headed back to Kirtland to catch up with Nathan. He is doing great. We had a look around at the Country Club where he works, and spoke to his supervisor to make sure it was ok to interrupt his workday. The older boys especially, who see Nath mainly at sporting games, were really impressed with what he has achieved, and are keen to consider some international experience in their future work. Thankyou Nathan for the inspiration!
We decided to give Cleveland a miss as it was a large city and continued on to Indiana. I had nominated Detriot as another city to visit from here, but we are just racing against the clock every day – my idea of a “holiday” is wearing everyone out as usual!
We did stop late afternoon in the town of Berlin, which is the centre of Amish population in Ohio. The kids enjoyed sharing the roads with horse and buggies, and it was amazing to see so many Amish people looking quite stereotypical in their dress, headwear, and beards without moustaches. They all looked so happy too, and calm travelling around in their buggies. Quite a contrast to somewhere like NYC! After explaining the little we know of their culture to the kids, and telling them the Amish do not use a lot of technology, we visited some of the town’s shops and found you could “like” one of them on Facebook!! We window shopped, and their prices were very reasonable, but the items I would have liked to buy were just too difficult to get home!
Our journey continued then to a place called Buckeye Lake where I had identified a good RV park. For the first time this trip we found there was no vacancy as the International Bureau of Electrical Workers had booked the place out for a week. There was a mobile home park down the road with a few RV sites, but we didn’t feel entirely comfortable there so decided to drive on.
The next RV park was not for another 110 miles and Ross had by then had quite enough of driving, so we hatched a plan to get a cheap motel room just off the highway to allow Ross to rest and provide us with showers and electricity. Well….you get what you pay for… A Motel 6 offered rooms from $39.99 per night which is on par or less than some RV parks, so at 9.30pm it sounded fine. Until we saw the clientele… We were able to park the RV in the car park right near the room, so Ross, Tim and Sam slept in the RV while the rest of the kids and I squashed into the motel room’s double beds. No free wifi, so therefore no blog post, but a hot shower this morning was welcome!

Thursday 20 June
“My best day ever” and “This rivals Disneyland as my favourite thing” were the catch cries from Zac, Belle and Abi this evening. We had discussed at dinner last night what everyone’s favourite experience/place/activity was so far, but even with a broad question it was hard to contain an answer to one favourite. Tim is also getting tired of hearing about my bucket list, but it is so much fun achieving things on it (today namely, the Maid of the Mist cruise at Niagara Falls)!
Today we headed to Niagara Falls, stopping at Lockport to see the Erie Canal on the way. Why? Because I could remember the Erie Canal song in a Veggie Tales DVD the older kids used to watch!! Our first stop in Lockport was the Discovery Centre which appeared to be run by an elderly couple on walking sticks. They were very lovely, but wanted $5pp for us to view a 15 minute video on the history of the canal and double lock system (apparently DaVinci was involved in the creation of the double lock?) and to explore the Discovery Centre. I considered a boat ride on the canal, but we were there at 10.30am and the next one didn’t leave until 12.30pm. So we just went to do the walking tour of the Canal for free, which included a small museum at the bottom. The song we heard the Veggie Tales characters sing is actually a famous song well-known here about the real Canal!
I was having difficulty adequately explaining how it worked to the little kids, and then on our way back up to the RV the morning cruise boat arrived and we were able to watch it go through each lock from the top until it reached the bottom and sailed away. I had a win! We saved the two hours the cruise took, saved the $$ the cruise would have cost, and had a perfect view anyway of how the system worked. And the museum had free activity workbooks for the kids, so I can revisit what they learnt today. YAY!!
On our way back to the RV we walked past Lockport Fire Dept, where a fireman was sitting outside enjoying the sun. (Another one was cooking sausages on a BBQ for lunch, so it appears there are some similarities to Australian fire stations hahaha!). Ross struck up a conversation with them which led to him exchanging work shirts with them and us all getting a tour of the station. Ross was able to spend some time discussing work practices and organisation with them, and the kids all took turns climbing fire trucks. One fireman also told us about a museum up the street which included a display of the fire hydrant, apparently created by a Lockport resident who was responsible for inventing pressurised water systems.
We drove up to the museum from there and Ross went to have a look while I fed the kids lunch, but as our focus was getting to Niagara, we didn’t stop to explore it.
We decided to stop at a visitors centre when we reached Niagara Falls to ensure we made the most of the few hours we had there. That was the best thing we could have done (at Ross’ suggestion he wants to remind me). Sidebar: incidentally, Ross is feeling much, much better, so my goal now is to keep it that way!
The Niagara Falls State Park has a series of areas for viewing platforms, boat rides etc, all at distances too far to walk between, and all with different parking areas that cost between $10 and $20 each time. The man at the Visitors Centre quickly convinced me to leave the RV right there and he organised a shuttle bus to pick us up and take us on a tour that included all the stops. I was concerned four hours might be too long, but it was perfect timing to provide a relaxed atmosphere in which we were driven to sites such as the Rainbow Bridge (where you can walk across to Canada), the Whirlpool, Horseshoe Falls, the Maid of the Mist boat ride right up to the American and Canadian Falls, and the Cave of the Winds walk INTO the American Falls.
The kids were very excited that the Maid of the Mist cruise went into Canadian waters, so they can officially say they entered another country today! And the Cave of the Winds experience was amazing – we were given a poncho and sandals to wear to protect our own clothes and shoes, and walked along a boardwalk right up to a “Hurricane Deck” where you could stand right under the Falls! (Sidebar: interesting research I forgot to mention earlier – the boardwalk and steps used for the Cave of the Winds experience only exist each summer. They are pulled down at the end of summer each year and rebuilt the following spring!)
We were dropped back to the RV about 7pm, and drove another couple of hours until we found accommodation for the night. We have some amazing photos from today, but I am afraid we arrive to the RV parks so late at night I am not organised enough to upload them! I have 1,510 photos on my phone, so really need to do something with them soon! Tonight all I have is a shot of the sandals we were given to keep as souvenirs (minus Ross’ as he was using them as his new “shower shoes” when I took the photo) 😉