Falls, falls, falls!

Well, today's blog will be short on words and hopefully.....the good Lord willing....the photos will download quickly.  Not too much to say other than "awesome!"  

We are staying on the Canadian side of the falls and what views....I am certainly glad lots of people told us to do it this way!  Feel sorry for those staying on American side, don't have the views that we have!

Took the boat trip this morning....it's a MUST DO if you come up this way.  Not too many photos as too wet...but what an experience!

Then we drove up along the river to Niagara on the Lake and back through wine country.  Took a nice long siesta and then back to the falls this evening.  Enough said here's some photos!

This is all three falls, American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe.  The white tent in lower pic is the area where we boarded the boat.

If you see blurs or spots on the next few photos....I couldn't keep my camera dry!  

Soakin' wet and lovin' it!

Down river ....views of rapids and whirlpools!

Horseshoe Falls in evening.

Below pic gives you an idea of our boat ride the morning.

Rainbow over Horseshoe Falls with American Falls in background.

Wells & Falls

After a good night's rest in our hosts fifth wheel RV, we traveled from Ohio to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  

This trip is not only about seeing things and landscape but learning things too.  We went to the Drake Oil Well Museum in Titusville, Pennsylvania.  Right away the "host" of the museum told us the that the desire for lighting material is what brought the need for oils other than animal fat (whale fat) caused the big stir in drilling for more oil.  The museum was full of artifacts and facts.

I probably learned  this in school but had forgotten that oil is made of microscopic organisms.

There are all kinds of products make with oil.

Below is a replica of the building that housed the Drake Well, first commercial oil well in the USA.

The oil industry of course evolved in the methods and machinery.  Here's a look up a derrick.

We found this museum very informative and interactive for kids.

We arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada about 7 pm so by the time we got checked in and ventured down to The Falls, the sun was setting.  It was still an awesome sight.  Here is American Falls on left and Bridal Veil Falls on the far right.

Here are Horseshoe Falls completed in the shadow of the hills.

Here is my view from our restaurant table.

We dragged out our meal long enough to see the falls bathed in different colored light and some fireworks!

The end of a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Independence Day

In celebration of Independence Day, I am declaring my freedom from writing a blog today.  :)

We had picture postcard perfect weather.  We spent the day with friends.  We saw lots of beautiful art work and fireworks.  We heard a live band perform some great oldies but goodies.  We ate good Midwest food..... sloppy joes, potato salad, hot dogs and ice cream sandwich dessert.

It was one of those days that I kept saying, "Life is good!"

Hope your day was pleasant and peaceful!

Pure Michigan

"Pure Michigan" is the slogan on their license plates and I'm not sure what that means.  But we are enjoying our travels through this state.  Today we drove over the Mackinac Bridge that connects the Upper and Lower Pensinulas of Michigan.

  

At the end of the lower peninsula, there were two lighthouses in Mackinaw City.  

** Regretfully, the WiFi at this hotel is so slow that it took an hour to just download the photo above.  Sorry folks, no other photos from today.

We drove under overcast clouds and some rain until Traverse City.  On the western side of the Great Traverse Bay, we drove up to Suttons Bay and did some window shopping and had lunch.  It was just a short jaunt over to Leland and to see the historic Fishtown, a group of fishing shanties along the river.  They have been renovated into retail and commercial establishments.  The sun was out, but temperatures were still cool (high of 64).

As you probably know, I like taking photos of old barns and today we had a special treat to get a tour and see some students in action renovating an old barn.  The group they were working for has a website ecoSEEDS.org  sponsored by Michigan Educators.  Take a look/see.

Glen Haven has a historic site (as part of the Sleeping Bears National Wilderness) that we toured.  We  saw the boat house and museum on Maritime Lifesaving.  We also saw a lot of different boats and their uses in another spot.

I was surprised that much of the sand dunes have become a home for vegetation, including trees.  But we did take a national park "scenic drive" which took us through a lot of old forest and then topped us off with some bare dunes and STEEP dunes.  It was remarkable that people could make it back up to the top in that sand.

The weather turned out great and we were again fortunate to experience new roads and new sights! Tomorrow we continue to travel along the western side of Michigan to Muskegon to see some friends!  

Muskegon, MI

I first heard about Muskegon from Mary, a lady that lived in our neighborhood in Texas.  She in turn introduced us to her hometown friends Truman & Iva that winter in Texas and to Andy & Becky and daughters who came to spend Spring break with her a few years.  So when I decided to explore Michigan more, I knew Muskegon was a stop I would make.

Today dawned beautiful and bright as we drove from Traverse City to Luddington.  

In Luddington, we toured the White Pine Village; a town built to replicate a lumber town of the early 1900's.  Since my grandpa did some work with a logging company, I wanted to see this.  We had some very informative volunteers that talked about several of the displays in the buildings.  

Of course there was a barn to photograph.  :)

The buildings were originals relocated to this site.  Not only did they have lumber museum, there was a museum of music and clocks

Below is an old portable EKG machine in the "doctor's office."

A chapel in the "village."

It was an enjoyable walk around the exhibits.  Then we went to Muskegon and spent the afternoon and evening with Mary, Al (her friend), Truman & Iva.  Tomorrow, more festivities as we celebrate Fourth of July!

Mackinac Island

Started the day with a ferry boat ride to Mackinac Island from Saint Ignace, Michigan which is the third oldest city in the USA.  I didn't know that, did you?  The oldest is Saint Augustine settled by the Spaniards.  

The time of our ferry ride included a detour to go under the Mackinac Bridge.  This bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world at five miles long.  As you can see by photo, the winds were strong today and a lot of sea spray on windows.  The people sitting on open top deck came down to the enclosed section quite quickly when they got soaked.

Mackinac Island, if you did not know,  does not allow any motorized vehicles on the island.  So you hike, bike or hitch a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.   We opted for two out of three...ride in carriage and hike.  The ferry docks right at downtown.  

We got to the island early so it doesn't look very busy.  But by time we left, if I would have taken a photo, you wouldn't be able to see the street pavement.

The carriage took us past The Grand Hotel, a historic and picturesque icon on the island. 

I will get more up close and personal photos later in the day.  

Our first official get-off point was the The Butterfly Conservatory.  Here are some photos of the elusive butterflies.  

This one decided to attach itself to my purse.

There was even a Butterfly Whisperer in the crowd.  This young girl had numerous butterflies on her hands walking around.  We were fascinated as the rest of us couldn't seem to get very close to them!

The following photo is a favorite of mine due to the contrasting colors. 

I really liked this blue one and "chased" all around the conservatory and finally got this long-distance shot of it with wings open.

After the butterfly place we boarded another carriage and went through the State Park (beautiful and peaceful) to the Arch.  

Next stop was the Fort Mackinac.  This fort high on the hills offered some spectacular views of the island and lake.  The first battle of the War of 1812 was fought here.  Below is a blockhouse in the fort.

Here's a photo of part of the town looking over the fort fence.

How about lunch with a view?  Delicious lunch served on the grounds of the fort overlooking the town and lake.  Ummm!  Life is good!

We hitched another carriage ride and then walked down to The Grand Hotel.  If you want to walk in front of the hotel or on the porch, you must pay $10 per person.  Since it's been on my Bucket List to see this hotel, I gladly forked out the $20 for both of us to experience the 200 yards long porch on this Grand Hotel.  We got to roam around inside  too.  Here's some photos.

A view from our rocking chairs on the porch.

Of course we had to have a drink here, so "when in Rome, do as the Romans do"..... have an ale created for The Grand Hotel!

That's all for today folks!  Cheers!  

P.S.  Mackinac Island has some lilac trees (several varieties) that were planted over 150 years ago.