Day 2

Day 2: Saturday September 13, 2014

Planned Destination: Niagara Falls and beyond

9:45 – We got a little later start than we wanted but had a hard time leaving Joe, Reb and Ro.

Meg packed some old CD’s for the ride and appropriately pulls out BNL’s greatest hits. I forgot how much I like these guys, they crack me up. I decide if ever start a band I want it to be like theirs. As I sing along I realize that the only people in the van not covering their ears are those with the aforementioned headphones on….hmmmm……I’m going to hold off on starting a band for now.

We blaze thru the beautiful Berkshires and into upstate New York. Sadie has to pee so we stop along the side of the I-90. Just to show moral support, I pee in an empty McDonald’s cup (sorry, you chose to read J this blog). Sam’s ocular lock from the movie is broken and he looks outside. “Where are we?” he asks. “New York” I respond. “WOW! New York has the greenest grass I’ve ever seen!”

Maggie meanwhile has unpacked the bag beside her and has tried to put three shirts on her head. One is stuck. After rescuing her. We laugh some more.

4:30 We find a parking spot near Niagara Falls for $5 which is a deal because it comes with a free t-shirt from the smoke shop across the street. More on this later!

We had discussed taking the Maid of the Mist boat ride to get a closer look at the falls but IT’S COLD OUTSIDE! I saw a kid in a down snowsuit. I’m not kidding. And because we have packed for California we are all wearing shorts.

We trek over to the falls, take a few pics, head up to the observatory deck, have our hearts stop as Sadie scales the protective fence, and decide to go get something to eat. This is fine because the kid’s more interested in going back to watch the squirrels we just saw in the park. Plus, It’s COLD OUTSIDE.

We find a pub and order a pizza, this sounds good at first but ends up taking FOREVER. It doesn’t help that Sam decides he has to poop. Sounds minor but good golly that kid has to think about it!

We’re almost back to the van when Meg spots the free t-shirt store. “Oh let’s go get the free t-shirt!” she says. “it might be cool.” Anyone reading this ever get a free t-shirt that’s cool? My point exactly. Anyways Sam and I go over to find the free t-shirt. Sadie and Maggie destroy a couple sections of the store. In the end I have Sam pick out a t-shirt for his sister. Everyone’s happy. Let’s go.

8:30 PM – Holy Toledo. The kids are sleeping so we decide to put some miles behind us and head for western Ohio….about another 350 miles or so.

11:30 PM – Ugh!

1:15 AM – I walk into the Marriott and the gentleman at the front desk looks thru his paperwork and informs me he doesn’t have a reservation for us. I didn’t say anything. I must have had the look of a guy with 750 miles under his belt at 1am look on my face. He scrambled to the computer. There we are, phew!

States Traveled: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio

Final Stop: Fairfield Inn, Maumee, OH (Western Ohio)

Daily Mileage:  743.4 miles

Trip Mileage: 940.4