C'est magnifique!

Bonjour, notre amis!

We've had a week "practicing" our French. From the post he left, it sounds like we should have had Mike and Rosalind McKinley with us as he exhorted us to brush up on our Francais. We were actually surprised at how little English most Quebecqois know! But it was so much fun to be in Quebec ... it's really like another country, uh ... like being in France.

The mileage:
Buster: Newport, Maine around the Gaspe Peninsula to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick: 1,440 miles

Total: 3448

Bella (new name for Enclave): 220 miles

Total: 1401 miles

TOTAL BOTH VEHICLES: 4849 miles!

The biggest challenge in this post is going to be selecting which of the gorgeous pictures of the Gaspe Penisula coast to share with you. We had, as you know, planned on this being a trip around the United States, but we realized once we got to Maine, if we were ever going to visit the Maritime Provinces, we should take this opportunity. Gary's parents, Maxine and Warren, had driven around the Quebec peninsula some years ago and Gary recalls their reports of it being wild and beautiful. We both wanted to see it.

Saturday, August 22: We crossed the border at Houlton, Maine, into New Brunswick last Saturday afternoon. We are carrying a shotgun with us, hidden away unloaded with ammunition locked in a special safe we purchased, just in case we ever get stranded into some remote area and actually need something for protection. Gary researched the laws relating to taking a weapon into Canada, filled out the proper paperwork, and disclosed this at the border. Unfortunately, the Canadian immigration folks did not acknowledge that, according to our reported itinerary, we should be in remote enough territory to have concerns about wild animals. So they refused to let us in with the shotgun. We were directed to a gun shop in Houlton, but not before we found that we had locked our only set of car keys in the car. Gary's jeans, we subsequently learned, had a hole in the pocket and his set must have fallen out. Gary said to call OnStar (for our GM Buick Enclave). I got the 800 number from 800 information, called and talked with the operator, and WITHIN 2 MINUTES the care had been unlocked remotely. Amazing!

We drove to the gun shop, only to find it closed. Gary went to a nearby restaurant, got the numbers of a couple of other potential places we might store the shotgun, only one of which answered. The proprietor said he didn't "store" guns, but only did gun repair, etc. We were debating what to do next (? take it to the local police station?), when we drove up the road to turn around and saw a sign on a little shop: "Guns, Ammo." We pulled in there. It turned out to be the same guy Gary had spoken to on the phone, and in person they worked out that Gary could have his shotgun "refurbished" over the next 10 days. (For those of you who may wonder about the necessaity of carrying a shotgun for protection, Gary remembers that Michael Jordan's father was killed while stopping and sleeping for a couple of hours at a rest stop in the rural southern US some years ago.) Also, in retrospect, the Canadian immigration authorities were correct. The Gaspe Peninsula is well populated ... similar to southeastern Minnesota!

So in the space of an hour, two crises were averted; we provided evidence of where the gun had been left to the border patrol, and made our way into New Brunswick, headed for Grand Falls where we spent our first night.

Sunday, August 23:

We made our way on Sunday into Quebec and some beautiful farm country rolling down to the seaway.

Our first night in Quebec was spent at Camping Motel de l'Anse in the town of Rimouski. It is located about 340 km northeast of Quebec City perched right along the St Laurence River/Seaway. It has a beautiful old cathedral, of course, and a long sea walk.

Our campground hosts told us of a delicious restaurant at the local marina, and we continued a series of wonderful lobster and other seafood dinners. The St Laurence "homard" is renowned and it is delicious. The river becomes so wide as northern Quebec slopes away that you really come to believe you are at the seashore ... the seafood, the sea air, the sea scents and the seabirds all convince you.

Monday, August 24: It was a little drizzly and we took the opportunity to do laundry and hang out at the campground. Liz always loves this ... riding her bike, etc., She, of course, met another child .... who didn't speak English. Liz didn't think her main language was French either. But she wasn't at all frustrated by the language impediment .... "we just pointed at things and laughed ..." For some reason Liz didn't think she knew what a bike was!

In the afternoon, it cleared up and we took the most interesting drive. Not very far from the seaway the land becomes very hilly, and further east on the peninsula actually gets mountainous. But the Quebecqois don't seem to notice this as far as road building goes. They just go straight up and straight down ... it really was a roller coaster ride as we moved up and down these gorgeous green hills. We noticed lovely paint jobs on the houses

as well as how much fun they were having making straw decorations in their yards!

Tuesday, August 25:

This was a red letter day because it marked 8 weeks from when Elizabeth had her ears pierced for her 9th birthday on June 30. We removed the studs and she chose these beautiful earrings that she had bought at the Field Museum in Chicago. She had a wonderful time wearing these, though was surprised at how difficult it was to put them in ..... we all remember.

We had planned to get an early start on the day as we knew we had a long 250 km drive along windy and hilly/mountainous coastal road, but when packing up Gary found he didn't have his wallet. He remembered being at the local grocery store the evening before and had been flustered by all the French labeling of food, and finally by the clerk's insistence on putting both his cartons of milk in bags. So, in trying to handle all the bags, he thought he might have left his wallet on the counter. We went back to the store .... and they had it! And everything was intact .... over $300 US, over $150 Canadian, all credit cards and all the wallet evidence of just who he is. We were overwhelmed with relief .... and now his opinion of the Quebec French is way better than of the French French!

We did leave town about 11 o'clock, and still stopped so I could spend about 45 minutes in a beautiful coastal garden: Le Jardin de Metis. It was simply lovely. And I was also able to capture Liz in a GIANT Adirondack chair!

The drive was slow but spectacular capturing first a coastal village, then towering, sheer cliffs, then more villages, etc. We wished we knew more about the geology of how this region was formed. It was wild and wonderful.

It was an exhausting but sight-inspiring day as we rolled into our campground at dusk, about 8:15 pm ATLANTIC coastal daylight time, TWO hours ahead of home in Rochester, MN.


Wednesday, August 26:

We had planned to drive an inland loop at the tip of the Gaspe, but we were too tired and had spent too much time driving the day before(about 8 hours). So we made our way into the town of Gaspe (celebrating 475 years since Gaspe sailed around this peninsula), did some internet cafe work, and had a tasty time at Cafe d'Artiste ranging from buttered pasta to vegetable barley soup to fajitas, lattes, creme brulee cheesecake and Belgian chocolate mousse cake. The little girl and her dad then had some fun on the main drag.

Thursday, August 27

The absolute hero of this day's adventure was Gary League, supported admirably by Buster, honored by a full picture here!

We awakened in the night to the sounds of very high winds, such that Gary closed the left slide of the motor home just to be on the safe side. We started off on our last leg of circumnavigating the Gaspe Peninsula, going from Gaspe to Campbellton, New Brunswick. This coast, along the Atlantic Ocean's Bay of Chaleur was equally magnificent. But the entire day we were slightly apprehensive by the very strong winds ... we estimate up to 50 miles per hour. Gary had difficulty filling the fuel tank as gusts of wind were so strong it would cause pressure surges that would abort the fuel filling mechanism; it was difficult to open the door of the motor home. But Gary kept Buster in his lane the entire day, and we were blessed with remarkable clear skies. We even remarked at how stable we felt in spite of Buster's high profile. See the flag below, the gorgeous coast off Perce, and the very lovely cloud formations we encountered.

Friday, August 28

Another low key day at our campground in Petit Rocher, New Brunswick. We stocked up on some groceries, spent a little time at our campground beach, and learned some stars.

Liz learned how to skip a rock from her dad (a critical skill for a 9 year old, we think) and in the evening they spent some time with a wonderful book given to Liz by my friend/patient Mary Gray: Stikky Night Skies. It's a wonderful book for learning the stars and planets and last night they focused on Orion and Cassiopeia. This is just the kind of thing we hoped we would have time for ... and, it turns out, we do.

Tomorrow we head down toward the Bay of Fundy where they have the highest tides in the world. We will spend the next week seeing Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Then, we'll spend a week traveling down the coast of Maine including Acadia National Park. It's going great.

A bientot!

Stopping by the woods on a summer afternoon .....

Hello again!

Mileage:

Buster: Finger Lakes to Higley Flow to Franconia Notch to Newport, ME: 514

TOTAL: 2048

Enclave: 1181

TOTAL BUSTER AND ENCLAVE: 3229 miles

STATE COUNT: 11 (add Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to previous posts!)

We have spent most of the week in the north woods, culminating in beautiful Franconia/Franconia Notch, farm home of Robert Frost in 1910 era .... our post begins with a shot taken across the valley right across the road from his farm house ..... inspirational, don't you think? Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening has always been a favorite poem.

We've haven't seen much historical this week, but it is fascinating to see towns established in 1779, etc along the way here in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

After we left the Finger Lakes area on Saturday, August 15, we had a long day of driving (243 miles on two lane roads) to reach Higley Flow State Park in upstate New York ... the Adirondacks .... in fact I think we were within about 40 miles of Canada .... very close to the southern shores of Lake Ontario. It was a beautiful place, and it was a beautiful campground. Each site was tucked in between its own buffer of pine and foilage, so we felt very private. Liz has come to be a regular campground kid with her bike .... this is what they all seem to do .... bike and scooter around, and it is quite safe as the speed limits we've learned are usually about 5 MPH! Everybody watches out for kids on bikes.

The other thing that was great here was the lake swimming .... Gary, with much more experience in this than I, said it was "perfect" lake swimming: smooth sandy bottom, no rocks, no weeds, very gradual slope into the lake, pretty warm. So they spent much of the time in the water. I joined them briefly but am still a little "iffey" with my knees. Here they are having fun!

On Monday, August 17, we headed out once again. We resumed our trek along US 2 through New York, Lake Placid (where we did a little shopping).

It was fun being where the 1980 Winter Olympics were held and there are many reminders from the venues and nearby ski mountains. This area is simply beautiful including Saranac Lake. We encountered road construction regularly along this route, but they had short stretches where the waits were very tolerable. Gary continues to do a masterful job of muscling our big rig through curvy moutain roads. He just LOVES it .... he has fun every day just driving this thing. I probably don't need to tell you his favorite TV show is Ice Road Truckers .... I believe he's secretly planning on transitioning from orthodontia to ice road trucking!

The biggest thrill of the day for us might be labeled: Buster Takes a Boat Ride. When we reached the New York/Vermont border at Lake Champlain, we needed to take a ferry across. We fortuitously timed it perfectly and after we paid our $35 (and learned we must have cash typically in these situations), Buster was loaded on the ferry first almost taking a figurehead position!

It was a short 15 minute ride but very exciting to see the water outside the windshield!

We made our way through the beautiful hills of Vermont, through Burlington, and hoped to connect with Jane and Mark Erickson's daughter Christy who lives with her little girl Lily in Waitsfield, but the mountains interfered with our cell service so that we never could make a connection and then we got too far away.

The next three nights, August 17, 18 and 19, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE GROVES!, we spent camped at Echo Lake in Franconia Notch State Park. Another beautiful little lake with a great swimming beach. Liz made the acquaintance of Smyrna and her sister, and had a lot of fun riding bikes and swimming with them.

Franconia Notch is a beautiful valley between two ranges in the New Hampshire White Mountains. It's got a nice ski mountain, Cannon Mountain, and is very popular in the winter as well as summer. Franconia is the quaintest of towns and was the site of Robert Frost's farm (see above) in the 1911 time frame.

We visited The Flume ... a very interesting waterfall chasm formed thousands of years ago when hot basalt filled in some vertical granite cracks, but them ... as it was softer ... eroded away and left this very narrow granite canyon wall which now has water running through it. It was a personal triumph for me as it was an uphill 0.3 mile walk with about 120 stairs thrown in, and I was able to go up and back, now just 8 1/2 weeks after bilateral knee replacement surgery. I was sore, but made it, and I'm sure it was a good work out for my knees. They are slowly coming along.

One of the more entertaining things that happened this week was an impromptu performance by Liz of her own choreography to her parents archaic music choice of John Denver's Rocky Mountain High! She used towels and furniture cushions to set up her back stage prep area, and we had a good time enjoying her enthusiasm and creativity.

On Thursday, August 20, we visited a New Hampshire award winning site .... Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill. It WAS delicious, and, of course we were favorably inclined to love it due to it's shared namesake, our own Polly League Jones .... she's now 27 weeks pregnant with TWIN BOYS! We are following her progress closely and are ready to welcome these little guys whenever they decide to make their appearance.

We ended with the panormic views of the Notch available at the top of the Cannon Mountain tramway, before we hooked up the car and headed further northeast.

We ended up in Newport, Maine, where we will finish our planning for our next 10 days into Canada: New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia as we travel to the Gaspail Peninsula, Prince Edward Island and the Bay of Fundy among other things.

But first, today, August 21, Gary and I are celebrating our 10th Anniversary of wedded bliss! It all started in Posy and Jake Krehbiel's White Garden, and those beautiful memories return to us today. We certainly couldn't have predicted that we'd be on League's Excellent Adventure ten years later! We are grateful everyday for the love we share and our "little project" ... Elizabeth Mariann League!

Be talking to you!

New York is beautiful!

Good morning!

Well, I'm hoping that I actually get in the habit of updating the blog a little bit more than weekly as it seems as if recollections can dim if one waits too long ... however, it does feel like the images of Niagara Falls from last Monday are quite vivid. We've had a beautiful week in New York ... it really is a state of very diverse geological and historical interest. We had torrential rains on Sunday night, August 9, but beautiful weather the rest of the week.

First the mileage update

BUSTER:

Niagara Falls to the Finger Lakes (near Geneva, NY): 129 miles

Total: 1529 miles

Enclave: 197 miles in Finger Lake Area

Total: 1043 miles

TOTAL BUSTER AND ENCLAVE: 2575 miles driven so far

Our STATE COUNT is the same: 8

Monday, August 9, Niagara Falls: We headed straight to Niagara Falls State Park and got the Discover tickets which allowed us into the Park, a ride on Maid of the Mist, visitng the Cave of the Winds, riding along the trolley which crosses the American rapids to Goat Island, from which you can get a better view of the Canadian Falls, called Horseshoe Falls, and also entrances to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center and the Niagara Aquarium. All of these were very interesting, but the best was the Maid of the Mist boat ride. I believe this has been taking people out for the adventure of Niagara Falls for over 150 years. I imagine150 people are taken out per boat, and we were all given blue thin plastic ponchos with hoods, which were recycled, and boy did we need them. The whole trip takes about 25 - 30 minutes I would guess, but it was amazing to us how close we went to the bottom of the falls. We were completely enveloped in mist and the roar of the falls. The pictures are blurry (because of the mist!) but the amount of water coming over the Horseshoe Falls is more than a billion gallons a minute. It WAS impressive. I mentioned that of all the tourist traps I've been exposed to, this was the most worth it!

We returned the next day and finished our visit at the Gorge Discovery center which did a great job for both adults and kids describing the carving out of the Niagara Gorge and how all the water from the Great Lakes, starting from Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie are ultimately flowing through this gorge into Lake Ontario before traveling to the St. Lawrence River/Seaway and the Atlantic. Computerized exhibits allowed you to see how it might have looked 300,000 years ago, as well as 10,000 years into the future. We all really enjoyed it.

Tuesday, August 11, we visited Fort Niagara and the Eric Canal locks. Fort Niagara is at the mouth of the gorge where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario. This waterway has long been the focus of disputed borders between Canada and the US and has been in French, British and US hands over the years, as well as Iroquois. They were celebrating 250 years since the French and Indian war; it also figured prominently in the war of 1812, and they have on display the huge garrison flag that actually was captured by the British in 1813, returned to England, kept in the manor home of the victorious British General, and finally returned to the Fort for display in 1994. The entire Fort with its tours, etc, is managed by a volunteer association dedicated to historic preservation.

Our most interesting activity on Tuesday was our ride up the Erie Canal locks. In Lockport, which is actually the last town before the Erie Canal enters the Niagara River, is the site of locks 34 and 35, and we were able to travel through them. The Erie Canal was an amazing idea of engineering a waterway from the Hudson River to the Niagara and Lake Erie enabling water transport to the West. Originally about 14 feet wide and 4 feet deep, it travels hundreds of miles. I think we all remember pictures from elementary textbooks showing teams of horses drawing barges on the canal. The functioning of the locks is fun to see and experience.

One of the most interesting parts was the bridge that raises up and down horizontally so that cars can cross; see below with the bridge (in the distance down in it's normal position so that cars may travel across the canal) and then raised horizontally up so that the boat may pass. In this instance, there are two bridges within 1/4 mile of each other, and we watched as the bridgemaster (an inherited job!) got in his car after lowering the first bridge we went under, drove to the bridge "downstream" and repeated the maneuver. Apparently this can be repeated numerous times a day. We thought it was an excellent opportunity for sprint training!

Wednesday, August 12 was another travel day, after I spent a few hours in the morning doing some work for Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. I have been able to retain some editorial work with our great team of Jen Jacobsen, Stephanie Faubion and Ada Multari, and so am reserving Wednesday mornings for them through the year. Hopefully I will be able to connect by cell phone and my LaptopConnect AT&T card, and it worked fairly well this week.

We had visited the Finger Lake area about 3 years ago when we attended Barbara Wold's graduation from Cornell. We hiked up the falls at Watkins Glen at that time (something I can't do today with my post-op knees), and loved Canandaigua. At that visit, Patty Simmons (Barb's mom) had arranged for us to do some glass blowing at Corning which was tremendously fun and interesting, and we ate at the Taughannock Inn at Deb Rhode's recommendation, and had the great good fortune of running into her parents, Frank and Rosa Rhodes at dinner. That was so nice!

But this visit, we returned to Geneva area (at the top of Seneca Lake), stayed at Cheery (!) Valley campground and received our mail at Auburn, General Delivery. Thanks, Sue, for the packages!!!! Cheery Valley was very nice, with a nice pool and in a beautiful wooded setting. We were there during the week (non-weekend) and had much of the campground to ourselves.

As I mentioned, On Thursday, August 13 we received our mail at the Auburn post office. We had lunch at Bambino's Bistro where Gary got the deal of the day: he had the prix fix lunch which was 12 mussels in a delicious broth, chicken marsala with linguini and marinara sauce, and a Pepsi for $8.95. I had some delicious artichoke ravioli and Liz had a great panini. It was a great find.

We were surprised (or at least I was surprised) at how much we enjoyed our afternoon visit in Auburn. We visited William Seward's home, a governor of New York, senator of New York, and ultimately Secretary of State under President's Lincoln and Johnson. For you who remember (I didn't) Seward was Lincoln's challenger for the Republican nomination in 1860, but he (Seward) was considered too much of an abolitionist to have a chance at winning the election. Lincoln, at that time, had not taken as strong a position on this issue. Seward lost on the 3rd ballot .. the news came to him at his home in Auburn and he was devastated. His wife was elated ... she hated the political life, and it was said it was one of the few times anyone saw her smile!

This very interesting story is captured in the newly popular book, "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearnes Goodwin .... apparently a favorite of our current president. Our young tour guide filled us in on a number of stories which were fascinating. I hadn't realized that Seward, who was the second on Lincoln's invitation list to go to Ford's Theatre with him that fateful night, was home in bed with a fractured jaw from a horse and buggy accident, and that the very large conspiracy that John Wilkes Booth was a part of involved the Sewards and others. Someone broke into the Seward home, and stabbed FIVE people including William Seward, his son, a military office, etc., ALL of whom survived. This perpetrator was caught and hanged.

Lincoln came to spend much time in the Seward Home (apparently across the street from the White House), and relied heavily on his older friend's advice. In the home are many personal remembrances from Lincoln, including dried flowers in a frame from Lincoln's funeral train back to Springfield, IL.

In the home is an original painting, seen on the cover of Goodwin's book, of Lincoln, Seward and others signing the Emancipation Proclamation. This original is thought to represent the reality with Seward in the foreground, in white trousers (which make him appear more prominent) and the pen near his hand. The artist was asked to redo the portrait for "official" purposes, in which he put Seward in dark trousers and moved the pen to Lincoln's hand the more "appropriately" represent this important meeting.

Seward remained Secretary of State under President Johnson, and near the end of his life, in 1869, negotiated with Russia for what is now Alaska, paying 2.5 cents per acre! Seward realized this was not popular at the time, Seward's Folly, but he predicted this would come to be his greatest accomplishment, which is considered so. Alaska is enjoyed 50 years of statehood this year! Secretary Seward died in his home in Auburn, in his office (he may have had ALS), at age 71, in 1873, I think. When asked for his last words, he replied: "Love one another."

We thought he sounded like a terrific man; we were also very proud of Liz ... she was very interested in the tour and listened attentively throughout. Our guide rewarded her with a free Alaska commemorative token. Then we strolled in his gardens which were, at the time, very large, and still very lovely.

Friday, August 14, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNA SALANSY, was a quiet, housekeeping day. We did some shopping, did the laundry (so far the most onerous task, particularly when done in ill-equipped campsites), and "hung out." Gary got our DVD player hooked up (it turned out the DVD player itself was defective, not all the intricate motorhome wiring), but did take time for a drive along Canandaigua Lake.

It has been challenging getting this post done .... in remote places now here in the Adirondacks (see next post!), I will get some pictures half uploaded, and then lose the connection. But just now it all appears in there. Liz is "too tired" for Liz' Lines this afternoon, but look forward to our next post. We miss all our friends and family, but so far, the thrill of the adventure continues! Sending love to all,

Julie, Gary and Liz

It's been a (cross out quiet) busy week in our roving home town!

Julie's Journal:

8 STATES SO FAR: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York

First, we are adding a new feature today: our cumulative mileage, both in the motorhome (Buster) and in our Buick Enclave, which is the car we are towing, which we love. Some back entries:

BUSTER total miles so far: 1403 miles

Rochester to Lake Forest: 350 miles

Lake Forest/Glenview to Riverside (near St. Joseph), Michigan: 133 miles

Riverside, Michigan to Frankfort, Michigan: 236 miles

Frankfort, MI to New Hudson, MI (outside Detroit): 234 miles

New Hudson, MI to Sandusky, Ohio to Austinburg near Akron, Ohio: 294 miles

Austinberg, Ohio to Niagara Falls: 156 miles

ENCLAVE total miles so far: 846 miles

TOTAL MILES BUSTER AND ENCLAVE: 2249 miles

We moved on from St. Joseph, Michigan last Sunday, August 2nd, and travelled further up the lakeshore of Lake, Michigan to Betsie River Campground near Frankfort, MI. But not before we had a brief morning visit with Eva and Ron Kinney. Eva and Ron are dear friends who have hosted and entertained us at their home and in Rochester, and they have made some beautiful additions to grounds of their home with plantars and a grand array of flowers. We loved seeing them. Ron is known for his positive attitude and fist-pumping "Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em ..." and we captured this iconic pose (with Liz) in his very grand TV room/den!

Betsie River/Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

It took about 4 hours to travel from St. Joe to the Frankfort, MI, area. We made a short detour into the Grand Rapids are to visit a Costco and to stock up on some yummy frozen fish and chicken items for our dinner. Great produce, too, particularly the blueberries. Our spot at Betsie River was great, and they had a nice pool and it was great for bike riding, Liz met some nice girls and they had a great evening watching a Harry Potter movie at our campsite on the outdoor DVD player with microwave popcorn courtesy of Dad/Gary.

We wanted to head out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore the next morning, but Liz got wind of a tubing opportunity so, as is the nature of this adventure, plans were changed and Gary and Liz did and hour tubing ride and had a lot of fun. Then we took off for Sleeping Bear. A beautiful Ojibwe legend of a mother bear and her two cubs swimming across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin to escape a fire. The cubs lagged and didn't make it to shore, but she remains sprawled as a dune still awaiting their arrival. The legend is the cubs formed North and South Manitou Islands just off the lakeshore. There is a 100+' dune you can climb (again not something for the 7 week post-op bilateral knee replacement patient!), but they scampered up and Liz had a blast rolling down this huge sand dune like a log. The coastal scenic drive was even more impressive with an overlook showing 400' sand dunes. (see picture). The scenic town of Glen Arbor and Glen Lake were very picturesque, as recommended by Eva Kinney.

Gary and Liz also had some fun clowning around at the overlook as you can see!

We enjoyed driving up along Grand Traverse Bay to Petosky. Eva had told Liz to look for Petosky Stones, a fossilized stone with spots we came to understand, but even rock hound Liz didn't have much luck!

Detroit: On Wednesday, August 5, we continued our journey "clockwise" around the country and ended southeast on this fabulous diagonal road, MI 115, from Frankfort, MI toward Saginaw. Our goal was to find a place to stay near, but not in, Detroit, and we settled on the little town of New Hudson, slightly northeast of Detroit. As we exited, we were directed onto Grand River Avenue .... Gary said, "I think that is the road where the Botsford Inn is located ..." The Botsford Inn was where Gary had his first wedding reception 45 years ago this month! Well the next day, as we headed toward Dearborn we decided to follow Grand River Road, and after we passed Farmington Road, saw The Old Botsford Village, which seemed to be in the same spot as the former Inn, and now seems to be a residential facility, perhaps for seniors.

On through town and south to Dearborn we went, to the impressive Henry Ford Museum and Deerfield Village. We certainly did not allow enough time to do this justice. We were watching the clock as we wanted to make sure we were in Port Huron, an hour or more to the north, that evening to meeting with my second cousin (see below). Our attention was diverted by the Imax presentation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, part of which was also in 3D. That huge screen and sound system really made for an impressive show.

But we did finish in time to make it to Port Huron for our special meeting with Dr. Anthony Gholz. Tony was my father's second cousin (Tony's mother was an Abbott), and when we lived in Worthington (near Columbus), Ohio, from 1948 to 1958, our families spent a number of holidays together. But I haven't seen Tony since 1981, though he has been wonderful as sending newsy Christmas notes. He is 88 year old, and practiced pediatrics in Port Huron until the age of 71. For the last 12 years he has caringly and compassionately cared for his Helmi as she battles Alzheimer's. It appears they are doing very well with the help of part time in home caregivers. Tony and Helmi have 3 wonderful boys and numerous grandchildren (and greats, I think!) We were fortunate his son Jon was visiting from Cincinnati when we were. We had a wonderful evening of elucidation of old Abbott family tales, and it was nice to have those imprinted once again. It was great for Liz to hear. We had a wonderful time that special evening!

To Sandusky/Cedar Point, Friday, August 7: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CASEY JONES!

After we left the Detroit area we really just had one goal: Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Gary had told Liz that this was where some of the fastest and highest roller coasters in the world were, and is consistent with the 9 year old mind set: nothing else could be focused on until we got there.

We arrived late afternoon, and thought the lower-priced evening entry tickets at 5 pm would give 5 hours of riding fun, and way enough for the supervising parent (Gary once again!) In retrospect, we were really glad they went Friday evening, and most of Saturday was rainy and drizzly, and we think a number of rides may have been closed. Here is their report!

Gary and Liz arrived at Cedar Point about 5 pm and headed straight to the tallest and fastest ride called TOP THRILL DRAGSTER. Gary believes this ride accelerates to about 100 MPH and "goes straight up" 400 feet and then plunges, accelerates again and abruptly brakes. It all lasts about 25 seconds, but is so thrilling you have to wait about 90 minutes to ride it. Gary and Liz waited an extra 20 minutes so that they could experience the additional thrill of riding in the front seat. Unfortunately we have no pictures of this, as we worried for the survival of the camera!!

Liz: "At the beginning there are three rows of orange lights, which go .... orange, orange, orange, and then GREEN! And then you go!"

Next they went to the Coasters Drive-In restaurant, typical of the '5o's. They had cheeseburgers (unbelievable in my mind after the previous GI affecting experience!) and chocolate malts.

The next thrill ride was the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, Mean Streak, which lasted "too long" in Gary's book. The ride was soo rough Gary's brain "was shaken." But Liz says: "It took me two times riding the wooden roller coaster before I felt the pain." Ahh, young connective tissue!

In addition they road the Power Tower, a 240 foot straight up and down tower ride. Liz rode some additional circular, rotating rides which Gary sat out to avoid nausea.

Liz concluded that she would like to come back and try to ride all 17 coasters plus all the other rides. They had a wonderful time, needless to say.

To Akron, Ohio, Saturday, August 9: Visit with Rose and Denny Kleidon

When we awoke on Saturday morning we weren't sure where we might head, but we knew the general direction was Cleveland. Gary asked, "How far is Akron from Cleveland?", and we found out it wasn't very far. So Gary gave Denny a call, and he and Rose graciously invited us to come ahead. Denny was Gary's classmate at Downer's Grove High School and was an usher in Gary's first wedding. Denny and Rose have lived in Akron for 40+ years, and were members of the faculty at the University of Akron, and for many years, and particularly since their academic retirements, have run a public relations, advertising and publishing business. Their son Kurt is now in the business with them.

We had a lovely drive down to Akron, largely staying off the interstate and running along Lake Erie including the town of Vermilion and see the lovely lakeside estates as we neared Cleveland. As we neared Akron, it was easy to find Rose and Denny's beautiful home and lakeside property in northwest Akron They hosted us to a lovely dinner at their club. We slept right in Buster in their circular driveway, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast before heading out this morning. Gary and Denny had a lot of fun reminiscing including about the time their quartet sang (sophomore year) for a Downer's assembly. They sang Chanson d'Amour, a '50s Everly Brothers hit, and I understand there was some swooning going on the gym! We had such a nice visit and thank them so much their gracious hospitality.

We also took a picture on their gorgeous back yard of our "angel" still in her American Girl (Elizabeth) nightgown. It's so deceiving! (see top photo!)

Today, Sunday, August 9, we drove in and out of the rain, over along Lake Erie to Erie, Pennsyvania, and then with the bad weather we made our way to the interstate (90, which is the same as goes right by home .... Rochester) and up to Niagara Falls. We'll see what this area has to offer tomorrow.

Thanks, everybody, for your interest. We still are having tiny bumps along the road, but it is thrilling to see ourselves making progress and really seeing the country. Bye for now!