Day 3- Our Day In Two Countries

We spent the day on a very hot bus tour. We were first on at 9:00 AM for what was supposed to be a 6 hour tour. We picked up several more people on the US side and then crossed the border by way of the Rainbow Bridge. This was a relatively painless experience, the Canadian Border Agent came on board the bus, looked at 9 passports and wished us a pleasant visit. After picking up several more guests, we totaled 18 all together, we were off to the Skylon Tower for an exterior elevator ride to the top of this 20 story observation platform for a 360 degree look of both the American and Horseshoe or Canadian falls. There is also a revolving restaurant which we are told is pretty tasty. Other highlights of the tour included some history of the area, views of hydroelectric towers past and present, the view of the falls from Table Rock ( way to much mist) a refreshing voyage on the Maid Of The Mist to the base of the Canadian Falls, a stop at the Whirlpool, Botanical Gardens, Floral Clock and a refreshment break before we crossed the border once more back to the American side of Niagara. This time, the US Border Agent came on board, asked the driver a few questions and then asked all passengers to come inside. Our passports were scanned, several questions asked and once more, we were back on the bus and on our way. We traveled to Three Sisters Island for some interesting photos ( more on this later ) and then we were off to Goat Island for a trip to the Cave Of The Winds. By this time, we’re on our 8th hour of the tour and I’m toasted so I tell the guide I’m not interested in donning one more plastic bag, aka rain poncho, and climbing down and back up about a million very slippery steps to get drenched under Bridal Veil Falls. Okay so it was only about 100 steps and the view must have been amazing, the spray probably would have felt really good but let’s face it, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if I had slipped ( I’m a klutz ) or worse, passed out from heat on the way back. There was a lovely breeze where we sat in the shade and tons of people to watch as they posed for photos with a 15 foot statue of Nicola Tesla. The end of the 9 hour plus tour found us getting gas and making our way back to the very same Wal-Mart of the night before.

Another Look At Niagara

Left to Right and Top to Bottom: Canadian or Horseshoe Falls with the Maid Of The Mist, Birch tree overlooking the Niagara Gorge, Viewers of the Canadian Falls from Table Rock, Some beautiful flora, The Spanish or Aero Chair suspended across the Gorge from 6 cables, Floral Clock patterns are changed seasonally and a small pond fish hiding among the pond lilies.

Day 2- On to Niagara Falls, NY

We left Cooperstown, much the same as we entered, by way of rolling pastures of horses and cattle mixed among fields under cultivation although eventually all things must come to an end. We crossed the Erie Canal and merged onto the traffic of the NY through way, Rte I-90. Our original plan was to stop at one of the many service areas along the way for the night but when we stopped at the last one, just outside of Buffalo, Carl found he still had another hour or two of driving in him. His spirits were further lifted when he found out there were fire works over the falls tonight. So we continued on until we found our way within a block or so of the falls. Parking once more turned into an exciting proposition although we “lucked out” when we found a parking lot with room for us. Of course, instead of the $5.00 per car, they had to charge us $15.00. They didn’t do us any favor because with all the extra cars, it was a real chore to get out when the fireworks were over. I hadn’t seen fireworks in many years so I wasn’t sure how to go about photographing them. I already had my flimsy travel tripod with me because of wanting some night shots of Niagara with the lights on them. It was amazing and gave me an hour of practice playing with shutter speed and aperture settings. I always use my shutter release cable when I use this tripod because I don’t have to touch the camera. By the time the fireworks started, I had the f-stop at 3.5 with a one second shutter speed. It was great. I only had one issue. Don’t laugh now. I couldn’t find the right knob to adjust the up and down aspect of the tripod so I just tilted the whole shooting match back until I framed where I hoped most of the burst would end up. You be the judge… We arrived at Wal-Mart #2 at about 11 that night and I don’t mind telling you, we were both over tired.

Sights From The Game

Left to right and top to bottom:

A t-shirt design that does not describe my house thankfully, statue of "The Sandlot Kid", statue of Ted Williams carved from one single piece of basswood, 'Tek's away jersey worn during the final game of the 2004 World Series with the St Louis Cardinals and David Ortiz's batting helmet from the 2007 games against the Colorado Rockies

Day 2 - National Baseball Hall Of Fame

It’s every baseball fan’s dream to visit the Shrine Of The Diamond, the Holy Cathedral Of The Game or as it’s better known, Cooperstown. Today I got to scratch one more thing off of a very long bucket list and we did drive through some more beautiful countryside to reach our destination. In fact, at one point, Carl mentioned how curious it was the Hall Of Fame was in the middle of no where. That was until we made the very last left hand turn onto Main Street. Then his comment was how could the Hall be in the middle of town. I could fill pages with statistics and the mentioning of all the memorabilia we saw but that couldn’t do justice to the overall experience. I do want to mention a couple of things the Hall Of Fame website does not mention. There is not a great deal of parking, especially when there is a game scheduled at Doubleday field. We didn’t know this and were at a loss as to where we could park our truck and trailer which measures 44 feet in length together. We pulled up to the firestation, talked with a couple of local folks who were quite helpful. One suggested a parking lot out behind a Credit Union with lots of room. Come to find out, it was a trolley stop. We still walked down town, about a half a mile, to the museum. The second thing I want to let people know is the Hall Of Fame offers free admission to veterans. We didn’t find this out until Carl offered our AAA card and his military ID, asking which would get him a better discount. The cashier smiled, asked if he was a veteran and then proceeded to take the AAA card to give me a 20% discount while Carl was admitted at no charge. We spent three wonderful hours taking a tour through the history of the game which to my surprise also included a pretty good display honoring the All American Girls Professional League, replacement ball played during the war and for a few years after. I also got to pay homage to the greats of the games, names like Cobb, DiMaggio, Ruth and Williams, along with favorites I watched play for years like Jim Palmer, Dennis Eckersly, Carl Yazstremski, Wade Boggs, and Jim Rice. Even artifacts from Pete Rose are there, being honored for his contributions to the game, his prowess with a bat and his record for lifetime hits. BTW, I do not agree with the commissioner’s edict to keep him out of the Hall. The photo is of THE baseball that ended the "curse" and an 86 year long dry spell in 2004.

Day 1- To Cobleskill, NY

We’re finally on our way. I had a meeting in Lebanon to attend last night so we drove to Quechee, VT and stayed in a lovely state park a short distance from the Gorge. After topping off our fresh water we hit the road. I haven’t traveled much, by vehicle, in the state of NY so I was pleasantly surprised to find our route winding through some beautiful farming country. Sadly, the weather made things less than photogenic but I almost relented a couple of times and asked Carl to pull over. It’s much more difficult to yell “stop” when your towing a camper. After only a minor mishap with the very good directions provided us by AAA, we found our way to our very first Wal-Mart camping area. We’ll be staying in a lot of them along the trip and I’m resisting the urge to turn this into a “Wal-Mart Across America” blog. Although I have to say, our first evening was peaceful as we were the only camper in the parking lot. The beautiful countryside I mentioned will continue through a good part of tomorrow.

I Knew I Could Figure Out How To Post A Map

I know some of you will be interested to know our first stop is the National Baseball Hall Of Fame, a place I've wanted to visit all my life. I'm not sure how many photos I'll be able to take but I can assure you I will take many memories away with me. Can anyone imagine me, a photographer, not taking at least a handful of pics somewhere in the building? Total mileage for Day 1 will be 300.1 miles. Keep watching! It only gets better from here...
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