You'll never guess what the mascot sculpture is for the city of Buffalo, NY.

Surprise!

Today we drove from Lockport to Depew, NY to get the radar detector fixed in the car.  While that was being done I indulged in a Mani-pedi and later got my hair trimmed.  Gary was a saint and waited patiently for me even though the car was finished.

We ate lunch across from the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport at a Greek restaurant.  On the way home we found a Starbucks.  Yay!

This sculpture is meant to honor the steelworkers who built the skyscrapers in New York City.  Very interesting.

On the way back to the campground we passed the Erie Canal.  Parts of it are being drained and repaired but we got a pretty good view from a bridge over it. 

We had our last dinner out with Donna and Roy at an excellent BBQ restaurant, One Eyed Jack's in Lockport.  Tomorrow we begin our trip south.

Niagara County Camping Resort in Lockport, NY is where we are staying.  We arrived yesterday and, after we got the rig set up, left for a delightful evening with our cousins, Donna and Roy Reid, and their kids and grand kids, Marin, Jennie, Ayden, Gavin, Loren, Cohen and Ehron.  We all went out for pizza and got acquainted and re-acquainted.  It was lots of fun.

Today was a day I have been waiting for.  Donna and Roy took us to Niagara Falls!  The wait at the Canadian border was a little bit of a challenge but it was worth it.  We parked the car and walked toward the falls.  I had never thought about how wet you can get from the spray that blows more than two blocks away.  I had on a new blouse and hoped it wouldn't shrink.

Skyline across the street on the Canadian side from the falls.

The first picture shows the brink of the falls as the water goes over Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.
The second is a shot of the American falls.
The last two are of Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.  Spectacular!!!

Wouldn't you think this would go without saying?

After the falls we took a ride to the little town of Niagara on the Lake. 

We had lunch at

and then went looking for pastries for Gary.  Since it is a Canadian town, we found lots of his special British foods at

including Wine Gums, (sort of light gummy bears and rings), lemon marmalade and Bisto which is a gravy mix you can use to make authentic Shepherd's Pie.  We also found some creamy desserts at a pastry shop called Willow.  He was a very happy man.

We saw this bicycle service station on the street.  Had never seen one like it before.

The trip back to the United States side w.as uneventful, thank goodness.  One time when we were coming back from Vancouver, B.C. we had trouble with an ill-tempered American border patrol guard who didn't like Gary's passport because he was born in the U.K.  It was scary.

Here is a picture of Cleveland's skyline from I-90.

Yesterday Gary bought us an EZ Pass transponder so we can breeze through tolls in 14 states.  It is mounted on the front windshield by the mirror.  We read that it is mandated to be used in every state by October, which is brilliant.  The best thing that happened all morning was when the toll machine said, "Tag Accepted" as we went through the first toll booth in Indiana.  It also worked in Ohio, which we were told could have taken up to four days to register.  We felt very lucky.

In Ohio, all the Highway Service Plazas have Starbucks in them.  What a great state!!

We are staying at Heritage Hills KOA in Thompson, Ohio and didn't unhitch the car so we can get an early start tomorrow.  We ate leftover pizza from the other night.

I had forgotten about gnats, but now I remember.  They fly all around your face constantly and they are everywhere.  This is one thing I am so happy Oregon is missing.

A restful/housekeeping day in Angola, IN.

After breakfast we did laundry before it got too hot.  Then we re-made the bed and put the clothes away.  Are you asleep, yet?

We went into town for lunch at the We Hop.  Really!!

Then we shopped for a while.  How would you pronounce the name of this store?

Wrong!  It is Myer!

We had our first thunderstorm and rain since we left Oregon today.  Gary and I slowly realized that we were parked in the middle of an empty field sitting in a metal travel trailer.  This was not the most warm and fuzzy thought we ever had.  If there was any upside to this, it was that there were no trees near us.

This is the Round Red Barn at this RV Park (Circle B) where they had a wedding yesterday afternoon and a high school class reunion last night.  Today there was a 50th wedding anniversary.  Thankfully, we didn't hear any of it from our site.

On to Thompson, OH tomorrow.

Last night we stayed in Hickory Hollow Campground in Utica, Illinois.  It had been a long day so we didn't feel like unhitching the car to go find dinner.  That was when I discovered that you can order pizza to be delivered to your campsite!!  Who knew?

We have seen so many huge blades for wind turbines traveling up and down the interstates.  They each take a super-sized truck.  Wonder where they all end up.

There is an actual city named What Cheer, Iowa.

We crossed the Mississippi yesterday on our way to Utica.  Milestone.

Did you know that there are FIVE cities in the Quad Cities?  They are Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island and East Moline.  Math, anyone?

In Elkhart, IN they have painted elk statues.  Add that to the cowboy boots, bears, mermaids, etc. we have seen in our travels.

We saw a cigarette store called the Butt Hut.  No comment.

You have absolutely no idea how many hundreds, maybe thousands, of miles are planted in corn.  It is stunning!!

Here is a wooden train on the playground at Circle B Campground where we will be for two nights.  It is very nice here and it will be relaxing to have a break from driving tomorrow.  Of, course, there will be laundry, etc. to catch up on.  Oh, well.

 This campground is just great if you have kids.  They have a pool, of course, but also a big jumping pad as large as the pool, a floor chess set, a small water park and a wooden sluice where kids can pan for various minerals, like you would pan for gold.  The children here were having a ball.

We like it because the RV spaces are large and there is no road or train noise here.  It is clean and well done.

Here is a view of the Iowa Capitol building.  This is the third capitol city we have visited this week.

 Des Moines is a regular city.  I don't know what I was expecting, but not high rise office buildings and everything you might see in Portland.  They were even setting up for a large Arts Festival starting this weekend.

We spent today exploring the area and saw some amazing things.

Here are two views of the same sculpture in the front of the Botanical Gardens building.  Stunning!

This is the entrance to the Botanical Gardens.

This pagoda sits on the river  and you can see a little of Des Moines in the background.

A few miles outside of Des Moines is the small town of Winterset where John Wayne was born.  They have memorialized his birth home and have a museum dedicated to his life.

Here we are in front of one of the famous Covered Bridges of Madison County.  There were 6 others but we only saw one.  This was also in Winterset.

Rube's Steakhouse is a restaurant where you cook your own steak over a huge grill.  We had kabobs and also toasted our own Texas toast.  Now we are resting in the TrailBayser and will be off again tomorrow.

Today we breezed past Omaha and headed for Des Moines West KOA RV Park, which is not that near to West Des Moines.  But it is nicely rural, not close to the main highway, so no noise and very well maintained.  We will be here for two nights. 

This is the artsy overpass marking the border of Iowa on I-80.  I don't know what it was supposed to be but it definitely got my attention.

Iowa has gently rolling hills, many planted with corn and other crops.  This is not to say that it is all farmland.  We needed a grocery store today and were quite impressed with West Des Moines and its beautiful homes, new shopping centers and modern look.  Unlike some of the cities we have already visited, this one appears to be prospering. 

We saw some intriguing signs on the way here, one for Information on the Covered Bridges of Madison County and one for the birthplace of John Wayne. Tomorrow we will do some exploring.

Dinner was at LT Organic Farm Restaurant.  Very healthy, especially compared to our lunch.  I won't mention the name of the restaurant but its initials are DQ.  We saw signs for LT Organic along the highway and looked it up to find that it had 5 stars.  They only serve one meal each night with many different dishes one one plate.  Everything was tasty and good for you.  The centerpiece was chicken with a spinach topping and cucumber salad on top of that.  Around the edges were curried chick peas, falafel in a sauce, split peas in another sauce, rice and a spiced pear.  Very interesting and unusual and nothing too spicy.

Wow!!  Nebraska is FLAT!!  After being in the Rockies and spending time in a campground a mile high, it is kind of an adjustment.

We stayed in Holiday RV Park in North Platte, Nebraska last night.  It is a very small town and we didn't unhitch the car last night or tonight.  Last night we walked to a local diner for dinner and tonight I nuked our dinner and we stayed in. 

Tonight we are at Camp A Way in Lincoln, NE.  This campground is great for kids with a little water park, a jumping stage, a large floor chess game and a pool.  We are far away from those things tucked into the back of the park where it is quieter.  It is very hot here and the low tonight is expected to be in the 80's.  We will keep the AC on.

When we left this morning we passed the Wild Bill Cody Fort which looks like the worst kind of tourist trap but I had to take some pictures.  He had a ranch in North Platte and is a local hero.

In Kearney, NE we passed the Kearney Archway which is built over US 80 in honor of the pioneers.

It is more impressive than it looks here. 

We also saw a sign for a Cattle Brand Inspection Area and had to wonder if they were trying to catch cattle rustlers.

The best thing I have seen in Nebraska so far was a firefly.  I really miss those in Oregon.

When we were at the campground in Green River, WY we thought we were in the absolute boondocks.  We didn't unhook the car and go exploring like we usually do because we were tired and because we thought we would find more of the same.  Imagine our surprise when we drove about 2 miles east and saw a lovely little city with nice homes, restaurants and shops.  Live and learn.  You never know what is around the next corner.

On our way we passed the Continental Divide two times.  Don't ask me how that is possible but we saw two separate signs, miles apart.

This is our second night in Cheyenne, WY.  We are at AB Campground, which is known for its great BBQ restaurant right on site which is run by the owners of the campground.  We liked it so much that we ate dinner here both nights.  When we arrived here we noticed a chicken coop on wheels, something we had never seen before.  A camper for chickens.  We are hoping the chickens were not meant for the BBQ restaurant.

This is a picture of the door knocker on the BBQ restaurant.  It is hard to see, but the knocker is spurs.

Yesterday we didn't do much, as we had just arrived and it had been a long driving day.  I did some laundry, we walked Baby and we met another couple towing an Airstream with an Infiniti.  They were the first ones we had met.

Today I took Grandpa Gaggy out for breakfast for Father's Day.  We went downtown to the Egg and I, which was just across the street from the Wyoming capitol building.

I was being especially nice to him and poured him his coffee without remembering that I had already put my sweetener in it.  Then I poured sweetener into my cup, so there was no cup of coffee for him.  Happy Father's Day!  Aside from that the breakfast was very nice.

Cheyenne is a little worse for the wear from the last economic downturn and from the decline of the coal industry here.  They are trying to improve the city, though and have adopted the Cowboy Boot as the symbol of the city.  Various artists are decorating them and putting them around the downtown area.

Tomorrow we leave for Nebraska.  Sleep well.

The Wasatch Mountains, which are the first of the Rockies, are behind us now and we have crossed into Wyoming.  One thing that was prominent in eastern Utah and western Wyoming was how many Russian Olive trees there are.  The campground last night was full of them.  The manager of the campground said that they are not native but were brought by settlers for windbreaks and privacy fences.  I looked them up and they have small olives which birds eat and spread the pits.  Humans can also eat them but I didn't find any commerce based around them.  People in Utah consider them to be invasive but I think they look very nice with their silvery leaves.

Once we crossed over the border we noticed how many fireworks stores are here.  Maybe it is against the law to sell them in Utah and people come here.  One store was called Piro City.  Even the store at the campground where we are staying tonight is full of fireworks.

Along I-80 there are miles and miles of snow fences and also big areas where they chain up or close the road when the snow and ice are too bad. 

On the way here we visited the Lyman Rest Area.  Since that is Phil, Joli and Macy's last name, we had to send them a picture of it.  It is right outside of Lyman, Wyoming.

The part of Wyoming we are visiting is quite rocky and bleak.  The campground tonight, called The Travel Camp in Green River, WY is just a place to park for the night.  We didn't unhook the car from the trailer and cooked (microwaved) dinner for the first time since we left home.

Tomorrow we will leave for the Cheyenne area.  The Airstream is much easier to maneuver than the big motor home we used to have.  We are having fun!

 Promontory Point, UT, in the Golden Spike National Park, is where the western and eastern tracks of the intercontinental railway came together.  A golden spike (replica above) was driven when the last section was laid.  Most days they do a reenactment on the rails outside the visitor center with replicas of the steam engines moving on the tracks.

On the way to Golden Spike we passed the ATK Orbital Propulsion Systems where NASA has satellites built.  They also build munitions and parts for rockets and other "spacey" items.

We tried to go to an art installation that I had never heard of before, the Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake.  Unfortunately, we would have had to drive 15 miles on a dirt road.  We started but quickly decided it was a bad idea.  We were disappointed but you should look it up online.  It is considered the central work of sculptor, Robert Smithson and was built of mud, salt crystals and basalt in 1970.  It is only visible in times of drought. 

Today we made it to Starbucks for the first time on the trip.  It was inside a huge and beautiful store called Smith's Marketplace.  They must have some ties to Fred Meyer stores because a FM jewelry store was inside and the gas station outside had the same insignia as FM. 

We explored Brigham City a little this afternoon.  It is a very nice place with lovely homes and a beautiful campus of the Utah State University. 

On to Wyoming in the morning.

Did you know that the speed limit is 80 in parts of Idaho? I think that is quite amazing!  Of course, we can only do about 64.....

Today we crossed the Snake River and Rattlesnake Pass.  I was happy not to get out of the car near either of those.

The drive was fairly easy but since we have arrived in Brigham City, Utah the wind has been fierce.  Gary has to hold the door when we take Baby outside or it will slam into the side of the TrailBayser.  It is supposed to keep up like this for several more hours.

We are staying at the Brigham City KOA tonight and tomorrow night.  We had dinner at Maddox Ranch House Restaurant and I had a bison steak for the first time. 

I think I like beef better but it wasn't that scary.  They also served corn pone at this restaurant and we both liked it.  They are known for their bread.  Just what we both need!!