Here we are, on the road: We’re in Verona, NY

September 15, 2013 Lorraine’s report

Hello once again from our rig, parked in The Villages at Turning Stone RV Park in Verona, New York. It's Saturday evening once more and we will be moving tomorrow morning, so we have to write the blog tonight. Guess that's how it goes.

So this week was okay, except I had my hair done on Friday the 13, and the gal messed my hair up. It is way too dark. I don't know what she did, she was in training, the supervisor mixed it up and I think she kept it on way too long, and the formula turned extremely dark while she was doing it. That is the first time since I can't remember when they have messed up my hair, other than when we started out, at the beginning.

Usually I get it done at a WM, and yesterday we were across the street going to a Best Buy to have my computer checked out because the day before we were hacked and I needed some work done on the computer. The geek squad guy said we had to leave it, so we did.

We left and I noticed just down the road was a Wal-Mart. Now there hasn't been many Super Wal-Marts around here. In fact, this is the first one I've seen since we left Lockport, NY, I think. But that WM didn't have any beauty salons in it. In fact, I can't hardly remember when we saw a beauty salon in a WM and they don't have any nail salons for that matter either. Anyway, I felt pretty lucky to find a WM with a salon. So we went in, and I told Chuck I would like to get my hair done. He was agreeable so we went in and checked. The gal said we could take me right away and so I thought I had it made. I was wrong in that area. So now I'm stuck with it until it lightens and grows out.

Guess it's not much to complain about, but I try to take care of my hair, especially since I didn't have any hair, a few years ago, bake when I did the chemo and radiation.

So last Sunday we went back into Niagara Falls and did the rest of the stuff we didn't have time for. I loved the falls, I loved the mist; the winds from the Cave of the Winds was awesome The rain from the Cave of the Winds was cleansing. We certainly do live in a beautiful country.

Monday we went into Buffalo, NY to see where my sister used to live. We found the house, drove by and took pictures. I don't know what it looked like when she was there some 48 years ago, but it was nice enough now. From there Chuck took us by a casino, the Seneca Buffalo Casino and we played a bit, then left. We went by a WM for something, then home.

Tuesday we went up to the shores of Lake Ontario so I could put my foot in the water. The water was cold, but not as cold as Alaska. I must say I was happy to put my foot into all the Great Lakes. Thanks Lord for giving me the chance to say "I did it and it was fun." It was so hot and humid out, I was happy to put my foot into the lake.

Wednesday was another hot and extremely humid day. We were at a place where the RV Park was charging for use of power. We paid some money up front, but it was much to hot to not use the air conditioner, so Chuck turned it on. And when we left, I had to go in to the owner when we checked out to pay some more money for using the power. Like I said-it was way to hot and humid!

Thursday found us leaving Gasport, NY and moving on into Verona, NY. We went to Turning Stone Casino and Resort is a resort owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York. Until the Seneca Niagara Casino opened, it was the only land-based casino in New York. The resort is a popular tourist destination in central New York State. The Villages have 175 paved sites and is pretty nice. Tonight they had a Halloween event that featured "Trick or Treating" for all the young children, and if you put up a sticker, they kids could go around and "Trick or Treat" you. They were sold out for tonight, due to this function.

Friday found us taking care of my computer. We took it into Best Busy to be fixed. And while we were in town, I had lost my earring back, so that was why I needed to go to WM, to get an earring back for my diamond earrings.

Today we went over to the casino and played a bit. It was cooler today, and tonight when we came home, you could see your breath outside. It is getting colder a lot faster here now, I think. So that is it for me...Hope everyone is well. Take care...

Hugs to you,

Lorraine

9/15/13 Chuck’s report

Lorraine wrote her report last night but I didn’t get mine done, so I’ll work on mine this morning. We are planning on today being a travel day, usually I try to get most of this done the night before but OH WELL.

We are still in New York, I think I’m enjoying this state more than I thought I would. It’s really green and there is lots of farms around. There is lots of water, rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds, and there are so many birds too. Last night was the first time we’ve seen more than one deer, we saw three bucks still running together alongside the freeway, good sized ones too. So far I’ve found the locals to be pleasant and helpful but I’m still having trouble with the toll roads on the interstate highway, I thought we paid for them with our tax money years ago. Plus the roads aren’t that good, not as bad as other places we’ve been but considering all the tolls, not good either.

Let’s see, last Sunday we went back to Niagara Falls to complete our visit on the American side. We had purchased the Discovery Pass and hadn’t used/seen all the places when we were there on Friday. So this time we went to the Aquarium, Discovery Center, got our pass for the all-day on/off shuttle and did the tour around and under the Bridal Falls. I don’t think I needed to do the Aquarium or Discovery Center but it was included with our pass but next time we may just not do those two things.

But the Cave of the Winds and Hurricane Ridge was worth it. Once again, they gave us cheap parkas but this time they also gave us sandals and a bag to put our shoes in to keep them dry. That was a good indication of how we we were going to get and it was all as advertised. They have built a walkway on Goat Island that brings you up close and personal at the bottom of Bridal Falls and if you want, you can climb the stairs and get almost directly under the Falls at Hurricane Ridge.

The water running over the walkway was over an inch deep in places, the winds from the water movement was almost 60 MPH and the water got everywhere, I was wet! Lorraine didn’t feel comfortable going up to the top so she walked around and met me after I spent a very short time up there. But even without going up to the top, she got wet from the spray too. After we left that area we noticed lots of folks still wearing the sandals they were given, I guess their feet weren’t dry yet.

Tuesday was our day to see parts of Buffalo. Lorraine’s sister Thelma and BIL, John lived there 40 odd years ago and we told her we would attempt to find the place they lived in back then. So with the address plugged into the GPS, we headed out. But first we drove through parts of downtown, sure a lot of nice, old buildings in the downtown area. But soon we were in the residential area and after a couple of wrong turns, we found their place and took some pictures. Lorraine even called her to let her know we were there.

We did some more touring of the town and area, even found a casino we HAD to try. We did get out of town before the rush hour, I don’t know how bad it gets here but didn’t want to find out either.

Wednesday we headed North a few miles to see the lakeside along Lake Ontario. We found a couple of parks were we could get down to the water and one was easy enough for Lorraine to get her foot in the water. That completed all five Great Lakes that she has gotten her foot wet, we have photos to prove it too.

The drive along the shore was nice except most of the time there were houses and yards between us and the water. Some of those homes looked to be really nice, almost mansions. And the yards, some of the folks had 5 acres or so that was mowed and very nice landscaping. We enjoyed out trip along the shore and took a more inland route back just to explore a different area.

Thursday was a HOT and MUGGY day, the temperature got to the low 90s and the humidity was in the mid 90s. We ran both air conditioners all day and still it was uncomfortable. Can you tell we are wimps when it comes to hot and humid? Don’t think I could live in an area that was like that. We spent most of the day in the rig then later headed out to find something to eat. It was a nice evening after it cooled off some though.

Thursday was travel day for us, we left Gasport and headed here to Verona. I had the option of taking the toll road or avoiding it but that would take an extra hour. I checked online and found that it was almost the same time and mileage if I took the avoided the toll roads until I got to Rochester then get on the expressway so that’s what we did. We drove through some more farmland, orchards and vineyards along the way and saw more of the area. After getting on the expressway, we just had more of the same except here the exits may be 20 miles or more apart, not every road has an exit. Plus the number the exits consecutively not by the mileage as most states. In other words, exit 26 is 20 miles East of exit 25, takes some getting used to.

The campground we are staying is part of the Casino so that’s where we pulled into but we couldn’t find the campground anywhere. We pulled over to call but a guy in the shuttle stopped and told us we couldn’t park where we stopped but then told us where the park was, about 1/2 mile away.

It rained most of the drive over, of course since we had washed the coach at our last stop. We got assigned a site in the back and when we got there I found there was a “lake” where we needed to park plus the site was not very level, our rear tires would have been off the ground to get the coach level. So we picked out a couple of empty sites we though would work for us and returned to the office.

As luck would have it, one of the sites was available for us, it overlooked the small pond and had good satellite access. We got into our site, set up then the rain stopped, yea. But it was still hot and after the rain it was sure steamy again, we both were glad for the air conditioners.

We headed over to the casino after getting set up, played slots for awhile then tried their buffet. The buffet was ok but I thought it was expensive for what they had. But everything we tried was good and there was plenty of it so that was ok.

Somehow one of our computers had been hacked and was sending out junk email to everyone on our contact list, thanks to those who let us know. I was able to check my laptop and was pretty sure it was not the one but Lorraine’s spam protecting wouldn’t allow me to update it. Hers was still under warranty so we took it to Best Buy to have them check it out. After waiting for 30 minutes or so one of the Geek Squad guys checked it out. He told us he didn’t think either computer was infected but rather someone had gotten our password and send out those notes. We had already changed our password, he changed out the anti-spam program because he couldn’t get it to update either. So sorry to those who got one of our junk emails, hope to have fixed the problem.

We had to leave the computer for a couple of hours so Lorraine had her hair done at Wal-Mart while we waited. She ended up getting a new gal, fresh out of school. Lorraine doesn’t like the job she did, says it’s too dark. I don’t think it looks too bad, one time a gal gave her a “Las Vegas look”, lots of blonde streaks and the color was really light too.

While we were in Best Buy and while Lorraine was getting her hair done I checked out smart phones. We are eligible for a phone update with Verizon and Lorraine has been thinking about getting a smart phone, we currently have dumb phones. I need to do some more research on the phones but I’m thinking about going with Wal-Mart and the no-contract. I think it would be cheaper than the two year contract with Verizon and we can get the same phone too. I’m also thinking about going with the Android platform vs I –phone. If anyone has any good advice for me, please let me know what you have, suggestions are welcome too.

Yesterday was mostly a stay at home day too. We went over to the casino for awhile, played on their free money while we were there. We returned back to the coach for a couple hours then headed out to find a place for dinner. We ended up at Cracker Barrel, always a good place for us.

I had to take a break from writing this, we got everything ready for our move and we have already moved to our new place. We are now in Duanesburg, just outside Schenectady. We have reservations for a week but only checked in for 4 days, I want to find a few days in our rough schedule and try to do some exploring in the Adirondack Mountains while we are this close. Plus, I’m keeping an eye on the tree leaf color timing for the rest of trip through the NE. So far I’ve only found two counties that say the color change has started, still a few weeks away from prime though. But if we find there is lots to see/do in this area we can always stay for the time needed.

The weather has certainly been getting cooler at night, feels like fall is coming. We had three hot days and the TV weatherman says the next few days will be cooler than normal. Last night the temperature dropped to the high 40s, we had to run the heat pump overnight. At least I haven’t heard them talk about rain for the next couple of days.

Our plans are still to head to, and spend a few days in, Vermont and New Hampshire then spend a couple of weeks in Maine. The timing for those stops are going to depend on the changing of the leafs, like I said earlier. I’m keeping an eye on that. We don’t have even a rough schedule for after the leaf thing, just know we will head South for warmer weather as it will probably be getting cold by mid October.

I went through the pictures we took last week already and have added a few below. Now guess I’ll let Lorraine proofread this and get it sent out.

Different vantage view of Niagara Falls, on the left is below the American Falls.