Heading out on Tuesday night on our way to Montreal.
Somewhere close to Sault St. Marie, MI. I haven't seen a Big Boy restaurant in years. The last one in Madison closed probably 15-20 years ago....
One of the locks at Sault St. Marie, MI. This is where Lake Superior meets with Lake Huron. After visiting a US National Museum of some sort about the locks, we headed into Canada.
Our first night in Ontario, Canada. We are setting up for dinner. We traveled along Highway 17 from Sault Ste. Marie through the northern part of Ontario.
At this beautiful campsite somewhere west of Sudbury, Ontario, we had a nice dinner along the waterfalls.
I'll take a cosmo anywhere, even in the woods....
Throughout the trip, we pretty much cooked our own meals. That's great about traveling with a refridgerator on board.
Wednesday night, Todd, checking the map to determine Thursday's mission. We were on a tight deadline to get to Montreal by Friday.
Thursday night, found us at a Provincial Park in Quebec called Parc de la Gatineau. The park was opened but wasn't ready for the season. We got a free pass for the night. We took a nice walk after dinner along the lake.
On Saturday, we were at the track to watch the qualifying trials. This section is awsome as is right in front of the hairpin turn. (It's also where we sat for the race on Sunday)
A nice shot of the track and the city of Montreal in the background.
The racetrack is on an island just an easy Metro ride from where we were camped. After watching qualifying, we found this great public water fountain with kids waiting for the next geyser.
The day have become quite warm and humid, so the fountains were a gathering spot for many.
Even Todd, ever the kid, headed in the fountains to cool off.
We met some great people at the campsite and we all took the Metro downtown to Crescent Street which was filled to the brim with F1 partyers.
For $10 breezer, you too could gain access to the rooftop bar and look down onto Crescent.
The race was awesome! Hot, humid and high-octane fuel smelly. Just the way I like a race.... Actually, the heat was nothing like last years US Grand Prix. This was just Canada hot, with a great breeze coming from the water.
What was funny about this Ferrari fan and his hat, was the F1 announcers said it was the best hat on the track, but this guy never heard or saw the statement until we told him after the race.
I thought it was awesome that after the race, they let the fans onto the track. They don't do that at Indy. Here's a photo of Todd on the hairpin chicane.
After the race, we headed back to the US via Plattsburgh, NY. We stayed at a really nice state park called Cumberland. This park is on Lake Champlain at the foot of the Adirondack Mts.
Lake Champlain is one long, long lake.
Needed a few pictures of Plattsburgh, as I have an ancestor who was born here 2 years after the commerated battle.
The city has had several fires over the centuries. The oldest buildings are only from the late 1800s.
But I think I found some pretty old foundation stones on this building.
In the Adirondacks is Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Olympics. We had to check out the sk jump.
Lake Placid, NY, home of the 1980 Olympics, where many Wisconsinites brought home Gold.
Awesome view from the top of the jump. It is dizzingly high and I can image this is as close as humans come to flying.
Right outside the ski jump area, Todd starts singing about John Browns Grave. Sure enough we actually found John's Grave at his family's farm. John Brown was a pretty intense Abolishionist who stormed a US arsenal and took control, however briefly. Within days, he was captured, tried and hanged. The Civil War broke out a few months later. I wonder how today's Homeland Security would deal that kind of "Domestic Terrorist"?
Here's the grave of John Brown.
The homesite now is managed by New York. The following are several pictures of the interior of a 1850s farmstead.
I love the lupines peeking through the window.
We booked it through the Adirondacks and headed to see the falls in Seneca Falls. (not really knowing where they existed or not....)
We stealth camped on Tuesday night at a summer campground for Jesuit schools. No one was there, and we were very quiet.
Found the Women's Rights National Museum in Seneca Falls. It was an awesome visit. Pictured above, is the shell of the original building that the first congress of women gathered in 1843 to demand Congress to grant women their civil rights. (which didn't happen for several more decades, and some would question if we are even there yet....)
On Tuesday, after Seneca Falls, we booked it over the I90 all the way to Buffalo, NY and Niagra Falls. We spent a couple of hours checking out these absolutely stunning waterfalls.
One of the excursions you can take on the U.S. side of the falls, is the Cave of the Mist tour. You put on a plastic bag and special sandals, and go right to the very bottom of the falls.
The waterfalls are totally amazing and you can just feel the energy all around. It was awe inspiring.
Here's Todd facing the onslaught of the water force.
Our last night of camping is Wednesday and we spent it at the beautiful John E Pearce Provincial Park in Ontario that is maintained by local volunteers. This is a picture of lake Erie.
Our last stop on our trip was in Kalmazoo, MI to visit one of our favorite breweries. Bells Brewery. They have a store and awesome cafe, where guests can try out new beers not available in bottle. What a nice break after several hours of driving and more to go to get home.
Outdoor biergarten at Bell's
The climbing plants on the pergola are hops, a key ingredient in beer. We brought some hops rhizomes and will try to get them to grow in our yard. I want one of these!!!!
nice stain glass murals in the bar at Bells.
