Lewis and Clark and us!

We are in western Iowa (Onawa) at Lewis and Clark State Park. This is a replica of the boat in which Lewis and Clark sailed up the Missouri River, landing here! It's a beautiful place, and a beautiful day. Now, we're off to South Dakota.

From Michigan to Illinois to Iowa

We had such a nice stay at Poonam's house in Michigan. Family, a beautiful house on a lake, and wonderful food - thanks again, Poonam and all!

We had intended to drive north through Michigan and northern Minnesota, but decided to save that for some future trip and take the more expeditious route, south of the Great Lakes. Yesterday afternoon, we drove through lower Michigan and some of Illinois, stopping for the night at Illini State Park in Marseilles, on the Illinois River. We enjoyed watching the tugboats push long rows of barges up the river in front of our campsite. Why are they called tugboats when all they ever seem to do is push things? Sandeep built a small campfire and sat outdoors for a little while last night, which he loves to do at home and enjoyed even more while really camping! It was a chilly night last night, but not too bad in our little van with our down comforter. We made nice hot oatmeal for breakfast, played with Molly and tried to keep her from seeing (and wanting to chase!) wild bunnies around the campsite, and then set off. We've stopped for lunch just outside Iowa City (and have a wi-fi connection - yippee!). Western Illinois and Iowa so far are beautiful - lots of flat and mostly flat farmland, with tall, dry cornfields that look like corduroy from a distance and huge fields of soybeans, which are short and turning yellow. We'll stop tonight in either western Iowa or the southeastern tip of South Dakota, depending on how much we feel like driving!

Illini, Illinois!

Here's a tug boat pushing lots of barges up the Illinois river in front of our campsite at Illini State Park in Marseilles, Illinois. How fun is it to say Illini, Illinois? Lots of flat farmland already - Iowa tomorrow!

from Golden Hill to Niagara Falls to Michigan

Sunday, we drove through more beautiful farmland in upstate New York, and reached Niagara Falls in the afternoon. We walked across the footbridges to Goat Island and Luna Island in the center of the falls on the American side, and then crossed to the Canadian side for a beautiful view of all the falls and lots of mist!

We drove through Canada to Michigan, and stayed with Sandeep's cousin Poonam (and her husband Anu and son Rishi) for two days. We had a lovely visit - thank you, Poonam, Anu and Rishi, and Uncle and Auntie! Molly will miss trying to sneak up onto your couch, Poonam!

From the farm to Fair Haven NY to Golden Hill NY

Our first stop was Fair Haven State Park, on the shores of Lake Ontario. We arrived very late, but had a lovely view of the lake when we woke up in the morning. Saturday, we followed small roads along the southern shore of the lake all afternoon, driving through miles and miles of farms. We saw apple and peach orchards, corn and hayfields, and fields of something short and bean-y - we guessed soybeans. We stopped in the afternoon at Golden Hill State Park, STILL on Lake Ontario! It's a lovely little park, and we had a nice evening, cooking dinner outdoors and watching the sun set over the lake.

From our house to the farm

I had been posting to the blog from my cell phone, which is very handy but only includes tiny photos and limited text. Now we're visiting Sandeep's cousin Poonam and her family, and have an internet connection for the computer, so now I'm updating the blog with better photos and more words! Unfortunately, I managed to delete the original post and can't quite figure out how not to do that again - so, the dates will probably change.

We left our house on Thursday, September 6, and drove to Jess's family's farm, in Rockingham, Vermont. We stayed there Thursday night, and had a lovely little visit - thanks, Justin and May and Mom and Dad! - although we all miss Justin and May's dog, Johnny, who died this week. We're thinking of you often, big black dog, and Justin and May.

We met new calf, Upton, who is recovering quickly from a dreadful infection, and admired the nine little chicks that one determined hen is raising from eggs she stashed in the barn. We also said hello to the friendly hen, Ms. Nesbit, who visits the porch daily for handouts and was not, for once, chased by Molly.

Our maiden voyage in the Gumby van was fairly uneventful, although we did have a maple syrup explosion in the fridge. Jess had packed a plastic bottle of syrup - quite a lot of syrup, since it is one of our staple foods! - on its side in the little refrigerator...in retrospect, NOT a good idea. It spilled inside the fridge, and leaked out onto the shelf and floor and somehow into the fridge door gasket. A very sticky mess...or, as Homer Simpson might say, "Mmmmmmmmm... maple mess...."

We spent our first night in the van, and found our bed to be very comfortable, even though Sandeep discovered in the morning that a third of the support slats on his side had not been rolled out and that he had slept on the mattress on top of the batteries! Even so, it was comfortable - although, as tired as we were, I think we probably could have slept on nothing but batteries!

Friday was Molly's second birthday - happy birthday, Molly! We went for a lovely birthday walk at the farm, although the birthday girl poked her nose into the electric fence and had an unpleasant surprise. She ran across the field, straight to Justin - SAVE ME, UNCLE JUSTIN!

We visited my grandparents before really truly leaving on our trip - hi, Grammy and Grampa! Feel better soon, Grammy! Then we drove and drove, across half of New York state, to Fair Haven state park, where we stopped for the night.

Almost Finished!

We have a very comfortable sofa/bed (it will fold out into a full-size bed, soon!) - Molly likes it. We have cabinets with doors, a fabulous double-hinged folding bathroom door, a countertop, a ceiling, and curtains and squishy cushions. What more could we want? Just one more coat of paint and a few last minute bits to attach and we'll be off! We'll be heading to the farm, first stop on our grand tour, tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

We HAVE to leave soon, because our wonderful friends had a farewell party for us last night. Thank you for all you do for us, Mukesh and Anuja! Hi, Hersh and Aman!