July 16, 2003 - Swanzee, NH
It's all Barb's fault it's been so long since the last update. While in Costco on a shopping trip, she picked up a box containing the first 4 Harry Potter books. And since as a Christian I'd listened to some controversy about the books among other believers, I simply had to do some research on my own, in order to decide for myself their value. And I got very involved with my "research" I'm here to tell you. Took me more than just a little bit to read all four of them, and on our next trip to Costco, I'm buying the latest one you betcha. Great fun! The theme of "Do what's best, not what's easiest" is everywhere. So, in case you're wondering, yes, I liked the books and would be happy to share them with any kid who wants to read. I think it's important to differentiate between make-believe and reality with children, and these books are no different than reading a book about evolution, or Lord of the Rings, or C.S. Lewis, or Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. So there's my not-so-humble opinion for what it's worth. And now since Barb is engrossed in reading them, I can get back to "work" here on the website.
It's raining like stink! And hot and muggy besides. Not sure I like New England weather in July. Sure do like the scenery and the people though. Particularly Barb's family. What fun to see them again. Ma's just a tad shy of 90 years old, and still giving everybody fits that think she's old. She had a sore back the other day.....from picking strawberries all morning!!! The SOWERS project we're on is fine, the people are great, and the food is too good. We're both gaining a bit of weight I'm afraid. Barb is working in the air-conditioned office, and I've been doing some carpenter work on a storage shed, and fussing with some machinery that wasn't running. Fixed the log splitter, but couldn't do a thing for the string trimmer. 50-50 for an average isn't anything to be proud of, but there's always next week.
AHA! We're still at Niagara Falls. Went up that tower and took these next few shots. The U.S. falls and Goat Island, here.
Horseshoe falls (on the Canadian side), and that "water tank" from earlier that was all nicely covered with vines and had the stage in front of it. Looks empty to us from this angle. Wonder why they left it.
Canada on this side, and the US on the other side of that bridge, and then looking up-river over Goat Island. Pretty good sized river separating these two countries at this point.
The various things people used to either go over the falls or to go through the rapids and whirlpool downriver a bit. The kid is looking at the dent in the "Plunge O'Sphere." A rubber covered steel ball.
Some of these.....well, no, ALL of these contraptions make my hands sweat just looking inside of them and thinking about somebody shutting the door on me.
Dave Munday went over more than once.....for some strange reason that never was explained to me. That first one was covered with foam. The kind builders use to fill cracks in houses! Good grief! But it worked, I guess, because he survived the trip.
First guy who used that barrel died in it. He made the falls OK, but then got trapped behind them, and ran out of air before getting through the falls to his rescuers. The next guy who used the barrel made it OK. Are these people nuts, or what?
Barb is standing by the only replica in the place. It is of the first barrel to go over the falls. A 63 yr. old school teacher and her cat made it. She did if for the publicity and the fortune that she thought she could make with public appearances. When she was retrieved from the barrel she said something like "Nobody in their right mind should ever do that again!" She died in poverty.
Another shot of the tower we went up, and the elevator that took us up there. Heights don't bother me much after our trip to Yellowstone, and even the elevator getting us up there was tolerable because of the windows. And then the whirlpools that got famous because of all the crazies that tried (and mostly made it) through them in their tiny enclosed boats. The river is pretty swift at this point, and churning pretty good.
We could have waited in quite a line and taken this cable car across the rapids, but elected to skip it. And then at the entrance to Lake Erie is where you can catch the jet boats and ride upriver and through the rapids and back again. The green boat is enclosed, but the people riding on the other boats get soaked. Quite an operation. We even found an old steam boat you could ride on. This whole area is perhaps the most highly developed tourist-trap we've ever seen. Maybe not, but it seemed that way to me.
7/22/03
Well, well. Looks like there's going to be an extended silence from us for a while. Just finished negotiating the sale of the truck to a neat guy and his wife from Washington State. And while they're willing to fly wherever they need to in order to pick it up, we first need to find a place to live. That means that we'll be taking the rig from here to Texas (some 1700 miles) to a motorhome dealer who has what we think we want in the way of our next "Road Abode." They're willing to take the trailer as a trade-in, since we've not sold it. Then there's the job of moving all our stuff from one vehicle to the next, figuring out where to put it, and then driving back here to pick up the Jeep, celebrate Ma's 90th birthday, and all that. So, now I need to quit hammering the keyboard and get ready to hit the road. We've saved all the pictures of Pilgrim Pines, the conference center and camp where we've been volunteering for the past two weeks, and the rest of this week, and will post them in due time. To say we're excited and a bit overwhelmed is an understatement. We're really looking forward to traveling together again, and the new experience of a class A diesel pusher in our lives. Wish us well, and if you're so inclined, a prayer or two wouldn't hurt either.
Catch you later!