We took our first train ride "into the city". We decided to head to Hoboken first just get out feet wet. I also wanted to see the original Carlo's Bakery. It was cool to see where it all started. We walked the streets and saw all of the places they take about on the show Cake Boss. We then headed to the park where I was able to get awesome shots of Manhattan from across the Hudson River. Next adventure will be to head into Manhattan and see the World Trade Center complexes. Next we tackle the subways.... read more

What a great place and we learned a lot about Niagara Falls. First of all Niagara Falls is the city names, not the name of the falls. There is Niagara Falls, NY, USA. Then there is Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. On the US side there is the American and Bridal Veil Falls. On the Canadian side is Horseshoe Falls. Horseshoe is the largest falls, with American being next and Bridal Veil falls is the smallest. While the American side of the Niagara Falls we busy building up their factory industries, the Canadian side was building up tourism. You can tell by the difference in how each side looks and feels. I hope you enjoy the pictures. It was really hard to narrow down which ones I would put on the blog. I think I took over ... read more

We arrived in Wixom, Michigan last week. Wixom is a small town about 30 miles west of Detroit. The trip started off with a bang. While we were traveling a glass light cover fell off and shattered the induction cooktop. Why they would design the kitchen with a glass light cover over a glass cooktop beats me... Thanks goodness Heartland is sending us a new cooktop and Joe can install it. Next great adventure was our refrigerator acting up and not cooling. The diagnosis - needs a new compressor. The repairman is supposed to fix it when we get to Ohio. By the time we are done with all the things that have gone wrong with our 5th wheel we are going to have all brand new parts. Sunday we went to the Michigan International Speedway ... read more

We finished our last few days in Iowa doing so many things with Patty and Jeff. We visited the Iowa Motor speedway and even got to see the NASCAR car hauler parade. The next day we spent watching Patty do her thing in the kitchen. We traveled a long way to have her lasagna. There are even two trays in our freezer. Yummy. Thanks Patty and Jeff for a great time. We left Iowa heading to Chicago for what was supposed to be 7 days literally on a Lake Michigan beach. The first day we were there we had a major electrical issue that almost caused a fire. After the repair place said they could not fix it, they recommended we drive the 170 miles to Elkhart, Indiana. Elkhart is where the manufacturer is located. So ... read more

We arrived in Minnesota on July 23rd and have been busy checking this area out. We are staying on a SMALL Army National Guard base called Camp Ripley. As you will see from the pictures, the campground is in the middle of the woods and right on the Mississippi river. We can't beat the view, that's for sure. Friday was haircut and nails day. Always a fun thing on the road... NOT. Thank goodness the gal at the campground office gave me the name of two awesome hair and nail people. We also explored downtown Little Falls (town out side of Camp Ripley). We found a great local bakery and have had to force ourselves not to go there everyday... Yea for our willpower. Saturday we went to the boyhood home of Charles Lindbergh. We learned ... read more