Day 1

We left this morning for our annual summer road trip. However, our excitement is seriously dampened because it looks like we will not get to the one place we wanted to explore, the one place we had our hearts set on. Months of planning will all be for naught because it didn’t occur to us that we needed to make ferry reservations to get to Isle Royal. Reservations are almost never part of our routine. So, instead of heading up to Michigan as planned, we flipped our route and are heading up to Niagara Falls. We took G3 to Niagara four years ago, but it was the summer of COVID so the Canadian border was closed. Since the Canadian side is prettier, we want him to be able to see it.

Yesterday, Kati drove me to a few dealerships so I could look at cars. I want a manual transmission, but fewer and fewer companies are making cars that have them. Nissans are only automatic. Stick shift Civics are premium cars which prices them out of what I can afford. Volkswagen guaranteed they could get me a manual Jetta, but this is the last year they are making them. I will check out consumer reports to see what they say about the Jetta, but as of. ow that’s what I’m learning towards. If you have any experience with Jettas, or Volkswagens in general, I would be interested in your opinion. Is it a good/reliable car? Would you recommend it?

I already miss my kittens and I am feeling awful about leaving them home alone for so long. But I can’t not travel and a neighbor will be stopping by every day to clean out the litter boxes and feed them. At least they have each other for company so they shouldn’t be too lonely.

Yay, I got tickets for the ferry to Isle Royal. It wasn’t the ferry we wanted, but it’s probably a better one for me because the trip is much shorter which means less time to get seasick. So now we will be heading through Michigan on the way home. Our excitement and enthusiasm for this trip has been revived. Now we can kick back and have fun.

We got on the road later than I would have liked, but we were up late last night with last minute packing. Kati had been busy dehydrating food for our intended trek on Isle Royal. Her stomach can’t tolerate the store-bought food G3 and I have grown accustomed to eating on Boy Scout treks. Kati needed some sleep before driving, which is why we didn’t leave until eight. We drove almost the exact route we took earlier in the month when we went Fillmore’s house. We didn’t realize it until we noticed a strange blip on the gps route. The road bent around a golf course. The GPS blip seemed so bizarre last time that we made a mental note.

It was four o’clock when we arrived in Niagara—on the Canadian side. By the time we checked into the hotel—yeah, I know we camp everywhere, but this was a very last minute change of plans and the campsites around the falls were either booked or almost as expensive as a hotel room—we didn’t get to the falls until five o’clock. I’m not sure G3 was impressed with the prettier view from the Canadian side. He kept reiterating that they were the same falls we saw in New York and I kept reminding him that while that may be true, each side offers a different perspective and the Canadian perspective allows you to see more. I’m fairly certain he understood that, he just likes being difficult and irking me.

We walked along the falls and I took more pictures than I probably needed. G3 made fun of me for that as well. He’s been laughing at all the pictures I take for years. This is the first vacation I’ve taken without bringing a camera and I feel a bit naked—as if I’ve forgotten something. But after our trip to the Finger Lakes, I realized my phone takes better pictures than my good camera. We hadn’t walked too far when the clouds got a bit darker and it started to rain. It rained for a total of maybe twenty minutes, but it was enough to soak us.

We were all famished by the time we got back to the hotel. Since there is a pizza place, Zappi’s, a block away, we decided to go there for dinner. The garlic bread was very tasty. The pizza was slightly better than tolerable, which was a win considering some of the real crappy pizza we’ve eaten while on the road.