Start of Fall trip, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Niagria Falls and family!

 

A beautiful start to our fall trip; we love our Harvest Hosts winery stops, especially when the views are like this one! We thought it was even better and that we were seeing northern lights, only to be disappointed to learn that the lights were "glow lights" from a marijuana facility! Thanks for educating us Linsey. :)

Another fabulous view from the winery the following morning, this one just pure sunshine (yes, Dave got that photo)! 😎

Checking another National Park off the list, this one in Ohio. We took the train that runs along the valley from Boston Mill to Akron.  I think Dave liked the train ride.

 

We wish we would have planned for more time as there is so much to do at this park. In addition to the train, there is a bike path that is over 100 miles long with 20 miles inside the park. The "towpath" has several stops with multiple trail heads for hiking. You can even put your bike on the train and then ride the trail back. We hiked the ledges trail and were just amazed at the topography. Apparently Ohio isn't all flat!

 

The ledges were not only overhangs but huge crevices leading back into cave like areas. It was crazy how much cooler it was in the "caves". Definitely a place we'd like to come back and explore more of.

On to Niagara on the Lake to do some wine tasting. Thanks to Wendy we had the "inside scoop" on the place as she used to live there. It was just wrong that she and Ron weren't there to join us, next time for sure! The downtown was beyond amazing with all of the flowers. Every light post, restaurant along the main street was covered with flowers. It was so lovely!

We ate lunch at the Angel Inn where Wendy used to work. Back in the day she had to wear a costume like a pirate wench, we showed our server and she was glad they have switched to shorts and tee shirts for today's apparel. Dave said the fish and chips were better than in London! The architecture was also very European in town and at the wineries.

We stopped at several wineries but honestly some were a bit out of our price range, Nice to take pictures of though!

Have you ever seen cupid topiary??? This was at an entrance to a private residence, with a painting of the house...clearly out of our investment range!!

We ended the day at another winery with a chocolate chef who studied at 3 star Michelin restaurants. The chocolates were custom created to match the wines and hand painted. Very Booshie!   

Of course we had to go to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, which we have to concur is much nicer than the US side. Photo dump of falls shots...

 

We loved walking the path all along the falls, even while getting a little wet from the mist coming off the falls.

A perfect way to finish the day was at a Salt Spa. After a steam shower (we sure miss our one at home) we relaxed in the salt room where they infuse salt into the air which aids in respiratory health. I can't say it does much for me but Dave always feels and breathes better afterwards.

 The highlight of the trip so far was stopping to see my nephew Ben in Syracuse, New York where Ben is now working. Plus we got to see Tim and his dog Nala. She loves her dinosaurs and his "Aunt Margaret" sent along a huge version of it for her to play with. Given it was almost as big as her she might take a bit of time to get used to it! It was great to see them almost 1 year exactly to when we saw them last year in Palm Springs. A great start to the beginning of the fall trip. Next stops are Massena and then Vermont on our way to Acadia National Park in Maine. Thanks for following along with us!

Grand Marais, Sault Ste. Marie, Alpena, Lakeport and Grand Haven

Hello from Woodland Park Campground in Grand Marais, MI. The best part of this campground is the access right to the beach, especially if you are a rock hound!

We found SO many cool rocks!! We really don't know that much about all the different kinds but we met this super nice couple from Muskegon  that turned us on to an app to identify rocks (of course there would be an app for that!). We found several agates, lots of epidotes (they are the pretty green ones), mudstones, quartz, and unakites (also pretty green and pink ones). 

As suggested by Mom and Dad we went to Sable Falls...

What a great spot! The hike to the falls is pretty short but with 168 steps down. Well worth it to see these falls! What Mom and Dad didn't tell us was what a great hike to the dunes and visitors center from the falls there was. Maybe because it was about 3 miles long but it had just gorgeous views from the dunes and a mushroom extravaganza! We sure thought of you Linsey!

There were just so many mushrooms! I can only imagine how incredible it would be to see this when all the fall colors are out. Many maple and beech trees would explode with reds and yellows here. It's such a fun contrast to be in the lush woods and then break out into the dunes.

The colors in the water below were so amazing, the pictures don't do it justice. We didn't hike all the way to the bottom because as Dave's shirt from the Grand Canyon says "down is optional, up is mandatory" and it's a long way back up from there!

Back into the woods to hike back home to a well deserved meal of hamburgers and corn on the Blackstone by Dave. Yummy and sorry if you're hungry as I made this picture so big, kinda like the burger!😃

On to Sault Ste. Marie and the Soo Locks. What an impressive engineering feat! Watching the ships come through from the observation deck was pretty cool.

We had fun walking town and they have a great used book store here. Got 7 books for $23! We didn't eat at the Mexican restaurant but I loved their sign as much as I love guacamole! We couldn't pass up the Crepe place because Dave wanted an espresso and then they had gluten free crepes! Oh my, so much for dinner plans but so yummy...turkey with tomato, goat cheese, spinach and pesto!

It's a quirky little town, the home of Lake Superior State and Big Foot, apparently!

 

We went to the tower of history, where the views from the top were amazing. From this "tallest structure in the UP" you got a great view of the bridge to Canada, all of Sault Ste. Marie and hydropower plant.

On to Alpena and Camper's Cove campground. We had a fantastic water front site right on the point. We had great weather so took advantage of it and washed Phoebe and the truck. Nice to sit and relax after all that work and enjoy the view.

 

It was so cute to see all these ducks lined up in the row...there's a joke in there somewhere! 😄

 

On to Lakeport state park where the beach was another "rock hounders" dream.  We picked up lots of pretty rocks but no wifi so the app didn't work to tell us what they were. We enjoyed touring the east side of the state but have to say in the end we are partial to our side, west is best!

We finished our summer trip by staying at Grand Haven state park. We had incredible weather but it was too short of a stay. Busy with doctor's, dentist's and vet appointments but not enough time with family and friends. Such a beautiful place we call home, even if just for a few days a year. Good bye for now as we're off again to begin the fall trip. Thanks for following us on our blog!