1. Thank you for being here as I am, yes, STILL talking about our vacation.
2. If you have never been to Niagara Falls in the Fall....GO.
The first time I went to Niagara Falls, I was two months old. My parents drove an old green Dodge van with carpeted walls and no seats in the back. My carrier rested on the engine between the two front seats.
Surprisingly, I don't remember that visit. Also surprisingly, that van has long since given up the ghost, and seat belt laws now prevent such extraordinary adventures.
The second time I went to Niagara Falls, I was somewhere in the neighborhood of a third grader with bangs splitting down the middle and teeth to match.
Ryan had never been to Niagara Falls. So we put it on our list. And I must say, it was a stunning, stunning visit.
Niagara is just about an hour and a half north of Letchworth, so that Thursday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed that way. It was supposed to be a cold and rainy day, and we determined that was okay, because we were touring a waterfall. It seemed appropriate. But God had other plans, and the day turned into a gorgeous, gorgeous time. And the sun...the leaves...the power of the waterfall...we were overcome. Worship come to life in nature, for sure. I will try not to show you every. single. picture. we took. But I am not sure this is possible.
His first view of the Falls:
We took our chalkboards and after we did this photo, a really nice mom said to us, "You seem to know what you're doing. Can you take our family's picture? And can we use your chalkboards?" LOL! Made my whole day.
The leaves. I can't even...
And then...I cannot even tell you the joy THIS brought to my soul:
A rainbow!!!! I never get to see rainbows and yet...there it was. Just for us. God is good!
Amazing. Just amazing.
It was nice enough that we were able to eat lunch outside that day - and because we were there on a weekday in the fall - it was just quiet and lovely.
We spent the afternoon testing out different views, including going down to the bottom of the American side of the falls. {We did not do the Cave of the Winds or the Maid of the Mist mostly because it was windy and cold enough that we knew we'd get chilled to the bone by the water, and we were afraid of ruining our camera. And we are of the persuasion that if you can't take pictures, there's no point in doing it. HA!}
Started the afternoon with a broken travel tripod. Had to move to the big one for the rest of the time.
He told me to flex. Not sure why. Also not sure how.
Back to the natural scenery:
In the late afternoon, we walked across the pedestrian bridge to enter Canada. The gentleman at the border lacked a wee bit of personality, but we got through okay. And while the view from the Canadian side was more complete than the American side, we weren't able to get as close...so it wasn't as overwhemlingly powerful. {I say that so you know we loved both sides for different reasons.}
We had fun walking up and down that side. And Ryan scored the photo of the entire trip:
We climbed a RIDICULOUS hill and ate dinner at the first restaurant we found. Had an amazing waiter who took such good care of us.
And then? We enjoyed the lights:
We didn't want to be gone from our home and native land too long, so we crossed the bridge and came through security to get back in the States. The guy asked if we bought anything while we were gone. We told him we'd gotten a Christmas ornament and he shot back, "That's IT?" Sorry to disappoint you, Sir!
By the time we got back to our hotel room, we could no longer feel our feet. We had been on them ALL day and they hated us. In fact, mine hurt so much, I couldn't fall asleep!!
But what an amazing, unforgettable day. I loved it so much!!
Thanks, everyone, for your unending patience in reading through the adventures of our vacation! We have just a couple more days to cover, and I think you'll find the photos particularly stunning!
I told you that originally, this vacation was just supposed to be a long weekend to Virginia Beach to visit our friends Mark and Lynnette. One reason we added the New York component to it was because one of our church friends told us about a state park in New York that she thought we would really like. It's called Letchworth State Park, and if you've not heard of it {we hadn't either!} - you are missing out! It's rated the #1 state park in the nation, and we quickly saw why. It is STUNNING.
It's hailed as the Grand Canyon of the east, since it has similar rock formations, but it's in a forest, not a desert, so it has gorgeous rock formations AND trees. And since we were there in the fall, those trees were amazing. It also has stunning waterfalls. We asked the nice lady in the Visitor's Center which trail we should hike if we only had time to hike one trail, and she recommended the one that would take us past all three big waterfalls. It was the best day.
We especially appreciated the beauty of the day, since it was supposed to be cloudy all day with a possibility of showers. IT was a cloudy morning, but the sun came out, it wasn't too hot, and we had a truly wonderful day hiking together. I'll pretty much let the pictures do the talking from here, but can I highly recommend that if you visit, you go in the fall so you can enjoy the amazing New York trees?
I have DOZENS more pictures, but you're probably tired of looking at them, so I'll stop. :) But seriously, this is a place you should put on your must-visit list if you've not been there. And if you have been there, go back. It's so worth it.
We just got some snacks to munch on throughout the day, so by about 4:00, we were pretty ready for a REAL meal. We went back to Mt. Morris, where our hotel was, and found a local restaurant for dinner. And yes. We ate with the senior citizen crowd. LOL!!!
The food was delicious, our waitress was wonderful, and we left with full bellies and tired feet. We were back in our hotel and resting by 6 p.m., and it was just the most wonderful evening. We'd been on the go so constantly throughout the vacation that it was nice to have a few hours to just sit. Our hotel offered complimentary coffee and cookies, so we enjoyed those, we visited the pool, we watched TV, and we had a great evening together.
The next morning, we packed up and drove about an hour and a half away for our last adventure of the trip: Niagara Falls!
Happy November! Happy end of DST! It's a good, good day, isn't it??
* Last Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL fall day here in the Midwest, and I think our trees are extra pretty this year. I am enjoying the views around town! Ryan gave blood at the visiting blood bank after church - and that afternoon, we went to a viewing for my friend Carol, who died very unexpectedly last week. So very sad to say goodbye to someone so young! That evening, I started on our vacation scrapbook. MANY pages ahead of me.
* Monday morning, I took a friend to a doctor's appointment and then I came home and worked on a surprise for Ryan: I raked our entire backyard. Nine bags of leaves. {And you can't even tell any are missing off the tree yet. WAAAAHHH!!!} He had planned to work on it when he came home, but I wanted him to enjoy a night off, so I did it while he worked. And then for our reward, we went to IWU to get our annual fall treat: apple pie chai!
* Tuesday was a cold day here...a good day for staying inside, reading, and working on projects, which I did. Braeya helped me catch up on Bible study homework. :) That evening, Ryan and I went to the Goodwill to buy pieces for his Halloween costume, and then we hit the gym for the first real workout since the race. {Although we walked more miles on vacation than we did IN the race!}
* Wednesday was another cold, rainy, chill-you-to-the-bone kind of fall day, and after a while, I was feeling like I might be fighting something. No time for that! It's early, yet! I curled up on the couch to finish the novel I was reading, and turned on the fireplace and the diffuser. Felt MUCH better by the time Ryan got home. He had a good day too; they finished painting his new "office," and now I get to decorate it! :) YAY! We had soup for dinner that night, but we still haven't replaced our good six quart crock pot, so I had to cook it in the two smaller crock pots to make it all fit. Keep it classy, Bekah.
* Thursday, I hunkered down to work on a writing assignment I have for church. I was so thankful when I knocked out the entire draft before lunch! That was definitely God-led. There is still much tweaking to be done, but I'm thankful the base part is written! The whole thing bored Braeya Jo Jo, who just wanted to sleep. Ha! We braved the blustery day {again!} to go out to the gym after work, and I ran one of my best mile times in a long time. And then I killed my arms in the weight room. They still hate me.
* Friday seemed to become our Halloween! Ryan dressed up for work...bet you can't guess who he is! And after work, I surprised him with a jack-o-lantern pizza for our at-home date, and we carved pumpkins together! We had so much fun, and it was nice to be able to stay home for the evening after a cold and busy week!
* Ryan worked yesterday, so I spent the entire day writing. I really appreciated a day to more of that spelled out on screen! He came home mid-afternoon with Chinese takeout, and we ate at the senior citizen hour. LOL!! Since we don't really have trick-or-treaters around here, we headed out for moo-lattes at Dairy Queen and some shopping. It was a fun night! {And not snow covered like last Halloween!}
IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!!!! Set those clocks back an hour tonight and get a whole extra hour of sleep in the morning. You can know we will be!! Goodbye, stinkin' DST. I might not complain about you on the blog as much as I used to, but I still don't like you!!
This article is both truly informative and truly hilarious. It covers the grammar rules for writing your last name on a Christmas card without using an apostrophe {which most people use but it's not grammatically correct}. I hesitated to put this on the Six, because somebody might be planning to send me a card and will now strike me from the list, fearing I will be hiding on Mo with a red pen editing their card. I WON'T!!!! This is merely a helpful guide. The comments, though...read thosefor a good time. Fight! Fight!
Several years ago, I read a book written by a woman who faced an unexpected pregnancy. The book ripped me apart, because I was that baby in my family. I wrote some blog posts about it and many months later, discovered the author had found them and she left me a not-so-nice comment. I was sad I'd upset her, but I still get high blood pressure thinking about the delivery of her book. So when I found a link to this article by another mother facing an unexpected pregnancy, I was scared to click on it. But I did, and I'm so glad I did. Her words are laced with so much grace, and I appreciate the way she was able to blend honesty with kindness. I am so thankful for her approach, I can't help but share!
Did anyone else LOVE Trading Spaces as much as I did? I watched it every single week from the second season on until it ended. {Most memorable episode? The one where the woman hated the brown room. I loved that brown room, but she sure didn't!} Anyway. Found this article about where the designers and carpenters and hosts are now!
Five.
You've been so kind to read about our vacation this week - and we have just a couple more days of recap coming up, but I thought you might like to see the VIDEO we made as well. We did about a minute at each destination and some parts of it are pretty funny. {Like when we get sidetracked by something we just said and stop to talk about it.} Hope you enjoy!
I took a week of vacation from reading {when I was onvacation}, but now I'm back to reading and reviewing!
I asked to read Lauraine Snelling's newest novel, Streams of Mercy, mostly because I wanted to try something a little different in the fiction world. Lauraine has written over 70 books, but I've not read any of them yet, so I figured it was high time I try a new {to me} author. I chose this one from the list because it had a different time period and historical background from what I normally lean toward, and I wanted to branch out a bit.
First let me give you the synopsis of the book. This is actually the third book in the Song of Blessing series, and it is set in North Dakota in the early 1900's. The little town of Blessing is getting back on its feet after an explosion destroyed the grain elevator and other buildings in town a year and a half prior. The citizens of Blessing are aching for spring after a hard North Dakota winter, and they work together to support each other as family. Anji Moen has just recently returned to her home in North Dakota from her husband's native Norway, where she lived with him and their children. After her husband's death, she brought the children home and finds herself wrestling with settling in, motherhood...and uninvited feelings for the minister in town. When a health crisis settles over the town and threatens lives of friends and strangers alike, Anji and Father Devlin find themselves wondering what the future holds for all of them.
I'll be honest...I struggled with this book. It's long {378 pages} and I was a good 100 pages in before the story captured me. Now, once it did, I was hooked. But that was a long wait to get to the capturing. And also in truth, I never did master the relationships between some of the people in the book. There are so many characters and so many relatives, and the names are heavily Norwegian, making it even harder to keep straight. To be fair, there is a family tree in the front of the book, but I didn't want to keep flipping back to it to keep everyone straight.
Maybe if I had read the first two books in the series, it would have been easier, but I finally gave up trying to keep the people straight and just tried to enjoy the story. There was also an infiltration of Norwegian words scattered throughout the conversations in the book, and while that was interesting on one hand, it sometimes distracted me from the story, because I had to stop for context clues.
The love story in the book was not as prominent as I anticipated it would be, which did not take away from the story itself, but it just surprised and disappointed me a little. I'm such a sucker for love stories. Given the ending of the book, I imagine a fourth story lurks somewhere down the road, and while I'm curious to know how some of the mysteries unravel, I'm not sure I will hunt down the fourth book to read it.
It's not that I didn't enjoy the story...I did. But I think I may have strayed a bit too far from what I enjoy in a novel's setting, so this one wasn't my most favorite I've ever read. Having said that, I do think Lauraine is a good storyteller and if the setting/historical aspects had perhaps been up my alley a bit more, and I'd read the previous books in the series first, I might feel differently about this one.
** Thanks, Bethany House, for sending a copy of this book my way to read and review. The opinions are all my own. *
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We left Virginia Beach on Tuesday morning - about 7 - after saying a sad goodbye to Mark and Lynnette and our friends Belle and Charlie. :(
We should have known, when it took us over an hour to get out of the city {because of rush hour} that it wasn't going to be QUITE the smooth driving day we had coming out for vacation. Our first destination of the day was in Westminster, Maryland, which was about a five hour drive. In those five hours, we were delayed for rush hour, an accident, and a wrong turn in Washington DC {of all places}.
It was our first time to be in Maryland together, and this is the best I could do for a welcome sign, as the ACTUAL welcome sign was around a curve, behind some trees, and I caught it out of my peripheral vision as I was sailing past.
But we made it to Westminster, a small college town, and the purpose of our visit was to stop by Furnace Hills Coffee to see how roasting is done. I learned about Furnace Hills Coffee when I was working at WBCL. I interviewed the owner, Dave Baldwin, about the story of the place, which employs people with disabilities, including Dave's daughter, Erin. I was so intrigued by the story and by the whole idea of coffee roasting {because of course!} that I wanted to see it for myself when I realized we were going to be in the area!
{Can we pause to talk about WHY Ryan thought this was a good day to wear a Colts shirt? In Maryland? We did receive some icy treatment for that. Not from the nice coffee folks though.}
So we'd never seen coffee roasting in action before, and we were fascinated. Furnace Hills has three roasters, and they were all going while we were there.
It's a tiny roasting company, but they keep busy, and Dave was kind to explain the process to us - from the time the beans arrive in their burlap sacks until they're roasted and ready to go!
We learned a little about the blends, from the soldier's blend that is a big seller because Gettysburg is nearby to Erin's breakfast blend...we learned how they work and why they're so good! {And we sampled some!}
And then we had a photo taken with the whole gang working that day!
They recommended a little cafe in town for lunch, so we went there. It was delicious, but Ryan's Colts shirt didn't go over well. LOL!!
We had to get back on the road after lunch, because we still had five more hours to go!! We drove on up through Pennsylvania into New York, and man, were the trees ever pretty as we went!
{PS - Pennsylvania, could you spring for larger signs? I almost missed it!!!}
Sunsets in the mountains sure are pretty!
We arrived at our destination after dark - a hotel in Mt. Morris, New York. We were pooped from driving and ready to rest - because the next day was going to be a very big day!
