Grandchildren | Retirement......LOVE IT!

This past week has been an exciting whirlwind of activities! On Thursday, August 5th, our granddaughter, Kylee, flew from Oklahoma City to Buffalo, New York, to spend a week with us.

*Lined up and ready to get on that plane!*

Before she came, I asked her to make a list of things in the Buffalo area that she might like to do while here. Kylee and her mom found several things in which she might be interested after googling “things to do in Buffalo, New York.

Needless to say, seeing Niagara Falls was on that list (whether she put it there or not!). The very next day (Fri., Aug. 6) we loaded up the dogs and their stroller and took off for the falls.

My husband and I saw Niagara Falls about ten years ago and stayed on the Canadian side. Nowadays, because of COVID, we could only see and do things on the American side. It was great, and Kylee thoroughly enjoyed it.

*The view waiting in line to go down the elevator to ride Maid of the Mist.*

*We came down the elevator in that building. There is a spacious observation deck on top of the building.*

*There’s our boat ride to the base of the falls.*

*First close up look of the American Falls.*

*Our Canadian friends on their Maid of the Mist from the Canada side. Those trees and hotels are in Canada.* 🇨🇦

*There is Horseshoe Falls, and we’re getting closer!*

*Getting serious about approaching the Horseshoe Falls.*

*There was a lot of blowing mist that day, so the horseshoe bend in the falls was hard to see.*

*When you get RIGHT by the base of the falls, it is “mist” at all; it is more like a downpour of rain! Kyle and I both put our cell phones away so they wouldn’t get drenched.*

Here you can see both the American Falls (foreground) and the Horseshoe Falls, background). You can also see one of the Canadian Maid of the Mist boats taking tourists on their trip. This photo was taken from the very top of the observation deck (see earlier comment). From this angle, the falls dwarf the boat considerably!

The dogs could not go on the boat ride, so Jack hung out in the park with them while Kylee and I took the “close up” water tour of the falls. Needless to say, we were pretty drenched when we got off the boat, but the views were well worth it!

We walked around the park awhile. Then we found a little outside eating place and ordered a couple of slices of pizza each. Afterwards, we just had to get some ice cream at the shop that was next door to the pizza shop!

Saturday, Kylee and I decided to go to the Broadway Market. When we looked at it on the internet, it looked really interesting and fun. However, when we arrived, we discovered it was a market in a large building. We didn’t see many cars parked around the building, it didn’t seem like a very good neighborhood, we didn’t have Jack with us, and we both just felt very uncomfortable with our surroundings. So, we decided to go find a coffee shop (Kylee LOVES coffee shops!) for something to drink and a little snack, and then we would go shopping at a TJ Maxx. There are no pictures of the Broadway Market, but we sure had fun! I do have this one of Kylee outside of SPoT Coffee in Buffalo.

*The inside of SPoT Coffee was really cute!*

On the way home from shopping, we were so close that I suggested we go just a little further west to the shore of Lake Erie. Kylee was up for anything, and she had never seen any of the Great Lakes. I do have a couple of pics of this! We had a great day.

*Lake Erie with the Buffalo skyline in the distance.*

Sunday we loaded the dogs, packed some snacks and water, and drove to Letchworth State Park. This park is one of the best state parks! It is beautiful, has a huge canyon/gorge, has three different falls (upper, middle, and lower falls), is meticulously maintained, and has A LOT of space for family activities. And, did I mention the falls? They were gorgeous!

*You can zoom in and read some interesting information about the falls.*

*At the bottom of this photo is the very beginning of the Lower falls. You can see the Middle falls clearly. The* *Upper falls are near the top of the photo at the base of the bridge.*

*Middle falls in the foreground and Upper falls in the background.*

*One of the falls had a good amount of mist, so we discovered this rainbow.*

*I took the “easier” path to view the lower falls*. *I would have loved to take the* *127 stairway steps for a closer look, but they went down first, and I knew I’d have to climb back up them.* 😂

*We found a little snack bar in the state park and ate some lunch. Kylee and I took a selfie while waiting on our food.*

On Monday Kylee and I went to see the Japanese Garden in Buffalo. I’m not sure what we expected, but it was lovely. The garden was just very small. We took a few pictures then walked around the park area for a while.

After we left the Japanese Garden, we found another coffee shop and had a caramel latte and shared the most delicious chocolate chip muffin. It was so rich and decadent!

*She misses her friends back home, but once I said I was going to eat the WHOLE muffin, she put that phone down.*

From the coffee shop, we decided to drive just a little further north to see Lake Ontario. It was a gorgeous day and the drive was lovely. What we didn’t know was the place we chose to go to only had a pier and a rocky shoreline; no beach. The view of Lake Ontario was great, though.

Our last little day trip was to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. It was another lovely, sunny day (a little warm). The gardens had all kinds of plants and flowers from all over the world.

It was pretty hot by the time we got out of the conservatory tri-domed building, so we decided not to walk around the whole building. All in all, we had a great day at the Botanical Gardens.

All too soon, it was time for Kylee to pack her things and head back home. It was a sad and happy day; sad because Kylee was leaving, but happy because our grandson, Jackson, was coming to visit us next. We took Kyle to the airport at 3:30 a.m. Yes! THAT early! She had a flight leaving at 5:30 a.m.

*She’s not too talkative at 4:30 in the morning. Well, most of us aren’t*! 🤣

*There she is in line waiting to board.*

*Oh, no! She sees me taking her picture! Zoom in and look at the expression in her eyes. She doesn’t look too happy with me.*

I am NOT a morning person, so I seldom see the sunrise. However, on my way back from the airport, I just had to stop and take a picture of God’s artistry!

*I just sat there for several minutes enjoying the beauty and serenity of this early morning painting in the sky.*

We went back to the airport at 9:30 p.m. the same day Kylee left to pick up Jackson to start our week with him. You will hear about his adventures in about a week.

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

Well, it’s been a busy two months in Florida. On February 1st we drove south to Frostproof, FL, to Rainbow RV Resort. This is a Sun RV Resort property and probably the NICEST RV park at which we’ve ever stayed. However, it was a little “pricey” and because we booked kind of “late” for the winter season, we didn’t have much choice. We have learned we MUST book reservations in FL for winter seasons EARLY!! You can see in these photos how nice this park truly is.

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse. Canadian flag is on this side because there are SO MANY Canadians at this park.

The Clubhouse. The American flag (although you can’t see it very well) is on this side.

Bocce Ball is VERY popular here. It is fun game to play!

Pickle Ball courts. Another popular and fun game.

Back of the Clubhouse where there are mail boxes. This building also has restrooms with showers, laundry room, fitness center, and a room with pool tables. There are several swings like the one in this picture around the clubhouse.

Pool behind the Clubhouse. It has two hot tubs.

These are Petanque courts. It’s a French game played with balls and is somewhat complicated. We couldn’t find anyone to teach us how to play because it is not as popular here as Bocce Ball.

Horseshoes.

Shuffleboard courts.

One view from the Clubhouse.

We barely got our RV and campsite set up and people were stopping by welcoming us. Jack always asks what are the best eating places around, and we learned about a little “mom and pop” 50s style diner called Frostbite in the town of Frostproof. So our first night there, we tried it out.

Frostbite was really crowded! We literally got the last available table. People that came in right after us were put on a waiting list. I’m telling you – this place was FANTASTIC! The waitresses were very pleasant and truly hustled to get everyone served in a timely manner. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. And the ice cream! Let’s just say it’s the most delicious I have EVER tasted! EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. we drove by this place, it was super busy NO MATTER what the time of day was. You will just have to stop by some time to experience it for yourself.

While in Florida, we kind of had in the back of our minds that we might look for another RV (a newer model) because there are SO MANY places down here to purchase RVs (retired Snowbirds + RVs = LOTS of RV sales lots!). We have spent quite a lot of time looking ever since we got here in November. In the middle of February we finally found something we liked that was in our budget. We traded our 2009 Winnebago Latitude (it was a GREAT “starter” RV for us and will always be one of our favorites!) for a 2016 Tiffin Phaeton.

Moving from one RV to another isn’t something to take lightly. It’s like moving from one house to another but with some UNIQUE problems to be considered:

#1: You can’t really pack things in boxes ahead of time because you have NO WHERE to store the boxes.

#2: Moving into the new RV after you go through the three hour (or more) “orientation” for it doesn’t really leave you enough time left that day to transfer your belongings from the old RV to the new RV. (Note to self: If we EVER trade RVs again we WILL schedule orientation one day and moving into the new RV for the following day!) We literally transferred our belongings as fast as we could from around 1:30 p.m. to almost 8:00 p.m. which was the closing time at the RV sales place. Talk about exhaustion!

#3: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT move into a new RV with only THREE days before the first grandkid comes to visit for a week followed by the other two grandkids coming to visit the following week!! We got everything into the new RV and had to put off the rearranging to meet our needs until after all the grandkids left.

Here a few pictures of the new RV (please don’t pay attention to some of the “stuff” that is still laying around; not everything had found its place yet).

It looks black, gray and white, however, when the sun shines on it from a certain angle, it is a really pretty burgundy or egg plant color.

The section with the three drawers on the left side of the countertop pulls out for more countertop/serving area. I wish I would have taken a picture of that section pulled out. Oh, well…

We now have a half bath in the mid-section of the coach. It came in really handy while the grandkids were here.

Master bathroom with shower, full closet, and stacking washer and dryer is in the very back of the coach.

I am certain I will be rearranging things in the new RV for at least another month or so. I will be happy to do it, though, because this is a really nice coach/home.

The next blog post will tell about the grandkids visiting us.

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

Retirement……LOVE IT!

A WHIRLWIND WEEK!

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