New York City Passage

Entered the great city of NY City towing a 5th wheel during the middle of rush hour, trying to follow the road signs and not to mention detour signs to hopefully make it to the RV park that is settled right in the middle of downtown...talk about a tense time!! However, we made it without any disasters other than our nerves being shot...but we took care of that shortly after arriving with happy hour time lol. After we were parked and set up our truck didn't move, we traveled by subway everywhere we went which, was an experience in it's self, we only got lost once!
We had an awesome 4 days there taking in all the sights and enjoying the night life with my cousin Chris and his friend David!!
Jerry and I took a ferry over to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, what a sight it must have been for all the immigrants that came to our country and she was the first thing they saw. She was amazing to see in my eyes and to think that at one time she was the tallest structure in NY. Ellis Island seemed to have a eerie and ghostly feeling to it, reading about all of the millions of immigrants that passed through there in hopes to become part of the American dream. There was a quote from one of the polish immigrants that said: he was told that the streets in America were paved with gold and once he arrived he realized that they were not paved in gold they were in fact dirt roads and he was expected to pave them. Leaving Ellis Island you come away feeling a little humble and thankful for the life we have.
We also took a tour of the 9/11 Memorial wow... reliving that day and the different emotions that we felt going through the tour such as sadness and anger and learning more detail about that day was somewhat overwhelming. Learning that they had been planning this attack for 10 years and all the different things they did to prepare their people for it. Your heart really goes out to all of the our responders, people and the families that were there that day, things that they saw and went through I can't even fathom. Very emotional memorial however, absolutely worth going to.
We checked out Time Square which I'm sure everyone can imagine..glitter and swarms of people lol, we went through Little Italy and China Town, open fish markets everywhere which made it really smell like China Town. We took our chances and ate at this Chinese restaurant it appeared that it must be a good place because there was a line of people waiting to be seated...we were happy to say that it was excellent food and service!
The four of us took in the Broadway show Jersey Boys, the story of the Four Seasons. Excellent music, excellent story, you would have thought we were watching the Four Seasons live.
We walked a portion of Central Park, what a beautiful park with ponds, so much greenery and trees, for a moment it was like you were in some fairy-tale place outside of the city. There were many artists displaying/selling their work along the paths and street performers.
Of course, we had to stop by our next presidents tower (aka Trump Tower) there were the CNN and FOX broadcasters out front for who knows what reason. We were a little surprised as we walked in, to find out that the escalators were down and the Trump ice cream shop was closed...someone is going to be "fired"!
Every night we all enjoyed the nightlife with cool bars and great food, hanging out with all the New Jersian's and New Yorkan's until wee hours of the night! Such good times.
Now off to Connecticut! More to follow...

Heading to our RV park through the middle of downtown - Fun times!

The lovely Statue of Liberty!

Definately had to get a picture with her

Picture of Ellis Island looking from the Statue of Liberty

Middle of Time Square - So crazy there but so much fun!

The new Freedom Tower

The footprint of the south tower at ground zero

The last support beam removed from the site. All of the responders signed it and a ceremony was held. 

Ladder truck 3 one of the first responding fire trucks to ground zero 

The new World Trade Center symbolizing a white Dove for peace

Getting ready for the amazing Jersey Boys Broadway show!

At Central Park with my cousin Chris and friend David 

And...hopefully the next President (Trump Tower)...that is if he can keep his !%&# mouth shut!

The NY skyline in the background

Mmmm anyone ever have a bacon wrapped onion rings? Wow they were the bomb!!

Picture in Central Park with NY downtown in the back ground

Central Park 

Niagara Falls Passage

 

What an awesome time we had in Niagara Falls, we were there 2 full days and made the most of each day! The falls were absolutely spectacular. We took the Maid of the Mist boat tour which, gets you right up next to the American Falls and the Canada Horseshoe Falls, there is no way not to get wet, therefore everyone receives ponchos to put on before you board the boat and even with that you still get wet, but it was so worth it, such an awesome experience. We also, did the Cave of the Winds which you take stairs right into the American Niagara Falls and the rush of the falls are so powerful it feels like you're in a hurricane, so crazy (see pictures)! We took a beautiful hike along the Niagara Falls river, walked the Niagara Falls Park (such a beautiful park), checked out some cool antique shops along with a little tourist shopping. The falls were not at all what I had expected, such a great place to see!
Now off to New York...more to follow!

On the Maid of the Mist boat tour 

Heading up the stairs to the Cave of the Winds

The American Niagara Falls

A view from the top of the Niagara Falls - cool rainbow

The beautiful hiking trail

At the top of the falls 

Jerry in the "hurricane" at the Cave of the Winds

The Canada Horseshoe Falls

In the "hurricane" at the Cave of the Winds

A view of the river while on our hike

Michigan Passage

Arrived in Michigan on Tuesday the 13th, Jerry's old army buddy Brent greeted us at the end of his drive which ends at beautiful lake Louise that he lives on and had a nicely mowed green area for us to park and stay on. We enjoyed a wonderful 4 course meal at Brent's former wife Patty's home with the entire family. Had a great time seeing everyone and catching up that night. The next few days we enjoyed shopping and a little bar hopping at some of the must go to bars in Traverse City, had a awesome bon-fire at Brent's place, learned/played several different poker games every night at Brent's (as they are all poker players), Brent took us for a nice drive to see some beautiful views of Lake Michigan. We had an awesome time with Brent and his family!!
Saturday we headed out to Niagara Falls, NY...more to follow!

Here we all (Patty and Brent with son Robert and  girlfriend Amy) are in Traverse City having a cocktail on the balcony of one of the must go to bars in Traverse City overlooking Lake Michigan (which looks like an ocean to me lol) 

Jerry and I at Lake Michigan

One of many gorgeous views of Lake Michigan

The night of the wonderful 4 course meal at Patty's house

Adorable 4 year old Savannah (Sam) Brent's grand-daughter - she is too much fun!

One of the many beautiful creeks in Michigan

Chicago Passage

We made a short stop in Chicago however, we made the most of it. Stayed in a nice secluded RV park near a town called Crete about 40 miles outside of Chicago. We took a ride into Chicago to spend the day, we had a couple of tours scheduled, a city bus tour which took us around the city we went through China town, toured a lot of the different architecture downtown, stopped at Lake Michigan, went by Obama's house twice...our tour guide suggested video taping the drive by so he drove around it twice however, no one was video taping or seemed to be very interested lol. It was a pretty good tour, glad we had the opportunity to see quite a bit of the downtown area and learn a little history. We then took a riverboat tour on the Chicago River that flows through downtown. We had a great tour guide on this one, she provided a lot of information on the fire that burnt down the city of Chicago in 1871 which, brought in architects from all over the world to redefine the architecture of the city. Learned that the river has been polluted for many years which originated back from the cattle stock market era where they dumped the cattle waste into the river. The river once was rated highly toxic, it has since improved slightly and is now rated highly polluted. Not a river you would want to take a swim in lol. We learned a little history on quite a few of the downtown buildings, definitely a tour we would recommend taking. After the tours we went to the Famous Harry Caray's restaurant for dinner, we must say it was quite tasty!

A view of the little lake at our RV Park

Our RV Spot

Another view of the lake at the campground

Lake Michigan with downtown Chicago in the background

Downtown Chicago

On our Riverboat tour - Guess what building sits along the river

This is a apartment building along with parking garage along the river

The Sears Tower

This building actually looks like a champagne bottle 

The Famous Harry Caray Restaurant

On a bridge that crosses over the Chicago River 

Missouri Passage

Made it to the famous Oklahoma Joe's BBQ in Kansas City and met Steve and Lisa (Jim Elliot's brother/girlfriend) there for dinner, it was excellent just like Jerry said it would be! We had a very nice dinner and great company, wish we had a picture to share!

The next day we headed to St, Louis, MO to visit Jerry's brother Kevin and wife Jody, had a wonderful visit plus toured the Arch (Gateway to the West), walked the Farmer's Market (which has been opened since 1779) in the Soulard District, they had excellent produce at awesome prices...couldn't help but pick up some goodies! Visited the Montelle Winery in the hills outside of St. Louis, unbelievable views! Even got a little thrift store shopping in, right up my alley :)

This morning we were back on the road and in Crete, IL at a very nice secluded RV Park surrounded by trees and even have a little lake to enjoy! Perfect place to kickback for a couple of days. Tomorrow we will be heading out in the morning to explore Chicago for the day, we have a city tour along with a riverboat tour planned and from there we will decide where to land for dinner and entertainment. More to follow!

Kevin and Jerry doing a little fishing at the RV Park pond.

At the Montelle Winery

Enjoying the Montelle Winery

View from the winery from the balcony

On the Riverfront in St. Louis - on our way to see the Arch

At the Arch (Gateway to the West) Pretty Cool!

Lewis and Clark bronze statue of their return from their expedition at the Mississippi River 

Picture of us at the bottom of the Arch 

Us at the entrance to the Historic Farmers Market

The guys in their "Make America Great Again" hats 

At the RV Park us on the left and Kevin and Jody on the right