Meeting the Offers

After we got up and packed, LD picked us up and brought us to their cabin. We had yogurt and granola with NH blueberries and local OH peaches. We then got to water their plants in the back, it was a lot of fun. Then we sallied on to Sandusky for lunch with LD and Arlene. We stopped at a little fish shack/hole in the wall for the freshest fish sandwiches. 

 

We then sallied forth to Auburn Hills(north of Detriot)to check into our hotel. It took us quite a while to get there because there was so much construction, and traffic, and accidents.

So we quickly got ready and we rode with LD and Arlene to Bob and Diane Offer's house for a reunion with my Dads Cousins. It was amazing to meet all this family, most of which I had never met before. They were all so very friendly and it was the most lovely evening.

 

The location helped with the loveliness. Bob and Diane's home in on Davis Lake (I think.)

 

 

 

 

Diane made Bumpy Cake. Which I guess was the thing to get Sanders, a place they would go as kids.

Kat, and Ben, who is Bob's son showed us a beautiful wooden vintage boat he inherited.

 

 We met Ralphie, Kat's dog. An adorable tiny Mut who was going everywhere and in everything.

 

 

At the end of the night we heard the tales of day of yore when doorbell were placed at bottoms of stairways, and dirty underwear fell through the laundry shoot onto the plates of unsuspecting dinners.

Oh also, I learned that everything is called Pure Michigan there. I will enjoy a few more days of Pure Michigan.

A day in Oberlin

We have been so lucky to be able to spend the whole day in Oberlin. It's been a lovely change of pace.

LD and Arlene took us to see a few of the highlights Oberlin.

We walked through their Art Museum, which was very impressive. I fell in love with one small sculpture, Girl Crouching(Grief) by artist Paul-Albert Bartholomé.

I can't seem to find an image of it anywhere on the Internet. If anyone can find it for me in any form I would be grateful.

We then had lunch at a very swanky restaurant in a hotel. We went to Ben Franklin's (but not the craft store.) and then we took a little walk through the park.

Later in the day we went to a lovely fruit stand that had a strong aroma of sweet melon. Located next to it was field of sunflowers. We stopped by another little  store for peaches, where I got to meet the friendly goats next door.

LD and Arlene made a fantastic dinner, with a really great bubbly wine to match. While Dad and I looked at the wildlife in the pond. 

 

 

Dad helped a little bit by grilling the zucchini

 

I am afraid I didn't take as many pictures to day. But I did take pictures of the garden around their cottage.

 

 

 

A Great Lake Day

We were able to fit in a lot in our short time at Niagara Falls and can't imagine spending any more time there. It was beautiful, but I can only handle so much touristing.

We started our day by taking a walk to Goat Island, and then we decided to visit the Cave of Winds, where I got quite wet from the falls, as was the intention. 

 

 

 

#nofilter

 

 

 

After that we sallied north to Lake Ontario at Fort Niagara so that I can experience all of the Great Lakes. We didn't spend long there because we were really hungry!

 

 

 

We then headed down to Oberlin while I tried to find somewhere for us to grab lunch. I found a little family restaurant, that had some of the best chicken dumpling soup I've ever had. Tasted like real home cooking.

We then found the nearest beach park on Lake Erie. That's right one day, two Great Lakes.

 

 

 

We then drove to Oberlin only stoping once after that after entering Ohio.

 

When we arrived in Oberlin we were greeted by my Uncle LD and my Auntie Arlene. We were wined and dined very well. Many of the ingredients even came from their lovely garden.

Tourist time!

So I'm going try to catch up, because I'm a couple days behind....

We woke up on Tuesday morning in Speculator. I don't take as long as my dad to get ready, so I had a couple hours to to hang out on the lake before we had to check out.

 

 

 

Needless to say, it was a lovely way to start my morning. We then went for brunch at a little cafe in town before we headed west towards Buffalo.

We stopped in the Buffalo area for lunch. Mackenzie suggested Spot Coffee. Which was very fresh and tasty!

 

Since we were right in the area we decided to drive through University At Buffalo. The campus looked very dry at this time of year.

 

We then sallied on to Niagara Falls. Once we checked in to our hotel we headed to the Maid of the Mist tour. We had too much fun singing and taking selfies on the boat.

 

 

 

We sallied on towards other places to take pictures of the falls and our selves. 

 

With the help of my mother we found a quiet farm to table restaurant on the Canadian side, Weinkeller. It was a nice to get away from all the people & noise that tourism brings. 

It was so good that my dad ate some of my chocolate dessert! It was his first time having chocolate since he was 16!

 I was very nervous about entering back into the states. Over the last year I seem to have ended up on some list that says, search through all of her belongings and anyone who's with her. Luckily this time we only had my purse and our pockets to go through so it didn't take to long. But I'd really like to know when they will stop looking through my things every time I re-enter the country.

Goodbye New England, and Hello Adirondacks!

It's been a long time now since I last posted in the Sally Chronicles. I feel like I've neglected my blog during some of my travels, Peru, Taipei, my pacific coast trip, and a few others.. But this time I am traveling with my Dad. So now the whole family, and any one who is amused by my father's many antics and eccentricities, can follow as we sally on.

We got to rough start. We stayed at motel in Keene last night and then ran around Keene for a few hours. We had to drop things off at the Antioch free room, (I think I've left enough clothes there now to adequately fill closet of any petite, theatrical, soprano.) And I had 7 boxes worth of books  of stuff to mail, and the van is completely packed, (thanks to Joe Yazvak, no idea how we would have gotten on with out him.) Buddhism, I think is always the most appealing when I am moving. 

  

We began our sally into Vermont, stopping at Whetstone Station in Brattleboro. We were seated with a beautiful view of the river.  

 

  

 

 

 Then we sallied on through the very beautiful state of Vermont. We stopped to use the restrooms at The Vermont Bowl Company ... And ended up spending over 40 dollars there. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. Truly stunning.

We then entered NY, I gave my dad the option of 2 different routes that were supposed to take the same time, one shot down closer to Albany, the other would take us through winding country roads. He chose the latter. I ended up feeling a bit car sick, but the scenery was totally worth it. Though I'm sure we would have been able to see more of the mountains if it were clearer. 

My mother had sent us to find our ancestors family plot, last used around 1850. (I'm sure she will correct me on this.) So we drove into an industrial area, and then located a plot of land covered in trees and we began searching for grave stones... We did find it. It was very small and very overgrown. I'm surprised my dad managed to spot it in the trees. It was sort of neat, a small plot of graves in the trees, surrounded by all these warehouses. Amazing to find the graves  of my ancestors in such a humble setting. It also reminded me of all the times I used to spend in the graveyard at Kawaiha'o church. I would wonder about their lives, their personalities, and if they still had any family.

 

We sallied forth into the Adirondacks. We are staying at a little motel in Speculator. It is gorgeous up here, but once we got here it was too dark for pictures but I will be sure to take some in the morning!