Road Trip--Day Two, Lockport

We spent the day in Lockport, NY, and it was a scorcher with temperatures in the 90's. Lockport is a town that sprang up in the 1820's during the building of the Erie Canal. There were a series of 10 locks built there with five going east and five going west. Two locks are still active today. We took a cruise through the locks, took another tour through the water tunnel associated with the old factories around the locks, visited a lock museum, and the visited the locks' Discovery Center. And then on our own, we watched from above as three boats went through the locks. Ward, Wally, and Theodore were very interested in all of the mechanics of the operation. I was mildly interested when I wasn't trying to avoid heat stroke.

For supper, we went to the Anchor Bar and Grill in Buffalo where the original Buffalo Chicken Wings were made. Supposedly, before the invention of the Buffalo wings, wings were either thrown away or used only in soup. The wings were very good as well as everything else we had.

As it turns out, Sneaks is difficult to vacation with. He always seems to be wandering off somewhere he shouldn't be. It's that "nine lives" thing that has made him a little reckless. Nevertheless, we're all having a good time.

We all very hot and tired tonight. Wally and Theo have gone swimming to cool off and Ward and I have turned on the AC in our room. The plan for tomorrow is to avoid all floating barrels. We're hoping that there will be more built in chances to cool off than today.

The Erie Canal

We went on a 2 hour cruise through the locks and town on a double-decker boat.

Lock doors opening for our boat.

Sneaks trying to find out why he wasn't allowed in here. We had to lead him away.

Ward and the boys watching the locks work from above.

Dinnertime at the Anchor Bar

Yesterday, you may remember I gave a clue of what we were going to do today. It was a couple of lines from this song:

Low Bridge
By Thomas S. Allen
I've got a mule, her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
We've hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo
Chorus:
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge cause we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal
Get up there Sal, we've passed that lock,
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
And we'll make Rome before six o'clock
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
One more trip and back we'll go
Through the rain and sleet and snow
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal.

Road Trip--Day One

Wally loading the car this morning. With all of the room in the van, packing was easy.

You may remember a couple of months ago, we applied for our passports anticipating a trip to Niagara Falls.  Well, the time has come and we began our adventure today. Ward, the boys, and I started out this morning for our long drive to the Falls. The cats decided not to come because they don't like car rides--it reminds them too much of trips to the vet. So they offered their spot to Mr. Readcat, also known as Sneaks as he preferred to called.

Sneaks and Theodore passing time with computer games.

The drive went well. We are not ones to put the pedal to the metal, so our 7 hour drive took about 8 1/2 hours including several stops for food, bathrooms, gas, and driver changes. During the drive Sneaks spent his time watching Theodore play games on the computer and listening to Wally recount many episodes of Mythbusters.

Theodore pulling Sneaks away from the water's edge.

After we gladly checked into the hotel, we had Mexican for dinner and took a walk along the Niagara River. Sneaks was a little more adventuresome than we liked (I think it's because he has nine lives), but we all made it back to the hotel safe and sound.   Now we're looking forward to a good nights sleep before we set out tomorrow. We have a plan to see an old mule named Sal.  Let's see if we keep it.

Food Waste Friday 7-15-11

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 


Here it goes for this week.

We got rid of five eggs and some lemon juice.

The Waste: Five eggs 
 
The Reason: I don't practice what I preach. I have always told my kids when  cracking an egg for a recipe, crack it into a separate dish and then add it in case it's bad. Well, the other day I was cracking eggs into a bowl to make an omelet and guess what? One of them was bad and spoiled the rest.  Five eggs down the drain.

The Waste: Lemon juice

The Reason: My son used some lemon juice to make roasted broccoli and thought it tasted off. He poured the rest of the juice out. I don't think I have ever seen lemon juice go bad, but it was past its expiration date. More importantly, if Theodore is willing to cook, I am going to make sure that he has the ingredients he wants. Because when he cooks, that is one less time we are tempted to eat out which is a lot more expensive than anything we may be wasting at home.

A Second Look 7-13-11

A Second Look around the yard this week provided some disappointment. We have been carefully watching our first tomato ripen. When it was just a few days away from perfection, we found it on the ground with several bites taken out of it. We're not sure what creature helped itself, but we suspect a squirrel. Maybe it was hungry because the cardinals have been spending a fair amount of time on the bird feeder. However, the squirrel still looks fat to me. 

Also, we have seen at least two different fawns, and just recently we have seen one without its mother close by. I guess it's growing up.

Here are some things I found this week around the yard.

Disappointing first tomato

Day lily bud starting to open

Hosta Blooms

Tiger lily

Pink yarrow

White balloon flower with katydid.

Cardinal guarding the bird feeder

Adventurous fawn

Seeing Green

Recently, Ward and I went to an Irish Festival. We browsed interesting merchandise, heard Celtic bands, and observed many hot people.  But mostly, we saw green.