Final Days

Now our trip is basically about getting home via a scenic drive around the southern side of Lake Erie. We intended to stop in Erie for the night but that didn’t work. The first problem is that at this time of year most of the campgrounds this far north have closed down for the season. Most of them have turned off their water because of concerns of pipes freezing. We were much later than we intended on being looking for a campground in Erie which meant that all the camp offices were closed even if the campground was open. We finally decided, for the second time this trip, to stay in a Walmart parking lot. We had full water and had emptied all the black and grey water in the morning. I don’t know if it is an Erie rule or what but the Walmart’s in Erie won’t let you stay there. Mike and I had parked at a mall in Erie earlier in the day. Mike stayed in the motorhome while I ran in to get my hair washed. A mall security guard knocked on the motorhome to make sure that Mike was not planning on parking there for the night. Maybe the local campgrounds have a strong lobby group. Anyway we just drove on to a Walmart in a small town on the outskirts of Erie and spent the night there. Although we are self-sufficient in most things our house batteries died overnight. This basically meant that the fridge didn’t receive power for a few hours which wasn’t a problem given that the door stayed closed the whole time. As soon as we turned the generator back on in the morning we were fine. The heat is all propane so it doesn’t require the house batteries or the generator running.

We are going to spend our last night near Niagara Falls and use the time to empty some of our tanks and clean up the RV a little for the winter. We will be home Saturday afternoon and back to work Monday morning. My sister was surprised when I told her that I wasn’t looking forward to this trip ending and getting home. She said that at the end of most trips she is looking forward to her own bed and her own home. The difference this time is that we have our home with us. When the bed got a little bit uncomfortable we simply bought a mattress topper. We have our own clothes, furniture, and electronics, basically everything we need. I really can’t say that I want the real world to intrude on our time yet.

Today we are driving through wine making country in upper state New York. We have passed many grape picking machines on the road. If we actually see one in a field working Mike will want to stop. After all he is a mechanical engineer and was a farmer and can’t resist seeing how new equipment works. We are probably two weeks passed prime fall colours but there are still quite a few trees with their red and gold leaves which looks very nice. We just drove on a bridge over the Niagara River. Because of our height in the RV we had a great view of the river and surrounding area. The trees along the shore were really colourful and the view was great from our height.

We will drive through Buffalo in an hour or so. I would like to stop at a great RV dealer in Buffalo who has a huge stock of motorhomes that you can wander through. If we are really going to do this for a year to more at some point then I might consider either looking at other motorhomes or making a few mods to ours. Mike has put a bunch of work into our motorhome and I don’t think that he will be at all pleased if I suggest the stop. I might not bother. I don’t want to end our wonderful trip on a down note and nothing is urgent. We will see.

Niagara Falls
Well here we are for our last night. The weather is getting worse. I guess that means our glorious trip is about over. It was drizzling on and off today but that was OK because we were just driving around doing a few last minute errands. We did get to the RV dealer and we got some good ideas on how to replace the dining table in our RV with a useful computer desk/dining table in one.

I will probably add a final summary or two after I get home but for now it is good night and I hope that you have enjoyed some of this trip with us.