Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 2 - June 12, 2011

We woke up this morning and had some breakfast in Sandy. The advantage of having a Westy is sleeping in it, and not needing a hotel room. This also becomes a disadvantage at times like this – we were pretty sure we were coming back to the same campground again that night, but we had to take apart beds and put all our luggage and chairs in the back so that we could drive Sandy down to the Falls. Then when we got back in the evening we had to set everything up again. It is a bit of a hassle, but we love sleeping in Sandy and pretty much know where everything fits the best.

So we drove down to the Falls area and parked at the Comfort Inn parking lot – you could park all day for $10 (not bad), and we could leave and come back in the evening for fireworks and to see the Falls lit up. We took Katelyn down to the Canadian side of the Falls. She loved it – we had to stop about every 30 seconds as we got closer to the falls so that she could take a picture. It was cute – her reaction, “They’re beautiful!” We walked the whole way to the Falls and then back. By that time, we were ready to get something to eat so we got some burgers and fries and sat at a table where we could see the Falls. Then it was back to Sandy to take a rest. :)

After lunch we walked across the Rainbow Bridge to the American side of the Falls. You had to take your passport along, but it wasn’t a big deal – they just asked what you were doing - again no stamp :(. We went to the Maid of the Mist first. That was pretty cool – you get super close to the Falls. Katelyn really enjoyed it – she was taking pictures and I think some video too with her waterproof Kodak Playsport video camera.(I had to include a picture from 2002 with our family at the Falls - this time we didn't take the big kids.)









Next we went to the Cave of the Winds. That was insane. You are almost standing under the Falls! There is a hurricane deck where you get pelted with wind and water. Doug and Katelyn had a great time with this! I didn’t get too close, but I had a great time watching them! :) Katelyn thought it was cool that you got to keep the sandals. Even though we wore ponchos, we still got wet – Doug and I even kept on our Maid of the Mist ponchos on which were a little longer.

We walked back across the bridge – it was a little chilly. We had to get the picture of us standing in two countries at one time! I'm sure when I was a kid there were actually lines painted on the ground - now it's just that plaque.
We stopped at a souvenir shop and got a couple things. Then back to Sandy and the campground. We were tired, so we just picked up a Hot-n-Ready (yes, Little Caesar’s) and took it back to the campground. We ate our pizza and then decided that the pool and hot tub sounded good. After that we got showers.

Around 9:15, we headed back to the Falls area. We ended up in the perfect spot for the fireworks. The Falls looked very pretty all lit up – they changed the colors – the American Falls were red, white, and blue for a time. When the fireworks started, they lit up the sky… huge and beautiful! They only lasted about 10 minutes, but extremely impressive! We really liked it – definitely worth it to go back at night.
After that we returned to the campground, got our beds ready, and went to sleep!

We got a Westy!

Doug was online 24/7 looking for a play toy. Well he finally found a ’66 bug, bought it and was as happy as a clam. Then he continued looking for vehicles…hmm…what now? A car for me – or so he said! Since I gave my car to my daughter, I had no “official” car to drive. Well, when Doug showed me one VW bus after another (on thesamba.com ), I fell in love with them. A hotel on wheels! Doug and I love to travel, but hate to pay outrageous hotel rates, and if you don’t pay the price, you “pay the price!” We’ve been in some pretty interesting rooms. So, the idea of having my own “hotel” and my own stuff really intrigued me! So, Doug would show me different VW buses and they were all so cool! I loved the look of the bay windows, but the convenience and updated features of the Vanagons. I had never driven one, and that worried me about buying one without driving it (by the way, it had to be an automatic). That, of course, drove Doug crazy because he had just bought his bug from California and wasn’t able to test drive it.

Well, he finally found “THE ONE” – it was about three hours away in Richmond, Virginia. He started communicating with the owner and we decided to travel down to see (and drive) it. Oh, what fun it was to drive! And oh how clean it was inside! I was sold basically from the minute I looked at it! We found out the owners, Colin and Carrie, were selling it because they were upgrading to a Syncro because they were going on a year or two long adventure to Argentina! (Wow, to be that adventurous!) They had only bought it 6 months ago from California. We looked at it one week and bought it the next! (We also discovered a neat little area in Richmond called Carytown with unique shops and restaurants – Ellwood’s Coffee was an all organic coffee shop/deli we really enjoyed!)

When we went to pick up my new Westy, we were all (owners and us) shocked to find a small fuel spot under it! Colin told us how he had just topped off the fuel. What had happened was the hose to the expansion tank had broken and because the fuel tank was so full, some of the fuel had leaked out. Colin was sick about it and in fact, made sure we still wanted to buy it. (He and his wife were so genuinely nice and honest. We really appreciated it!) Well I wasn’t about to leave without it! I couldn’t wait to get it home and show it off to everyone! So Colin called his VW guy and Doug called ours and they figured out a way to get us home!! (Colin spent over an hour under the Westy in 90 degree heat fixing it!) Hopefully Doug was paying careful attention! Before we left, Colin gave us a small tool kit he always kept in the van and a quick lesson on how to patch up a tire! (Oh, and he also told us to call when we got safely home!)

Tip #1 – Invest in the Vanagon Bible, so you can fix most mechanical issues on your own! (Well, maybe!)

Doug drove it the first hour home to make sure everything was ok. We stopped at a Tropical Smoothie, got a smoothie, of course, and made the switch! My turn to drive!! In our hour of standing there while Colin fixed the Westy, Carrie was giving me some advice and one thing she talked about was “Westy time.” She said that on their drive back from California they only passed three vehicles, and one had their four ways on! She said the highest they would drive it was around 60. So, that’s exactly what I did, much to Doug’s dismay, as he followed me in the Yukon. He said at times he was ready to give me a bump and push me along! I was just having so much fun driving it! I had the windows down – there is A/C but I didn’t really want to use it. When you put the two armrests down, you can just rest your arms and put your hands on the wheel to drive. I do not really enjoy driving long distances – I get so tired, but with this it was just a ton of fun!

I went out the next morning and looked at my “new ride” parked in the garage. I decided I would clean it up a bit. Remember me saying it was so clean inside? Well I brought out a vacuum cleaner to clean it and let’s just say I didn’t really suck much up! It was so clean! Anyway, I did that and then washed the windows. Doug really got a kick out of all this, because I NEVER am one to clean cars. In our family, he takes care of that! He said, “I can tell you really like this Westy!”

So, this week I am taking it into our VW shop to get new fuel lines. I just started reading the Samba forum and if it’s one thing I already learned, it’s to change the fuel lines when you get a Westy! I’m going to get a brake fluid flush and a state inspection. Hopefully they won’t find too much more wrong with it at this time, because my husband has also been reading the Samba forum (and everything else on there!) and he read how we should get 15 inch wheels and tires (not the cheap ones either). So he is checking on that, so we can get them and then begin on our Westy adventures!!

~Jess