Meeting The Adventure Caravan Group

Sept 13.
We are staying at Normandy RV park that family has owned the property since 1732. This park has 460 RV sites and 70 tent sites. We understand that in the summer they are full every week end. This week end it is Maine days and it is close to full. It has three out door pools one heated indoor pool and every sport activity you want to do. Jerry got a hair cut today and the barber said they were on the news a few months ago and are rated as one of the top 10 RV parks in the US. It is developed among a forest of trees they have done an excellant job. It is the nicest park I think we have ever see.

Today we met with our Wagon Masters to get all our paperwork and registered for the tour. We also met with the Tail Gaters who put the markings on your RV and check things out and meet with you also. Both couples are very nice. There will be 18 RV's on this tour. Only 11 rigs are here so far.

The picture below is get together at the Wagon Masters RV site and will happen every day at 4PM we bring our drink and our chairs and chat.


The wagon master is sitting to the left in the green shirt. The tail gater's wife is on the left in the burgandy shirt. Jerry is on the left on the same side as the tail gater's wife.

I am sure we are going to have a fun time.

Visit to Plimoth Plantation

Our first day at Foxboro we sort of rested we did clean up of the coach inside and out and laundry, a stop at the grocery store and car wash to wash the Jeep. Barb is not sure how rested we got but accomplished a lot.

Thursday 9/11. We ventured to Plymouth to visit the Plimoth Plantation where the historical museum that is a place where visitors can connect with the real-life story of the people and how they lived in the 1600's. The People play acting the 1600's were part of the Wampanoag indians tribe and people inacated the English ancestors with the speaking accents and all. All the staff wore the clothing that was woren in the 1600's. It was a very historical education.

This is the entrance to the Plimouth Plantation Historical Muesum and no I did not spell Plimouth wrong that is the spelling of the 1600's.

It is surprising that the Indians were in this area first in the 1600's and then the English ancesters come over on the May Flower II and moved in the same area and started building their colonies.

This is the inside of the huts that the Indians lived in.
This picture is the huts how they were built out in amongs the trees.
This is Indian women cooking and you can see a hides drying on rocks which they use for clothing and the meat they ate.
This picture is a indian lady making a bag by weaving it.

Now we are in the English colony setting. It is quite a bit different than how the Indian houses use to be.

This is inside one of the houses and this is a baby bed.
This is the gardens that they grew all their food and on the racks in the back is corn drying.


This is a women doing laundry they took the ashes from the fire and shifted the charcoal out and layered that with their clothing and poured boiling water over it and left it over night and then put the clothes on logs and beat the dirt out.

This building is the church they only had two benches in the center but there was benches all along the side of the building.

This lady is polishing silver dishes.


After our tour of the museum we were hungry so decided to eat a late lunch or early dinner here at the Cabby Shack no it is not spelled wrong we thought it was the Caddy Shack until we looked at the name close. We had our first lobster here. Jerry had a lobster sandwich and clam chowder (which is pernounced different than we do). Barb had lobster tibids which was lobster mixed with cheese and dill put into a tortia shell and deep fried very good.

Then when we returned to our camp site we met our Wagon master couple and tailgater couple very nice and I am sure we are going to enjoy the next three weeks.

Arrived Foxboro Mass.

Tuesday Sept 9.

Today we traveled from Akron, NY to Foxboro, MA and it was a very ugly drive. It poured rain the whole trip and it took 8 hours so we were very exhausted. The area we drove through all day was lots of trees and either wet lands or business and housing areas. It is very easy to see now why this such a pretty area in the fall. It is just solid trees and alot of them are already starting to turn colors. I am sure it will be prettier when it is a sunny day versus a rainy and foggy like.

Jerry has determined 8 hours driving this big coach is about all one can stand. Barb has decided that co-piloting is not a easy job even with the Garman, map quest, and the atlas. Then there is the Next Exit Book, and the Camp sites of the East Coast to be looking through. She thought when she retired and could travel would be fun and relaxing but there is still a lot to traveling. She would have never made it as a airplane co-pilot.

We will be relaxing and doing a little touring around the Foxboro area and then on Monday Sept 15 we join our Historical East Coast group but we have a wagonmaster doing all the co-piloting so Barb will be getting a rest and Jerry won't have to drive so we should have a more relaxing time for a few days.

Bye for now.

Niagra Falls Tour

Catch up on the blog. On Sunday Sept 7 was a travel day from Shipsawana Ind. and the next state was Ohio and the road we were on took us by the Cleveland Browns stadium that was fun to see. Then on to Buffalo New York we just drove by the south edge of Buffalo and the Seahawks was playing at the time we went by but not close to the stadium. Yes, we heard they lost and the news the next day where we were talked about it on every TV station. We parked in a RV Resort in Akron NY.

Monday Sept 8: We traveled to Niagra Falls got there just in time to take a great guided tour of the falls for 5 hours.


Barb only got a half picture of the full falls. Jerry got a better picture with his camera but can't down load them on to this computer.

This first picture is of the boat tour it is called "The Maid Of The Mist" you come within 200 feet of the base of the falls. You get very very wet and lots of wind. As you can see in the picture every one is dressed in blue. Well that is blue plastic hooded poncho's distributed to everyone to put on over your clothes and purses and cameras so they stay dry. Also they gave you flip flops to wear on your feet and you put your shoes & socks in a plastic bag. It was like being in a down pour of rain with high winds. It was a half hour ride.

This picture is of what they call "The Horseshoe Falls" which is the shape of the horse shoe. It is like a mist the whole time you are in this area.
This picture was taken at The Horseshoe Falls. Look at our free shoes aren't they cute they fastened by velcro.

This was from a area that they call the "American Falls" The reason for this picture Barb took the buildings you see is Canada. The side we were on was the American side.

The other area we went to was called the "Cave of the Winds" which is 17 stories below so we were at the base of the falls and the winds was tremendous and also very wet. We were issued yellow poncho's for this tour and we wore the same shoes. There was alot of walking and stairs to climb on this tour.

Barb bought a book to share with the childrens when we get back, of Nicagra Falls and its breathtaking beauty and majestic surroundings.

The Watland Wonderer's are Now In Indiana

On Friday Sept 5 we left the Chicago area after a fortune in tolls and thanks to Jerry's cousin in Chicago he routed south and then east and we hooked back up to I-90 in Indiana. It was a much faster way an we avoided some major construction in the Chicago I-90 area. In Illinois there is signs on the freeways that say "Emergency stops two hour limit" so if you can't get things fixed and off the road in two hours they move you off and ticket you. Also the construction areas say "Speeding Mx $1000.00 fine and Reckless driving 7 years in jail".

The North part of the State of Indiana is some farm land but lots of trees and green grass, the main crops are corn and beans and some evergreen tree farms like they raise their own Christmas trees. Very flat and their toll system is you get a ticket when you enter the state and then when you exit off the main highway you pay the toll for how ever many miles you have driven.
We arrived Indiana state around noon time and in this state the REST STOPS are for truckers only, just a big parking area and out houses for bathrooms. But then they have what they call "Travel Plaza's" lots of parking for big trucks, BP gas station, a Plaza area that had, Dairy Queen, McDonalds, Coffee & Chocolate shop, information center & Restrooms. We ate and just happen to walk into the Info center and found out we were about 1 to 2 hours froma the 3rd largest Amish area in the US. So since we wanted to tour a Amish community decided to find a RV park and do it before we went on to Niagra Falls. So we are at the town of Shipsshewana, Indiana. Jerry found a great RV park right in town.

Friday evening we toured the little town and ate at a traditional Amish Homecooking restaurant.
Found some things to do on Saturday and took a drive out in the Amish country around the town. The farms are emaculate very clean and well kept. Not all Amish living on farms actually farm they work in factories or in town. Only Amish raising livestock farm the land.

Saturday morning: The first touring we did was a farm setting house & Barn made into a vistors center that gave the whole background of the Anabaptist Beginning which consists of the Hutterites, Mennonites & the Amish since the 1500's. Hutterites and Mennonites were in the 1500's and the Amish in the 1600's. It was a 2.5 hour tour and we went through 24 rooms of the historic background to the present.

After lunch we decided to investigate a sight - seeing tour by buggy called "Millers Buggy Line Tours". We choose the longest one "1 Hour Country Tour - Includes a Farm Tour" Barb was sure it was no different than the one she grew up on cows, pigs, horses, chickens, and a lot of work but she agreed to go anyway.

Barb has a problem in arranging her pictures in the blog so of course these are out of order so I will try and explain them.

The first picture is of the buggy and horse that took us to this farm & a picture of one building on the farm. The farms can have two houses or several work shops and if they raise live stock they have a barn. More than one family will live on these farms. This farm we were at was a full blown farm with 150 cows for milking and beef raising.

This second picture is us getting in to the carrage in town at the place they rent them. Ark and Saw was a bit nervous as they wondered if the Amish ate chicken. But we begged them to get out of the Jeep for at least a picture.


This third picture is the farm house at the farm and two Amish women are cutting the little kids hair not sure if it is a boy or girl probably a because girls all have very long hair and then positioned all in a bun in the back with a hat on.

Fourth picture on this farm they had a couple sheep and the black object here is a "fainting goat" our driver Harvey is off to the left and I didn't realize I got him in the picture. Amish will not pose for a picture if you get one from a distance it is ok. Anyway this goat when it gets scared it faints and will either fall on the ground and can't get up or it frezzes in its place and it tries to move its feet but they won't go any where. Harvey was chasing it but it just froze in place and did not fall over. Harvey our buggy driver had 14 Children 74 Grandchildren and 36 Great Grandchildren. He said they have family reunions every year and his children take turns having the reunions at their home. Starting with the oldest to the youngest.

On Friday night we observed this bulk foods store with lots of carriages parked along the side and appeared they had all come to town to get food. Jerry said he saw a IGA store but Barb did not see another grocery store.

This Friday night us trying to get out on the highway but we have to wait for a horse and carrage before we could go. Barb just had to have a picture of this.

This Friday night horse carrages at the banks, a Wells Fargo Bank at that. This was so strange to see.
This is a side view of the bulk store you can see the carriage all loaded with stuff they bought. Another picture of the bulk store and all the carriages and horses tied up. You wonder how you find your horse and carriage when they all look a like. We learned that the carriages have to be licensed now because the horse hoofs do so much damage to the roads. So they started taxing the Amish through this license plate they have to have on thier carriage.

Barb had to have a picture of this carriage & horse parked at a gas station the individuals was in the Sub Way shop that was in this convience store.

This picture is of a watering tank for the horses and this is in the area where we took our carriage ride.
This area is next to the watering tank and a individual goes around this area and picks up the horse manure and I guess dumps it there. We found this very funny to see.


We are well educated now about this area so guess we will move on down the road tomorrow as everything is closed in this area on Sunday.

A Three State Venture & A Rainy Day In Chicago

Sept 3, we traveled through Minnesota which is mostly farm land mostly corn and beans,very flat and sorta looks like the Dakotas. Wisconsin is all trees and green grass and more livestock farms and some corn and hay. In Illinois the part we were in was mostly town after town. Long day and quite the adventure with so much road construction going on in Illinois. They have toll booths about every 10 miles and they do road construction 12 months a year. They do not mark the highways well so you are guessing continually if you are on the right highway. We missed a exit to get on I-90 to our camp ground because we were in the wrong lane so went straight on the road and ended up in farming area and all country roads no place to turn a big rig around. Jerry said it was like driving through a maze of corn fields. Well the nerves got pretty shredded but finally Barb got Jerry to stop and let her go ask some farm individuals standing wondering what the heck we were doing out in that area. haha The guy said to Barb "I Know A Man Never Wants To Ask For Directions" well he got us on the right road and we were real close to the RV site.


We traveled through the whole state of Wisconsin and did not even see one Green Bay Packer fan or any cheese heads. This info is for Ray! Sorry for teasing you!

Thursday September 4th we ventured into Chicago to visit Jerry's cousins he has not seen for 40 years. Well with much frustration with the toll's not understanding are next to the highway you are on and you don't know if they are ones you are to go through but we now understand that they have tolls on off ramps and on ramps and some don't have attendants so you have to deposit correct change at some or just leave as much as you want haha. If you by pass they take a photo of your license plate and bill you and if you don't pay it in the time frame allowed they add on fees. Jerry and Barb are getting very educated on toll's. We arrived at their house safely.

This picture is of the relatives we went to visit. Jerry his cousin Iola & her husband Dick. Back row is his cousin Herb Jr. and his daughters.

Dick offered to take us through the city so we jumped on the opportunity as we could have been still wondering around. Dick drove very fast and agressive and we toured for two hours it poured rain the whole time. Even Jerry said he was a bit nervous. I was in the back seat praying haha. Well I managed to get one shot of some down town buildings.

This picture is Wrigely Field where they play baseball. Managed by sweet Lou Pinella

This picture is some condo's & apartments accross from Wrigely stadium. You can see on the top of these buildings there is seating area where the games can be watched. Individuals either live in them or rent them out for the games. Individuals who own these have to pay royalties to Wrigley stadium.


We had a great day spent 6 hours in Chicago and for me that is enough. The traffic is terrible a lot of it is the tolls on I-90 it was bumper to bumper. You can't imagine a major highway not moving. Guess the rain added to some of that today but we were told it like this the majority of the time. If Barb ever comes here again she will be flying in and taking a limo so that probably won't be happening any time soon.

News says it is to stop raining tonight and Barb is praying that will happen. They say this storm is from the hurrican in the south. We will be venturing to Niagra Falls next. Not all in one day though.

By for now! Love you all! We are having a good time.

Watland Wonderers Now In Minnesota

Arrived in Minneapolis/St Paul on Monday (Labor Day) around noon. We beat the wind storm that was coming through SD and Mn.

Jerry's cousin Pam her daughter Megan, Hayley(the Dog) and Mike at their house for dinner on Tuesday 9/2. Pam, Mike and Megan came to where we were parked on Monday afternoon for a visit. We had a great visit with them. This is the first time Barb had met these relatives.

No we did not have to tent at our camp site but Ark and Saw wanted to. The Dakotah Meadows RV park was next to the biggest Casino in the area. This was a great RV park and they had these tents throughout the park.

Tuesday we visited the Mall of America and this is one big mall. Three levels and every store imaginable. We spent 3 hours and if you went in every store and looked it would probably be a 8 hour day. They had Teresa and Barb's favorite stores Stone Cold Ice Cream, Starbucks, Gadiva chocolates and a Pink store which Teresa would love Barb is sorry she did not get the picture of the store.
Yes we shopped shopped and shopped. They do not charge tax on clothing purchases. Jerry was counting up all the savings haha. So Jerry said we better buy buy buy. Looks like Barb said OK lets do it.

On the second floor of this mall there was a amusement park that extended up through the third and fourth floors. Unbelievable all the rides that was packed in that area. Ferris wheel, roller coaster, a rocket ride, merry -go-around, and many many more.

Well we had a great two days in Mn. Tomorrow we set out for the Chicago area that will be our next stop.