Day Eight - Niagara Falls, New York

Now I can honestly say, “what a difference a good night’s sleep makes!” We slept in until 11:00 this morning! It was absolutely wonderful! It was also decently warm when we got up, which also made the morning great. We took showers and headed into town by noon to get the oil changed and the car washed. We had breakfast (lunch!) at Cracker Barrel, that place really is delicious. All this running around meant that we weren’t technically on the road until after 1:30.

We were back on I-90 (our faithful freeway for most of the trip thus far) when we passed through Cleveland, Ohio. Seeing a sign for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we were compelled to stop. Plus, the main exhibit was the Boss – Bruce Springsteen. I have listened to him so much with my dad, I love him!

Admission to the museum was expensive - $22 per person. The building was pretty cool, so I’d guess they are still working on paying that off. Plus you weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum (except in the lobby), so that was a pretty big letdown. The museum included iconic clothing from rock and roll performers as varied as Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Metallica, Johnny Cash and so on. The museum was six floors, so they also had exhibits on the evolution of sound technology, exhibits on the reaction to rock and roll (quotes and videos from senators and parents commenting on how rock and roll music was destroying the minds of youth…) They had Bruce Springsteen’s first car (in the lobby fortunately, so we got a picture).

After leaving Cleveland, we passed into Pennsylvania, then shortly after we passed into New York. Jess took us off of the freeway right before the toll gate in a hunt to find a gas station. Oh, and I should mention that by this time, we had less than 1/8 of a tank of gas. We drove around backwoods, upstate New York, where the only gas stations we found had long since been abandoned. Jess found a gas station right about the time I was preparing to call AAA and let them know they’d need to bring us a few gallons. I asked for directions to a good place to eat nearby, but we couldn’t find it and ended up getting back on the (toll) freeway.

About this time, we had to say our final goodbyes to I-90, as we would not be hitting it again on this trip.

It was almost 8:30 by the time we pulled into the KOA near Niagara Falls. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast / lunch at Cracker Barrel, so we were more than ready for dinner. The nearest Domino’s Pizza is 70 plus miles away, so we had to settle for Pizza Hut. They evidently do not deliver around here, so we drove into town to pick it up. We also upgraded to a cabin for the night because (1) we are too lazy to set up the tent again, and (2) it feels bitterly cold outside, probably just since last night was so warm.

We’ll sleep in a little bit tomorrow (hopefully not as much as last night!), before we shower, see Niagara Falls, and then head to see our (very) good friend Kates in Pennsylvania. :)

We also (officially) have the worst internet thus far on the trip (excluding the lack thereof in Iowa), and I am getting too frustrated to continue trying, so pictures will have to be added tomorrow.