Car Trip Vacation......

As one last hurrah before school starts, we decided to take a mini vacation to Niagara Falls. We took the Northern most route and it took us about 16 hours total including all the pit stops along the way. Before we even left the house, the portable DVD decided to crap out, so we left it. The hubs and I thought, this will be a loooong drive, especially without it, but there was nothing we could do. So, we explained to the kids that it wasn't working and made sure they had some books and other activities to bring.
This trip was also going to be our first trip since we switch our diets to a more natural, whole food type of diet. We weren't going to be relying on fast food places for a quick bite to eat, so we packed crackers, bagels, cheese, lots of fruits, assorted nuts, some carrots, dried fruit, and a ton of water. I did throw in some lollies and treats I knew the kids would like.

We stopped somewhere in Indiana to eat lunch and in Erie, PA for dinner; the kids loved the picnic idea and we had no complaints about the food. We also didn't have any complaints or fights between the kids on the way, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the kids got along and behaved without the DVD player to entertain them on the car trip. We only use the DVD player for car trips, but this was the first time we had taken a car trip that was longer than six hours, but the kids managed without it. We ended up playing car games, I asked the kids if they thought we could find all 50 states license plates and so they had fun trying to find those. We ended up finding 47 states, the ones we couldn't find were Hawaii, Alaska, and South Dakota. We did eat at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY and they had a license plate on the wall from Hawaii and South Dakota, but we didn't count those.
Niagara Falls was beautiful, we stayed on the New York side, but ended up walking onto the Canadian side, which I was glad. The car traffic to get into Canada was about a two hour wait - we only had to wait about 20 minutes in line and it was only a 15 minute walk over the bridge.

 This is the view of the American Falls from the Tower Wheel on the Canadian side

I think my favorite part was the Maid of the Mist boat tour of the falls, it was great to get that close and we got absolutely soaked. The kids laughed as the water from the falls sprayed all over us and it was something we will never forget. If we had more time, I really wanted to drive down to my old hometown in PA, but we only really had four days, not counting the car time. We also visited the Columbus Zoo and although it definitely beats out our local zoo, I think I like the Omaha Zoo better. The kids had a blast and really that was all that matter, I think it was great way to end our summer vacation.

The kids are definitely ready to go back to school and see their friends and I just keep thinking, where is all this time going, 3rd and 2nd grade!

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” - Ernest Hemingway