Family, falls and farewell

Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls

We spent two very nice, relaxing days (and nights) with Pete's cousin Deanna and her husband, Ernie.  They live in New York state about 15 minutes from Albany, the capitol of New York.  With the exception of one brief visit a few years ago, Pete hasn't seen this cousin in over 50 years, but you never would have known it.  The family bond was just as strong as if they'd seen each other yesterday.  Deanna and Ernie's home is beautiful.  We were given the entire upstairs and although we missed Tumbleweed, it was nice to have all the room for a change.  Deanna made a wonderful dinner our first night there and invited her son, John and his wife Michelle for dinner.  Her daughters', Julie, Nancy and Wendy came for dessert.  It was very nice to meet this extended family and hear about their lives.  Pete feels very good about knowing that he does have cousins on the Keeslar side of his family in addition to his cousins on the Hackett side in Indiana.  He and Deanna did a lot of reminiscing.  We were sad to leave, but look forward to seeing them again.  This time we won't wait so long.

Cousin Deanna & Pete

Cousins Deanna & Ernie

While we were visiting Deanna and Ernie, Bob and Pink went to Cooperstown, New York and visited the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Bob was quite excited about that because he is an exceptionally avid baseball fan (especially the Giants)!  We met up with them at Niagara Falls on Thursday, October 7th for our last sightseeing tour together before going our separate ways back to California.

Niagara Falls was another one of our major goals for this trip and we weren't disappointed.  The falls were spectacular!  One can't help but feel the power of the falls just by standing and watching them.  We took a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist, and were able to see both of the falls 'up close and personal'.  The boat ride also gave us our second shower of the day.

Maid of the Mist

Ready for our shower on the boat

American Falls as seen from Canada

American Falls.  So much power!

Horseshoe Falls as seen from Goat Island

Pete and I drove over to the Canadian side of the Niagara River and hoped to explore a little bit in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  The view of the falls was so much better than on the U.S. side but the town reminded us of a carnival.  There were wax museums, video arcades and a 'Castle Dracula'.  We decided our time was better spent enjoying one last meal with our friends before we parted ways, so we drove back to the U.S. side of the river and met Bob and Pink for an enjoyable dinner.

We parted ways the next morning.  It was a little sad after spending the last 4 weeks together and seeing so many memorable things with them.  Bob was a wonderful tour guide in Washington D.C.,
and it was fun exploring the places where none of us had been.  And Pink and I had no trouble spending money together.  We will miss their company as we move on, but know that we have more exciting things to see, as do they.  Safe travels, our friends.  We will see you back in California.  Cheers!