Spontaneity - Where will it lead you?

Well we have discovered that if you want to make a trip within a 1000 miles radius, you CAN go to Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada from Memphis.  We currently have traveled through 6 states and another country in the first 3 days and 1480 miles.  How about that!  We were so glad to have taken our chances and to have gotten into Canada - even without passports.  The view from that side was amazing!!  From what we could tell we would have only seen about half of it from the NY side.  (We opted not to take up more time this morning to go to the NY side.  We could see from the bridge, the limited view people were getting.)  We did, however, get up this morning and take a ride on the Maid of the Mist right up into the base of the falls.  At first we were just getting a nice little mist from the American Falls, but as we turned around in the basin of Niagara (Horseshoe Falls), our legs and feet got soaked.  The lovely blue plastic slickers shielded the rest of us.  It was quite the experience!

Afterwards we walked along the strip and did a bit of sightseeing.  The fudge from the Hershey Store was quite tasty, and we were intrigued watching a fella perform his yo-yo stunts outside of Guinness World Records Museum.  We took a peek at a place called Block City with lots of Lego creations and then made our way back to our car. 

We were a bit apprehensive as to the reception we might receive when we got to the American border.  The guy asked for our passports/id.  When we handed him our drivers licenses and shot records for the boys he replied, "They let you in with this?! hmmm"  It was a relief when he came back to the car and granted us access to our mother land. We simply aren't cut out to be aliens. (That's taking being green a bit to far!!)  Goofy looking as we are, he decided to take his chances on us.

We left out heading for Rutland, VT which meant we had to cross the entire length of NY.  I really enjoyed the sights much better once we began to reach the mountains. (I am no doubt a mountain kinda gal!  I love the Rockies and the Appalachians - with or without trees, they are just beautiful to me!!)  We took a couple of detours off the toll road to investigate and get better views of some lovely old homes/communities some dating back to the 1800's.  We finally paid our last toll to the troll as Taylor said and continued into Vermont.

We have seen so many homes that have us in awe!  Some were fixer uppers and others had already been restored.  One of my favorite things about old homes is the lead glass and the windows that look wavy when you drive by.  So much fun to see them and the landscaping! 

As we drew closer to Rutland, Nathan said we should go ahead and drive on into Middlebury, VT - a place I had mapped out to go see our first covered bridge.  A little sleuthing had also led us to discover that is where the bed and breakfast from the Newhart Show was located.  I was driving and following the helpful direction of our TomTom with full trust in where she was taking us.  We left the interstate to take a windy state highway.  As I approached my next turn I was hopeful that we would get back to better roads, yet my next turn landed me on a gravel type road.  After following it a bit, we stumbled upon our first covered bridge...SCORE!!! We did find the b/b, but they did not have a room large enough to accommodate us.  The lady was very helpful though and invited us to come back in the morning to get some pictures in the daylight. (It was about 9:30 when we pulled in.) We pulled into the sleepy town of Middlebury (home of only 2-3 traffic lights) and decided that perhaps we should start with food first.  We found the only local place still open and grabbed a bite while others out front were playing hacky sack or downstairs singing karaoke.  After supper we were off to find lodging.  Well, it is now 12:30, and this little town went to bed 3 hours ago!!  Even the little hotels that have their vacancy signs lit, are not answering their doors.  Hmmm...where we will we lay our heads tonight?  (We have already checked out the nearest campground - it was WAY down in the boonies, and with no real lighting we couldn't tell where or what we might be sleeping in, near, or on.)  Life can't be too dull when you live spontaneously.

I will try to work on pics tomorrow.  I am posting them on fb for now, as it seems to be easier and faster to download them. We have found a quaint little parking spot at the Magic Wok Chinese and Thai cuisine that will have to "Thai"d us over for the evening.  (Gotta spend at least one night in the truck for a bit of adventure, right?)  Night all!