Syracuse Rally

Part II

On Saturday afternoon as we headed over to the main stage area for the final concert we saw the folks who had signed up to renew their vows. The outfits ranged from original wedding gowns to some pretty awful ones, but typified by the below with the dog whose sign says, "Best Friends Wedding" ... aww.

While waiting for the Reba concert to start we enjoyed some wine ... made tastier by Jo-Anne's "sippy cup" sortof similar to that used by grandson EV ... eh ... maybe not quite.

Then the main event started with Reba hitting the stage in front of a crowd of about 6,000. We were in folding chairs on the lawn but it was a perfect 70 degrees and the sound system was flawless and her band was so talented to the last member.

This was an amazing two hour show and the crowd did a standing ovation as she left the stage dressed as in the above photo ...

... and re-entered a few moments later dressed in the famous red dress to sing "Fancy" one of her greatest hits ... wow what a performer!

Our RV was close enough to walk home to as we enjoyed the perfect weather that evening. We watched the shows, we shopped, and we saw and met some of the neatest folks on the road today.

Above is the view toward our RV ... brown one about fourth down on the left side and about 2,000 of our closest RV buddies on a sunnier day as it dried out a bit.

Off Sunday back to Barrie to rest from the excitement for a bit ... but we are thinking about the next Rally in Atlanta with the Beach Boys in October .... thinking ... thinking.

The Syracuse Rally

 Part I

We arrived at the Syracuse State Fair Grounds after the short trip from the Watertown area in a gentle rain. After following the printed directions which were totally bogus we followed the Sheriff force and went to the park as directed.

We learned in Phoenix that arriving early had the benefit of better site selection and here it really paid off. The fair grounds have parking for cars that would be OK for the day at the fair but that's it.

We were parked like the pic below ... butt to butt ... but with pretty good space between units and we were at the top of the hill .... good deal. There's a 30A power outlet at the back and that's it ... no sewer or water similar to the Phoenix rally.

A little more on the rain part. On Thursday as the rain got heavier and the later arriving rigs got mired in the mud the organizers had to resort to plan B. The entire infield of the grounds had rigs up to the axles that had to be towed out and some actually didn't get out till Monday.

They worked with a local mall and over 1000 RVs had to be diverted to the mall parking lot ... where at least it was dry and ... shopping?

OK, the program was for Friday to have Wayne Newton and then on Saturday night we would have Reba the country singer. In the interim it was hoped we would shop the hundreds of vendors and RV sales venues and buy lots of stuff ... OK ... we did.

Below  are the required badges to be hung around the neck for entrance for the 4-days and also to let you to be eligible for the "match and win" contest which for some is quite compulsive. I think you can win either a T-shirt or $1000 or something between.

The main event for Friday evening was Wayne Newton, but as we got our seats we sat and watched the folks go by this dude caught my attention ... no matter how I stretch my imagination I cannot get to the "why" part of this outfit ... I'll let you fill in the blanks.

And then to the night's entertainment. Actually the guy in the above picture was more entertaining ... but not too fast.

And Wayne Newton.

One of the reasons we came here was for his rendition of  Danke Schoene from the 50's and 60's. Sorry.

Sometimes there comes a time that an entertainer needs to put aside the ego and retire and this is a classic example. There were about 6,000 folks in the crowd that had hoped to see some of the former entertainer on the stage but we were all disappointed ... really sad.

This was a bit of poor research and planning on the part of the planners but was more than made up for during the next night ... 

The Flying Scotsman has broken its moorings again and is on the loose!

We unhooked from the wonderful connections at the Barrie KOA on Monday and motored down the Ontario 401 for about 250 miles and then took a right turn just past Kingston on the way to the US.

We are on the way to the Good Sam Rally in Syracuse on the 13th but elected to stop at the Association Island KOA park as it was well rated and near to Fort Drum so that we could do some shopping on the post.

We took off in a light rain and it continued throughout the day until we arrived. On Tuesday the rain was even heavier at times with the temperature about 60 all day and a pretty steady rain off the lake.

This is another KOA where the owners got a really neat piece of property and have done very little to improve it. Super location and view of the sunset but the infrastructure is poor.

But the view! That's Lake Ontario and we are looking directly west toward the Toronto area but in the foreground is another island directly out the window in front of our campsite.

Tomorrow we will be off to Syracuse for the rally. Because we will not be hooked up to water or sewer for five nights I gotta make sure the fresh water is full and the outgoing water tanks are really dry.

OK, bear with me as we devote a couple of pics to the grandson. We went to Niagara mainly for his benefit and I think we were successful.

The second day we were there it was pretty rainy and cool so we chose the butterfly house for a diversion ... and the expression below  pretty well sums up the experience.

Then off to a midway for a brief diversion, again watching the little guy get totally engrossed in whatever action and motion this machine could provide.

And the glee of pounding the monster heads as they popped up was a hoot for all of us older spectators ... he was actually pretty good!

Then off to the bird exhibit which was very well done and had many exhibits including one where he could get into one of the enclosures with the lorikeets and actually feed them nectar as they crawled all over his body ... we weren't sure of the reaction ... sort of fear and excitement combined ... maybe.

And to top off the bird exhibit was this dude, who as a mammal was sort of out of place, but really cool nonetheless with a wingspan of about a foot as he munched on some burgers and fries ... realistically some fruits and veggies probably ... but Dracula does come to mind.

All in all we got the maximum out of our stay in the Niagara area and saw the kids off at the Toronto airport on the 29th for their return to Dallas ... super time as always and always way too short.

On Memorial Day we headed, with the kids, over to Niagara Falls which is about a 2 hour drive from where we live and stayed in the Embassy Suites overlooking the falls.

Here's the iconic view of the Canadian falls with the Maid of the Mist churning through a really neat rainbow ... beautiful day.

The grandparents on the walkway with the falls and rainbow behind us. It was about 65 and a bit windy but really a perfect day for the falls.

And the American falls again with one of the boats going upstream ... pretty heavy flow as this was a good spring runoff.

Right behind the visitor center below is the Embassy Suites hotel up on the escarpment; excellent placement and super place to stay. The only unfortunate thing was that the inclined railway from the hotel to the visitor center was undergoing renovation so we had to drive down to the park; but that will be fixed by the next time we go to the falls.

And the children doing the smart phone pose while Everett is still looking at the boats and/or seagulls below ...

The next day was predicted to be rainy and cool so we planned some non-picture events indoors and I'll show highlights when I get the pics formatted.

While Leigh and Brooks were visiting us in Barrie we decided to sign up for a local tourist attraction; the Tottenham Train.

 

 

Tottenham is a small town about 30 miles southwest of Barrie. Fortunately the town elders decided, with a large amount of personal sacrifice, to save a piece of history that would have been otherwise lost.

The coal fired steam engine and the passenger cars are over 100 years old and have been restored with loving care from volunteers from the town and the 10 mile piece of track was saved from private developers as well.

Here's Dave the conductor ready to yell "All Aboard" as we got our tickets and headed for the loading dock. It was a blustery 55 degree day and we had to hide against the building for heat just before this picture was taken.

Once we were enroute though the trip was great. We passed through the spring colored farmlands and Dave our narrator kept up a quite funny and informative history of the rail line throughout its up and down history.

Little Ev had a great time and in time got bored with the slow 20 mph pace of the olden travel style, but was a great sport. Dave the conductor even came through the cabin and punched our tickets just like they used to do.

And of course along the way we passed by the mile marker to ...

If you are our age and haven't experienced one of these trips ... do it, as there is nothing that will bring you back to the reality of history and what made our countries great as these neat machines ... still viable after so many years.