Ready or Not, Massachusetts, Here we Come!!!

After Niagara Falls we decided to head over to Massachusetts to visit Ryan's father, Pops. We kind of gave him short notice but he was a good sport about it. We drove through the night to get to Mass and got to Pops house at like 5 am. Right as we pulled into his parking area, Pops was already outside with his dogs. Thank God because I would have felt so bad calling that early and waking him up. He directed us to park down by where the boat ramp. So we parked ol' Yella and made sure to put the emergency brake on so she wouldn't end up swimming with the fishes.

Ryan's dad, Pops welcomed us with open arms inside and we headed inside to plan out where we were going to set up the RV at. There was a local RV campground right down the street, but it didn;t open up until 9:30. So we figured since we had already stayed up all night, what was a few more hours. We caught up with Ryan's dad and told him of all our adventures, well as much as we could remember from no sleep.
Once 9:30 came, Pop's followed us over to the RV campground to make sure we got checked in okay and he was so awesome, he even paid for our stay over there. We told him we were going to take a nap and we would call him later once we recovered.

We had a private RV spot out in the woods without a neighbor in sight. Perfect setting for a mid-morning/afternoon nap! We rigged our blankets to cover the windows in our bedroom cubby and were out like lights.

The American Falls at Niagara, finally - YAY!!!!

We left our VIP parking spot and walked through this beautiful park to get to the American Falls. We crossed over this little bridge and there we were right out on the edge of the American Falls. The water was ripping and such a powerful force gliding over the rocks and falling over the edge with such strength. We took awesome video and pics and just enjoyed nature at work. We decided to find out about going on the Maid of the Mist, that huge boat that charters you out to the bottom of the falls. There was a boat going out in 5 minutes, so we grabbed our ponchos and headed out to set sail.

Ryan I put on our bright blue ponchos and entered the ship. We headed for the front of the boat for a good view of the falls. It was so windy and the water kept splashing on us, it was so cold, but I kept laughing like a little kid every time the water splashed us. We got right to the bottom of the American and the Canadian Falls and it was so amazing to be staring all the powerful water right in the face. It responded back with force and I had to hold on to Ryan. It was so much fun to experience it. The water so beautiful, you wanted to just jump right in but held back, of course.

We passed the Canadian boat along the way and we waved proudly, while they just stared back at us. I think we were the only ones waving. I guess were dorks, but proud to be American dorks, that's for sure. We exited the boat and explored the rock trail next to the American Falls, but it was pretty slippery.

We headed over to get a better view of the Canadian Falls. We walked down and looked over the edge and it was intense. The Canadian Falls are definitely larger than the American Falls, but the American Falls are much more treacherous. Apparently, several people have fallen over the Canadian Falls and survived to tell the tale. Not so much for the American Falls. I don't think anyone has ever even attempted it. We took incredible video footage and some fab pics and decided to check out the little gift shop and use the restrooms.

Niagara Falls was definitely a natural wonder to see. It was so beautiful and the day we went really turned out to be a nice day once the sun came out and shined against the sparkling blue water. The Maid of the Mist is also a must-have as well when visiting. All in all, it was great place to visit but it was bitter sweet as it was nearing the end of our excellent adventure.

Get us to Niagara, please!!!

We woke up a bit later than we anticipated because we were so exhausted from the long drive the night before and geared up for the American Falls today. We were feeling a bit sluggish and needed a little pick-me-up, so we cruised over to the local Dunkin Donuts for our morning perk.

Ryan and I continually have had bad luck with the lattes at Dunkin Donuts, but we keep giving them another chance because we do like their coffee/espresso blend and all the flavors they offer. So we went in, ordered 2 vanilla lattes or something to that nature, paid up, grabbed the lattes, took a big swig and..."YUCK!!" It was literally like coffee water with a whole bunch of milk. I looked at Ryan and he looked back at me and we knew what we had to do. Ryan stepped up to the plate and asked them if they could please make us new ones because these were horrible. He said, "I hate to be this guy, but we just paid 3 bucks for these and we can't even take another sip of them." The young girl obliged and tried to remake them. One of the managers came over and decided to help out and make then for us instead. We were hoping she had the magic touch or just the touch that knows how to make proper lattes. Now, Ryan and I are by no means, coffee snobs, but we do have taste buds that aren't broken and know what a latte should taste like.

The moment of truth...The manager hands us the new ones, Ryan samples them and yep, they were still gross coffee water/milk. So Ryan took the lead and said, "Can we just get our money back because this is the second time you are making them and they still aren't good and we don't want to keep wasting eachother's time here." So, the girl opened the register and gave us our cash back. What a lose-lose situation to be in. They didn't get our money and we didn't get the caffeine kick we needed.

Ryan and I from this day forward made a pact to just order plain coffees from Dunkin Donuts.

Well, after that retarded snag in our morning we pushed on and headed for the American Falls. We needed a place to park the RV and there were 2 parking lots that were right next to eachother competing for cars. We pulled up and the one guy was yelling at us to park in his lot. He yelled, "We'll only charge ya 10 bucks. If you go over to those guys they'll charge ya 20. So we pulled over to get to his lot which was cramped and the guy taking the money said, "That'll be 20 bucks, please." I said, "Whoa, whoa, the guy calling us in to the lot said it was 10 bucks here." The guy responded with, "Well that is for 1 spot and you will take up 2 spots so it will be 20." Well, I was annoyed at this point and I was not going to pay 20 dollars to park, so I told the guy, no way, I'm not parking here and I backed Yella's big ol' booty outta that lot and headed for their competitor.

We pulled into the other lot and the ticket lady told us that we can't park here. What?!?! She said there is no RV parking. You'll have to drive over to the island and pay 20 bucks there and walk back. So I manuevered Yella outta that lot too. What gives people really, I just want to see the Falls. So, I said to Ry, I got a plan. I think I saw a street spot that was big enough for us to parallel park in. We drove around the corner and there it was: A FREE street spot that was big enough for the Yella. We very carefully pulled it in and we were in business. We hopped out and headed for the Falls with our 20 bucks in our pockets. haha..

Niagara Falls or Bust!

After we dipped out on MJ's home, we put the pedal to the metal and headed for Niagara Falls hopefully get there by nightfall. We drove and drove and drove and can you believe that to get out of stinkin' Inidiana it cost us 30 bucks in tolls. The roads were horrible, pot holes everywhere but thank God we made it outta there.

We drove some more and kept on trucking, not much to see along the way and then...there it was our home for the night, this massive Walmart right outside of Niagara Falls that had to have had the largest unused parking lot I have ever seen. As you drove in to get to the Walmart, it looked so small and far away as we drove through empty aisle after empty aisle to get there. We saw another RV in the distance and parked a couple rows away from it.

Time to rest up after a long drive from Chicago to Niagara in one day and hit the American Falls in the morning. YAY!!!!

On our way to the King of Pop's House!!!

We decided we saw everything we needed to see in Chicago and were pretty full from all the local cuisine, so we headed on towards the east coast paving our way for the Big Apple. We were super eager to get as much driving in as possible. But before we left the good ol' Midwest, we stopped in Gary, Indiana to visit the childhood home of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

We pulled off the exit and took a couple turns on some street and then we hit it. We pulled in front of MJ's house, parked the rig and hopped out to take a closer look. There was a rod iron gate surrounding the lil house, but it was all original, just how they had left it. The street was renamed to the Jackson Family Blvd. We asked the groundskeeper if we could take some photos, he said feel free and we striked a pose in MJ's honor.

Just as we were taking some close-ups, a guy pulled up in an old Buick and asked us if we wanted him to take a picture with both if us in it. He pretty much insisted, parked his car and came over to shoot a few. He had lived here all his life and was a teacher at the school behind the Jackson home. He told us to remember his face because he was going to be on Oprah. So, of course we curiously asked, "What for?" He told us that when the cousin's of the Jackson's had renovated the inside of the home years ago, they were just going to throw away all the stuff inside, but that he had came in and taken the all original details of the interior of the home. We weren't really sure if we believed it, but he was super convincing.

He told us he would send us a piece of the Jackson home and that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we should take advantage of this and give him our address. At the time, we didn't really have an address, since we were gypsies, so he went over to his car and wrote down his address and told us to send him a letter with our address in it when we got one and he would send us a piece of wood or a little something from the original Jackson home.

It was really weird but at the same time pretty cool that we ran into this guy. Either way seeing the Jackson family's home was a pretty memorable stop and we didn't even plan it. But we figured, when is the next time we were going to be in Gary, IN to see this. FYI...there isn't much to see in Gary, IN except for MJ's home and you really just want to snap your photos and hightail it outta there. It wasn't the nicest of places that's for sure. But hosts the birthplace of a really awesome musical legend. RIP MJ.

Downtown Chicago - Wildly, Windy City, Baybay!!!

We woke up and walked to the train station which wasn't too far of a hike and wouldn't ya know, the train came about 30 seconds after we had gotten there. We couldn't have planned it more perfectly, except we didn't have cash and the conductors didn't want to let us on. But Ryan talked them into allowing us to get on, with the stipulation that we would get our tickets at the Millennium station in Downtown. It worked out great, we got to Downtown in like 20 minutes.

So what is the first thing you do when you get to Chicago? Wrigley Field, Broadway Show, Sears Tower....Nope, Nope and Nope...Ya grab a Chicago-style hot dog with the works at the Famous Portillo's. It's the only way to really start off your downtown sightseeing right in Chi-town. So, um yeah, it was pretty much as good as it gets. A huge all beef dog on all a poppyseed bun with onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, relish, sport peppers, a dash of celery salt and a pickle spear right smack on the top. Yum!!!

We headed over to the Navy Pier and strolled over to take a Ferris Wheel ride that offered spectacular views of the skyline and Lake Michigan. It was extremely windy up there, go figure...and the small ferris car we were in was rocking back and forth, it was a bit scary, especially after seeing all those carnival rides that go bad and people plummeting to there deaths, so Ryan and I just stayed calm and made nervous jokes about the whole thing to ease the fear.

We got down to the bottom and walked a little farther towards the end of the pier and looked out at the beautiful Lake Michigan. It was huge!!! We took a couple pics and then walked back towards Downtown. Before we left the pier, a tall ship named "Windy" caught our eye and we decided to take sail through the lake, Pirates of the Caribbean style. We entered on the ship where a gent, a little bit older than us, was dressed up as a pirate. He told us that we were in for a treat where he would tell us of long ago pirate tales. We sat where there was room and listened to the instructions and stories of this silly, captivating piratesman. The ship took off and once we were out in the Lake, the Captain instructed his crew to hoist the sails. The crew worked tirelessly against the whipping Chicago wind and alas, both huge sails were up and we were cruising.

It was so cool to be such an old ship like that and sailing through the Lake like ye old pirates. Ryan and I were sitting next the bow up top at the back of the ship, just enjoying the beautiful weather, I started to notice the bow really whipping and squeaking pretty bad, almost as if it were rubbing against something and was on too tight. I just kept turning around and watching it, until..yep, the freaking bow just flipping snapped in half. This heavy piece of wood just broke off and was headed for this family of 5 kids on the other side of us. Luckily, one of the crew members, who was a petite young girl, grabbed the bow, basically jumped on top of the thing so it wouldn;t fall on this family or go over board. The Captain called for the other crew members on the other side to help her out and get the sail down and under control. In turn though, this left another petitie woman manning the other sail by herself that was still in tact. The Captain called all of us down to the main part of the ship where we would be safe until they could control the broken sail. The other woman manning the sail still up in the air was doing an incredible job and with such great strength, got the main sail under control and brought down. The women aboard the ship's crew were definitely my hero's that day.

So pretty exciting event to occur while on a tall ship, but the whole reason we decided to do it, was to sail in a tall ship, not cruise with the motor on. Definitely a let down in the sailing department. But we did get to hear great pirate tales and have an exciting pirate tale to tell of our own.

After the tall ship we headed over to the legendary Pizza Duo, which is right down the street from Pizza Uno, which are owned by the same family for generations. We grabbed the famous deep dish Chicago-style pizza that Ryan and I love so much and went to town. Sampled the local brew and really feasted. After that we wheel-barrowed our butts outta there and strolled through more of the city at night.

We took some pics over at the park where the fountain from the intro to Married with Children was filmed. Classic!!! All in all, Chicago was a really clean and cool city.

Welcome to the South side of Chicago, son!

We finally get to Chicago and realize that there are no RV parks closer than 50 miles out. So we opted for a cheap hotel in the South Side of Chicago where we stayed at a Motel 6 with plenty of parking lot space for the Yella. We went to the front desk to check-in and got weird looks from all the staff members, but they quickly turned on a smile for us and handed our room key with the directions to the elevator. We went up to the room, unpacked a bit and then realized, we should get something to eat for dinner and then hit the sack for our big day into the city tomorrow.

We took the elevator downstairs to the lobby, still getting weird looks but smiles from the staff and went out the front door to see what we could find by foot. We looked left and then right out on the street and saw only a McDonalds or a Wendy's. We headed down to where the McDonald's was on the corner to see if there was anything else down the other street. Ryan and I were walking like normal, like usual, but something felt funny to us. We couldn't put our finger on it, so we just continued on. We got to the McDonald's where there was a parking lot full of cars with loud rap music playing. We took a look down the street and didn't see much of anything. So we opted for the healthier of the two evils and chose Wendy's. We walked back down the street where we came from and this is where we started putting the pieces together.

All the weird looks from the motel staff started to add up when we realized that we were the only two white people for about twenty blocks in this neighborhood. The light in our heads went on: Oh, were in the South Side of Chicago! WoW!!! Well, no big deal to us, so we strolled right in to the Wendy's, again only white people, and proceeded to order a lovely dinner. Everyone was staring at us and with good reason too. I mean, when is the last time they saw white people just walking around and eating Wendy's in the South side of Chicago. I felt like an alien a bit, but then I realized how a black person must feel when they are the only black person in a room and that happens much more often for them than us. We opted to get our food to go, so we could eat in our bed and these people could eat their food in peace without having a couple whitey's in their restaurant. It was just more comfortable that way for everyone.

But really, Ryan and I felt fine and had no problems at all. I think people are too quick to judge an area in regards to its demographics and if they took a minute to walk a few blocks in that neighborhood, they would realize they were just fine too. (Well, hopefully! hehe)

So, we chowed down and hit the hay for an awesome day in Chicago!

On our way to Chicago!!! Stopped in Pleasantville!

On our way into Chicago, we stopped in this gorgeous lil suburb in the north side, Lake Forest, that felt like Pleasantville. There were finely dressed ladies to lunch, kids walking their Labradoodles and tree-lined streets galore filled with local businesses like candy shoppes and stationary stores. The homes were huge in size and colonial in style. It was so clean and sweet there. Williams-Sonoma and J. Crew are a few of the stores approved to be there. Turns out after doing some research that the population is a whopping 95.80% Whites! Hispanics, Latinos and Blacks combined equal about 1%. Too Crazy!  Well I guess I was pretty accurate when I called it Pleasantville from the 50's.

We walked around, had a bagel from the Delights Bakery and sent out some of our postcards from the local post office. It felt like Ryan and I were from the future or I guess, just a more culturally flourished area in the same present time. Either way, it was a really nice to have stumbled upon this place and the homes were so beautiful there and the people were, well, pleasant. So we bid adieu to Lake Forest, home of polo matches and pressed khaki pants and headed for Chi-Town, the Windy City!

Headed for Chi-Town, but first Wisconsin!

We were aiming to get out of South Dakota but we checked out Sioux Falls before we left and there were yet again a ton more bison we saw. It's so cool to see these awesome animals. We stopped at the Walmart in Albert Lea, Minnesota so we could get a fresh start on headed for Wisconsin in the morning. We managed to sleep okay but the wind was really whipping on us in the parking lot.

We woke up and headed for Wisconsin. We drove and drove and drove and decided to stop in Milwaukee to stop for a beer and some famous Wisconsin beer-battered, deep fried cheese curds. Watch out mozzarella cheese sticks cuz you ain't got nothing on some deep fried cheese curds. Holy Moly them things were good! Now, I had no idea what a cheese curd was so here is a little definition for all of you out there: Cheese curds are the fresh curds of the cheese. They are the clumps of casein and milk components that are formed during the cheese making process. They have a springy, rubbery texture and should be eaten within hours of manufacturing. That is why they are a regional dish, since you have to have dairy farms readily close by. So there is your cheese lesson for the day.

Milwaukee was super clean and filled with such wonderful things: Cheese, Beer and Harley Davidson! What a trifecta! We stopped in at the Miller Time Pub to sample the local cuisine: Beer & Cheese. And we were so bloated we couldn't leave. I guess that's how they get ya to stay in Wisconsin. We walked around the Downtown area and saw the Harley Davidson Museum & tons of beer factories and cheese farms. We had our fill and shot down to Illinois to try Chicago!

No pictures from this town, we didn't want evidence of our gluttony!

Welcome to The Badlands!!!

After we had seen Deawood, Sturgis, The Battle of Big Horn and Mount Rushmore all in one day, last up was the Badlands! A little quick summary of the Badlands for ya: Containing the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 34-25 million years old, the evolutionary stories of mammals such as the horse and rhino arise from 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires. Bison, bighorn sheep and endangered black-footed ferrets roam one of the largest, protected mixed-grass prairies in the United States and that was taken from the U.S. National Park Service website so ya have to believe me.

We hadn't done too much research on the Badlands before we got there, but after we drove through this crazy baby Grand Canyon and prairie, we were glad we did. We saw tons of lil prairie dogs and bison, but unfortunately didn't see any of the endangered ferrets. It was crazy to be driving the Yella through all of this and the roads were real narrow so it felt like we were going to just fall in. We enjoyed the vastness and beauty of the rock formations. Strata type layers and colors in the rock formations like gold, burgundy and gray were impressive. I said to Ryan that they reminded me of the sand art I used to play with as a kid.

All in all, the Badlands is a must-see for anyone before they die. It was definitely more impressive than Mount Rushmore by far and just a little bit tinier in grandeur than the Grand Canyon. I am really glad that Ryan and I were able to experience this on our trip. I mean, come on...when's the next time we'll get back to South Dakota! Well, hopefully when we get those Triumph motorcycles, we will!
FYI...these pictures don't do The Badlands justice!