The Grand Adventure: I haven't posted in a week?!?!

I guess I've been busy. That's a good thing on a vacation. We've finally seen a stop to bad

weather. We just had to leave the east coast to do it. We're still east of the Mississippi River, but from the time we drove into NY state, it stopped raining, and so far has been lovely since. Let's backtrack though...

In New Jersey, we went to an animal rescue zoo called Popcorn Park. It was small, but there were some beautiful peacocks there as well as an ancient camel, tigers, lionesses, pot-bellied pigs, and other animals that people have attempted to domesticate through the years and then realized they couldn't. People, some animals just don't make good pets.

We also got a chance to ride in Mom and Ron's boat (the Sydney Rose by the previous owner and never renamed) when the rain cleared in NJ one day. Each kid got to pilot the ship and we didn't wash up on shore after, so they had fun.

There was a cookout at my mom's on Saturday, so the kids went fishing with Grandad and Emilie in the morning (when it was still dry) and Amy, Mom, and I prepared for the festivities. I'm sure they were dry for a little while, but by the time they came home, they were soaked to the bone! Ted's shoes took two days to dry out enough to wear. The rain did stop for a little while when the burgers went on the grill and didn't start again until later, so at least everyone wasn't eating in the house. It was great to see everyone.

And the bugbites! All three of us are suffering terribly with swollen, bitten, itchy, and red calves and ankles. Nothing is stopping the itch either. After Bite, aloe, Calomine, benadryl, and zyrtec have all been used and only slightly reduce the itching.

So we leave NJ and head (in the rain) to upstate NY to visit Bud, Lynn, and Kate on our way to Niagara Falls and Toronto. Fabulous weather in all three of those places. The kids got the s'mores they wanted, and we really had an excellent visit with the Meighans.