Day two: Kalamazoo to Niagara Falls

Travel tip: if you meet a professional belly dancer at a rest stop who offers to buy your skirt, don't engage her in conversation or you'll still be there an hour later.

Also, after driving a gazillion hours and thinking you only have one hour left, do not panic when you see the sign that says Niagara Falls 100. You can do 100 kilometers in an hour.

Finally: no one is at their best when setting up camp at 9:30pm on empty stomachs.

States: Michigan

Countries: US, Canada

Quarters forfeited: Danny - 4; Grace 2

Mpg: 28.9

Trip miles: 1013

Fun facts: Kalamazoo Target floor plan = Crystal, Mn floor plan. Costco is in Canada.

Memories:

Danny: it was a long trip and the sun was going down when we got there. We didn't get lost coming back from the bouncy pillow we just took the wrong road.

Grace: Danny's marshmallow caught fire and fell off. I kept falling on the bouncy pillow and got bounced off.

Therese: I met a belly dancer who wanted to buy my skirt and then she talked my ear off! The new Costco cooler is not a good one.

Gordon: a squirrel eating from a candy bar wrapper. Mommy thinking her name was Natalie so our fire wood got delivered to the Veil campsite.

The run down:

After pounding down a completely fiber free, free breakfast at the hotel, we headed to...Target. We needed an extension cord and Gordon lost his sunglasses. Then we hit the road.

We stopped at the half way point for lunch and a scooter break. While the kids scooted, I was courted by a belly dancer who wanted my skirt and unloaded her large belly dancing supplies suitcase looking for something to trade for it. Failing that, she extolled the virtues of belly dancing and gave me tips on washing silk.

We crossed the border with no delays but were disappointed that we did not get stamps in our passports.

We reached the KOA at 8:30 and began to unload.

The kids headed to the giant bouncy pillow just down the lane. It's so nice that they are old enough to come and go to the playground on their own!

Dinner had to wait until our firewood was delivered. After much confusion it was revealed that our firewood was delivered to the Veil family. We had hotdogs in the dark followed by the obligatory toasted marshmallows.

Photos: once again, can't seem to bring them over in the proper order. We are roughing it after all!

1- 3) rest stop resting and eating. A squirrel really wanted to join us. This one has a pretty good gig at the rest stop.

4) Gas is expensive in Canada. It's not subsidized by the government like in the US - that would be Socialism!

5 - 6 and 10) KOA fun. Love Grace's hair on the bouncy pillow.

7 - 9 and 11) In the car. The kids keep busy as we hit 1000 miles. On of Grace's creations rides shot gun.

12) The shadows are long as we pitch camp.