Buffalo, NY and beyond

We left our hotel in Dearborn, MI at 8:00 AM bound for the Niagara Falls area.  We had decided to take the bridge over to Windsor, Ontario and then continue on along route 3 in Ontario to the Niagara area.  We've been on this road before and it's a pretty straight shot along the lake.  What we didn't remember is how boring the ride is/was especially in the rain.  It was a somewhat cold and dreary run for mile after mile.  This probably is the fastest way to Niagara but in a steady drizzle it was quite a test of our patience.

It took an hour from the time we left our hotel until we found the bridge to Canada and got through customs.  The signage in Detroit is challenging and in many cases just missing.

So we were finally off and running and with the crappy weather, some road construction and endless pavement it became obvious a trip to the Falls was not going to happen this time.  Jo made hotel reservations at a Hampton Inn near the Buffalo airport.  By the time we got to the USA border it was about 5:30 PM and traffic was heavy.  We seemed to be in the slowest moving line and then just as we were almost ready to cross, Jack's car conked out completely.  He quickly determined a fuse had blown and I gave him a replacement that I had in my door pocket.  Potential disaster was avoided and we both got through customs OK.

We arrived around 7:00 PM and had a late dinner at a Famous Dave's BBQ next door.  I have to say the the meal was outstanding and we had some great ribs.  Crashed around 9:00 PM and agreed to depart the next morning around 8:30 AM.

Skies were still dreary as we pulled out of Buffalo on a quiet Sunday morning.  We got rolling on route 20 east with our destination being Skaneateles, NY for lunch at the Sherwood Inn.  The weather improved and by the time we reached the little town on one of the Finger Lakes it was bright and sunny.  There was a lot of "action" in town and everyone was out and about.  We had a late lunch in the tavern...Cookie and I shared a turkey sandwich that was very good even with the cranberry mayonnaise.

So, after leaving the Finger Lakes it was on to our hotel du jour in Johnstown, NY.  We traveled a long way east on route 15 along the Eire Canal.  About 280 miles and a well deserved rest at the end of the day.