Leg 3 - Niagara to Boston

16/8/91 Friday up to an early start with guys having showers at 6am! Left the YH at 7.45am after Anne having to do her stint of vacuuming. Headed toward the Falls and stopped at a tour operator.  Ended up booking on a 4 hour tour - which ended up being good value as we saw things that we wouldn’t have seen, we had no traffic hassles, no parking and a minimum of walking.  The tour started by going into Canada and going up the Skylon tower to see the falls, then back across the bridge and north to the power station.  Then back to the “Maid of the Mist" boat ride and finished with a stop at Goat Island.  We were both very impressed by Niagara.  A trip highlight.  We finished the tour at 1pm. Headed north to the shores of Lake Ontario then followed the Lakeside highway eastward to Rochester.  A wrong choice of route landed us in "badlands" - lost! We were north of town instead of south. After losing about an hour, we found our way again and headed SE along Hwy 96 Victor, then turned south through Geneva to Ithaca, turned NE to Cortland and found our Econolodge Motel at McGraw.  After tea at Wendy’s (with the usual wrong order due to language difficulties) we settled into a very pleasant room.

17/8/91 Saturday After a night disturbed by an ice-machine 2m from our room, we left Cortland at 7.45am and headed south on 81.  We saw nothing of the scenery as there was heavy fog till about 9.30am.  Turned onto Rtl7 at Binghamton and onto Rt30 at East Branch.  We stopped at Downsville in the Catskill Mts for breakfast and again at Arkville for a flea-market (where I found an oiler for $18).  On to Kingston and down the 9W beside the Hudson River.  Turned onto the 1-84 - complete with traffic jam.  We tried the road beside the coast but it was very slow so we got back on the 1-95 and were immediately stuck in another jam! We got to Warwick about 6pm and Stephen came to meet us.  A good time of sharing - the first time in forty years!

18/8/91 Sunday - We tried going to church again and ended up at a United methodist church in Scituate Road, west of Cranston.  A good service.  Afternoon - Kathy, Dave & Cindy..  waiting for hurricane Bob, watching a tape of the Paul Simon concert, swatting bees, eating corn & lobster.

19/8/91 Monday - We woke at 6.30am and turned on the TV to find out that the hurricane is headed right for us!  115 mph winds are expected at 2pm.  Evacuations have been ordered and all businesses closed.  We tried to change our flight but it was not possible.  Driving out of the area is not an option as tornadoes may hit roads instead.  So we will stay put at Stephen’s.  He is preparing water supplies and we have moved our gear down into the basement.  Rang home at 8am to let them know what is happening.  By 11.30am the “eye” is about 120 miles south and all the roads will be closed at 1pm.  At 11.50am we get the first good gust and the neighbours lose two trees.  The wind continues and the "eye" veered up Naragensett Bay and passed a few miles to the east of us at about 3.30.  By 4pm, the worst was past and things were clearing. The rest of the day was spent clearing up the trees which had been blown over.

20/8/91 Tuesday - After sending Stephen off to work, we headed for Boston.  Very little after effects of the hurricane were visible on the Hwy - it’s hard to imagine that it happened at all. This stretch of highway from Providence to Boston had some heavy wild traffic. At one point (while we were travelling the same speed as all the other cars - 80 mph!) we were passed by a car which then veered across all the 5 lanes and stopped! We found Logan Airport without any trouble and left the Corsica.  Delta almost caused ticket problems when the guy thought that we may need another coupon but it is OK.  Our flight stops in Dallas (Texas! - a slight detour on a "direct" flight) and gets to Seattle at 9pm.  As we had arrived in plenty of time, we went to another terminal (to find a bank) and also found a food hall - pizza for lunch! Half an hour before the flight, Delta asked for volunteers for re-booking as the flight is overbooked. We missed out though and left Boston at 3.35pm.  Arrived Dallas and headed on to Seattle.  The plane was fully loaded on leaving Dallas and the "hosties" were having a hard time!