Well, I hope it is not an omen for the next three weeks, but it has not stopped raining all day and I am now all the way to the other end of New York State, in fact I am in Canada.  I had planned to spend a little more time in the wine country of the Finger Lakes, but it was dismally gray when I drove the west shore of Lake Seneca.  I did stop at a nice diner on Exchange St. in Geneva, NY and observed a number of Sunday groups that must get together after church for breakfast in this quaint building that houses the L&R Restaurant.  I had a brief chat with with the waitress, took a few shots of the restaurant and the Lake shore area in Geneva before moving on to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.  

I arrived in Canada about 1 PM and was able to check into my Super 8 Hotel (not bad actually) and then went for an extended walk down to the Horseshoe Falls  where you can a great look at the power of the Niagara River with an excellent view of both the Canadian and American Falls.  I shot way too many photos, a couple of selfies, and stretched my legs and my aching "neuropathetic" (a new word, perhaps) feet after the long ride in the car.  After a class of wine at the Keg Bar and Steak House, I wandered back to my hotel, watched some golf and caught a few winks.  I went to a great little Greek restaurant that was just up the street from my hotel and now I have settled in for the night,  I expect to get under way early tomorrow for the next leg of my trip to central Michigan.  

It has hit me right between the eyes why I have not kept a daily blog on past trips.  It is really hard to select the photos and post process them in a speedy fashion for daily posting.  However, I hope to post a few tomorrow morning with this text and I can always add more later.  The other problem I am having is that I took some photos with my iPhone and since I am in Canada for tonight and a bit of tomorrow, I do not have the convenience of Photostreaming to add the photos to my computer.  However, after tomorrow, I will be back in the U.S. and that should not be a problem.  In the meantime, I can just plug my iPhone into my computer to transfer photos.  

I am glad I took this little stop at the Falls.  It has been many years since I have been here and the place has a "Fun City" ambiance to it, including a huge Casino not too far from the Falls.  It was always a commercial venue, but as my bartender at the Keg remarked, it does seem to have the flavor of Atlantic City these days.  Well, the beat goes on.  BTW, my photos of the Falls are hardly original in their composition, but I did try to capture them from various angles.

It is now the next morning.  I have processed and posted the photos below with great haste and intend to pull out of Niagara Falls heading toward Michigan and the southern shores of Lake Huron around 9 AM. 

It is a sunny Friday morning in Danbury, CT and I am sitting at the Mall after a brisk 3 mile walk and a haircut (Appropriate grooming is a requirement for my upcoming excursion).  I have a few more tasks to accomplish including finishing my packing, obtaining money for the trip, getting a car wash, mowing the lawn, and making sure the house is left in some sort of proper condition.   My goal is to post every  one or two days to this blog with samples of photos taken on my daily journeys.  A secondary goal is to consider a summary reflection at the end of the trip to synthesize what I learned from my days on the road and at rest in Madison.  I have found in past travels that it has been difficult to post to the Website frequently during the trip.  It has been easier for me to use the photos that I take along the way to recall the events of a trip with a reflective tone.  I suspect that I wll get a bit reflective with daily, just in time posts; but the narrative will be more descriptive of what I have experienced in the previous 24-48 hours, hopefully with points of interest for you the reader.  I suspect their will be reactions to observations of nature's beauty, but also a bit of the human touch should I find some stories to tell.

I wanted to set the tone for the purpose of why I travel with the following photos documenting a few of the necessities for my travels beyond the simple need for clothes and personal items.  Driving in my 2013 Ford Escape offers me the opportunity to carry my golf clubs, more camera equipment, attach my bike to the back of the car, bring specialized shoes for varied activities, and pay a little less attention to the weight of my luggage. I have the comfort of multiple GPS systems to lead me in new directions, Sirius radio for my entertaintment pleasure, and hands free phone communication.  What more could a guy ask for?  OK, perhaps this is narrow view, but for the time being it provides an incentive to go somewhere new.

My dear friends in Madison have already planned some great get togethers that will highlight the joys of Madison and its surrounding  towns and villages.   Adventure calls and I humbly respond.