This morning we woke up at a reasonable time, it was so hot in our RV last night. We were boondocking at the cottage and unable to run the AC without running the generator, so we ran it to cool it down before bed and then shut it off and used fans overnight. The first night wasn’t bad, but last night was awfully hot. Initially we planned to get up and out, but we intentionally built some flexibility into this trip and Trista really wanted to go fishing with Uncle Andrew. So, we decided to stay long enough for that to happen. While John and I packed up, Trista, Levi, Uncle Matt and Uncle Andrew went down to the river to do some fishing. They didn’t catch anything, but Trista did a great job of casting and both kids really love spending time with their uncles and it gave me a few more cuddles from my #1 nephew! So far, we have spent 2 days driving and 1.5 days at the river. You would not believe the amount of laundry we have generated! Good thing the place we are staying tonight has laundry facilities!
Everett and Aunt Tonya selfie! 
Cousins 
Uncle John can make me fly! WHEEEE!
We finally got on the road and when we got back into a town with an LTE signal, we were delighted to have a video message from Mrs. Mary! It was so nice to see her smiling face and I appreciate her reminder to Levi and Trista to behave for mom and dad! My kids listen to Mrs. Mary!
Journeying on, we went through some pretty small back roads through Pennsylvania and finally hit a proper highway just before crossing into New York. It sure looked to us like we were seeing ocean on the horizon, but knew we weren’t near an ocean. We figured at first that it must just be some dark clouds, but as we kept seeing it, we finally realized that we were very close to Lake Erie!
John figured that gas would be cheaper in PA than in NY, so he pulled into a station before the state line. We pulled in and a man in a safety vest walked up to the window and said, “Cash or Credit?”
John handed him our card and he proceeded to pump our gas and wash our windshield. I remember as a teenager going to Oregon where they had attendants to pump gas. Needless to say, we were surprised.
We had our camera ready for the New York sign and it didn’t come and didn’t come and we finally decided, well, New Yorkers aren’t very welcoming, so this really isn’t surprising, and then we saw it! It is worth noting here that we knew we were in New York for a while. The first signs that we saw told us that portable hand-held devices can not be used by drivers per state law. Then, we encountered the ‘Welcome to New York’ sign which encourages you to visit ILoveNY.com and to download their app. As we continued, we came across Text Stops, sort of like rest areas, but for pulling over to text. Later, as we were crossing a bridge that had a toll, there were signs advising you to call **826 if you didn’t have a fast pass for the toll. So, as John was driving, I went ahead and called to see what we needed to do. It took me to a pre-recorded message that.. wait for it… texted me and told me to follow the link in the text. Dear NY – I think I found some kinks in your safety chain. If you need a travel safety professional to review your safety campaign, call me!
After we crossed into New York, we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a couple of things. I grabbed a bottle of Coke for John and as I was checking out, the checker said to me, “You want me to keep the pop out?”
“Excuse me?… Oh! Right. Yes, that would be great.”
I had forgotten we were in a foreign land that uses different words for ‘Coke’.
Next stop… Niagara Falls! An item that has been on my bucket list my WHOLE life!!! I. Can’t. Wait.