Hosting Our Australian Friends - Last Part

Alas, all good things come to an end. Our vacation with Margaret and Murray has ended, and they are now out and about touring the east coast on their own. However, we had a great end to our time together for which I provide the following report.

After visiting our home in Iowa (see prior posting), we spent some time in Wisconsin at our cabin. Although it was quite chilly much of the time, we did get out in the boat for an afternoon of fishing, and the two ladies caught a crappie each. Murray and I were only able to provide assistance. We also invited friends over one evening and enjoyed a full Thanksgiving-style dinner so that M&M could have that experience with us.

The Chicago area was our next destination. Since we had not yet met new grandson Frederick, Betsy and Pete hosted all of us for a dinner upon our arrival. M&M each got to take a turn holding the new babe.

The next morning, we visited the Chicago History Museum, which I recommend to anyone who has not had that experience. Kathie tried out the mockup of a milk can that Harry Houdini used for one of his escape tricks. She got in, but she wasn't sure she could have worked her way out of the top of it had it been the real thing.

Margaret and Kathie enjoyed creating custom postcards of their visit.

Then we walked to the John Hancock Center for a lunch in the restaurant just below its observation deck. Of course, the views of the city and Lake Michigan were terrific.

As we strolled further down Michigan Avenue, we passed the famed water tower structure, visited the Apple Store, and browsed in a few of the shops along the "Magnificent Mile."

If you have never taken the architectural tour of Chicago aboard a boat that travels the Chicago River, we can highly recommend that. The scenes were great, and the information about styles, architects, ages of buildings, and other details was fascinating.

Of course, we had to visit the silver bean in Millennium Park.

Some silliness was required.

Next stop—Cleveland, a good midpoint between Chicago and our final destination, Niagara Falls. We stayed in a B&B called the Stone Gables, a lovely, interesting, restored old home.

Before venturing on the next day, we visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I loved downtown Cleveland and the work they have done to host this facility and a number of other venues and sites along the Lake Erie shore.

Finally, we arrived in Niagara Falls, New York. Throughout our trip, beginning in Montana and right through to New York, the fall colors were extraordinary. This scene is from a part of the upper rapids of the Niagara River as the water nears the falls.

From an observation tower on the U.S. side, I got this panorama of American Falls, the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side, and parts of the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario.

These are the Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side.

American Falls again, with the Horseshoe Falls in the background.

Naturally, we had to do the traditional Maid of the Mist boat tour up the river to the very foot of the Horseshoe Falls.

They give each passenger an inexpensive raincoat. You end up feeling like you are in a rainstorm as you look up through the mist into the thundering falls literally above your heads. 675,000 gallons of water per second (right! per second!) go over the Horseshoe Falls. If you like, click here to see a live web cam shot of the falls.

It was more than a little difficult to say farewell to each other that last day. We spent a terrific three weeks together, logged 6,297 miles on the car, saw some amazing sights, had lots of laughs, ate too much good food, learned much more about each other and our respective countries, taught each other about baseball and cricket (Murray and I watched quite a bit of baseball together), and kept making lists of all the things we will do together in Australia when it is our turn to go visit them.

Kathie and I then headed off to visit Paula and Ron in Ohio before returning home. G'day Mate!