Michelle’s friend, Jacob, came over and we went out this afternoon, stopping first at a Chinese buffet in Geneva.  My, oh my, I ate too much!  I usually don’t overeat at buffets, but I kind of ate a bit too much today!  I sat across the table from Michelle, so I kept annoying her by taking pictures.  I was hoping to get just one good one.  She got tired of me and the camera, though….

Ummm…the photo above was taken before we left, obviously! I got the pretty Argyle sweater she’s wearing for her for her birthday.

After we ate, we headed on over to the outlet mall in Waterloo.  We walked and walked and walked some more!  Michelle had said she wanted a pair of fashion boots to wear under slacks, so we looked for those.  As we passed by the Clarks/Bostonian store, I told her she might try looking there.  She was reluctant, thinking it looked too “upscale”. 

Lo and behold, the store had boots just like she wanted.  The problem was,  they didn’t have her size.  She was a little disappointed, but one of the girls there told her they can order them directly and they will be shipped to the house. How cool is that?  No extra charge for shipping, either. Michelle was pretty happy.  I also found a really cute little purse there for a great price.

We looked around a little more,  then decided to start for home.  Mark wanted to see the Sabres/Ottawa Senators game, so we wanted to get home before too late.  We stopped at Wegman’s along the way and I picked up a Friendly’s Reeses Peanut Butter Cake for Michelle’s birthday.  WOW!  What a cake that is!

We got home a bit late, but watched the game as the kids watched a movie in the basement.  All in all, Michelle had a good day, but we can tell she isn’t 100%, as she looked pretty worn out by the time she went to bed. 

So, on this day, I am so thankful for our Michelle.  She has accomplished a great deal in her nineteen years and we a proud of her!  She is a blessing in so many, many ways. 

I am also thankful for the Sabres win over Ottawa!  This game was a real nail biter. The game ended in a 2:2 tie,  so we went itno overtime.  No one scored in overtime, so it was time for a shootout.  The first two Senators got the puck in, as did the first two Sabres.  Then there were three Senators who failed to drive the puck in….same with the Sabres.  Another Senator. Then, the Sabres’ Derek Roy……INTO the NET!!!  Sabres win 3:2!

We had a wheel bearing go on the front right wheel on Saturday. Mark thought about going to a Chevy garage that was open until 6pm on Saturday, but decided he would like to try to do the job himself.  Ben was willing to help out and Mark thought it would be doable.

We hitched up on Sunday morning and went to the Sabres Development Camp. We really enjoyed watching the young prospects drill and then scrimmage on Saturday and Sunday.  We have been attending these camps for a few years now and have seen several players become Buffalo Sabres. 

After the camp, we began our very slow way home.  We would drive about 30 miles or so, then stop to allow the wheel to cool off.  It took hours to get home, but we were so thankful to arrive safely. 

Yesterday, the temperatures soared into the 90′s, making me totally miserable. Mark’s mother had a doctor’s appointment in Rochester at 9:30am, so Mark and I were off early in the morning, once again praying the wheel wouldn’t let loose. We took my mother-in-law to her appointment, then picked up the parts and tools we needed to fix the wheel bearing.  Thankfully, our faithful truck brought us safely home once again.

At this point, I must add that the Explorer is at the Ford garage, getting nearly $1500. in repairs.  I am of the mindset that we should put it up for sale right away and get something with good gas efficiency.  We will see.  The Explorer is a 2002 model and although it has low milage, it is getting old.  We will be doing some driving when Michelle begins RIT, so it would be good to have a sipping versus guzzling vehicle.

Today was another blazing hot day, although tonight, it is beginning to cool to the point that it is getting comfortable. Mark and Ben began working on the hub today, but parts seem quite fused together.  Mark cannot work for long periods of time, so they worked for just a few hours and quit.  Mark is searching for info on how to remove the hub and I just pray he finds a good answer.  With all this vehicle mess,  it would be quite pricey to have two vehicles getting repaired!

Well, enough of that.  I am not going to stress over things that I cannot control!

So, let me tell you about Lewiston!

As we were leaving our campground on Sunday, we realized we were really early, so Mark took the Lewiston exit.  I was happy to poke around, as the last time we were there, it was raining. A lot! 

Lewiston is referred to as “Historic Lewiston”.  It is a beautiful little community with beautiful little shops lining the main street.  Flowers adorn the lamp posts and there is a sense of a very old community. The buildings have a look of antiquity and were it not an early Sunday morning,  I would have gladly slipped inside the shops to have a look….they are quite inviting! Why I didn’t take a photo is beyond me, except for the fact that we were pulling the trailer behind us and together, the truck and trailer are about 50 feet long…makes for some interesting parking!

Mark drove around and stopped in a large parking area….right near one of my favorite statues…the Freedom Crossing Memorial. I blogged about this previously.

Just beyond this memorial was a set of stairs.  Well, curiosity got the better of me, and I hopped off in that direction.  I went down….and down….and down some more!  When I arrived at the bottom,  I was on a driveway/walkway just above the level of the lower Niagara River.  Oh, this was beautiful!

I walked along, meeting up with the Harbor Manager (I know that is the wrong name…I just cannot remember what the title was that was embroidered on his shirt.) What drew me was this…

This is The Black Pearl and cruises are available! I would love to go there and spend the day….the price of a one hour cruise is $35 per person…three hours is $75 per person.  The boat has diesel engines to get it moving up and down the river, but I was told that once it hits the lake,  it becomes full sails, a beautiful replica of a 1600′s ship. Wow, the directions my mind could go with that!!!

I spent considerable time looking around and talking to the Harbor man and another man.  They told me the fishing for Muskies is excellent there.  They said folks who fish there never divulge how big their fish caught were nor where they were fishing.  Hmm….They also said hardly anyone fishes there as they just don’t even know about this.

I suddenly became aware that I had many, many stairs to climb to get back to my family who might just be wondering where I was!  There was no way I was going to race up those stairs and I did notice a little addition off to one side with a bench…I thought perhaps they kindly put it there for folks who felt like they were going to drop from all that stair-climbing!

Since the family didn’t seem to be paying any attention to my winded self, I walked on over to see a restaurant that overlooks the water below.  It is an interesting shape and I just wanted a closer look.

As I snapped a photo of the restaurant menu, (wow! Who ever would have mounted their menu on a story board in front!!! What an awesome idea!) the man who founded the restaurant came over and talked my ear off!

I learned the history of the restaurant as well as how it came into being!  The restaurant was actually a coal silo that held coal for the steamships that used to travel the river.  After steam engines were replaced, the silo sat vacant for years and years.  While relatives from Minnesota were visiting with the man I spoke to,  they observed the silo from the Canadian side of the river.  They commented what a perfect day it was and the man said the only way it could be better was with an ice cream.  The relative pointed to the silo and told the man he should consider turning it into an ice cream parlor. And that is the condensed version.

The silo is leased from the town of Lewiston and the man’s son now operates the business.  He added a patio and outdoor picnic tables along with flowers and pretty landscaping.  ( I was told the view here in the autumn is absolutlely breathtaking…umm….one would NOT have to sway me…I believe it!)

The ice cream parlor (proper) was moved from the silo to an 1860′s Canadian Railway caboose.  The man explained that it took years to convince the town to approve the addition of the caboose.

Oh, by the way…that white house across the river?  It was owned by Tom Selleck at one time.

Wow, I learned so much from listening to this fellow! He was like a walking encyclopedia!  Oh, and by the way…the shape of the restaurant resembles a minaret mosque…the man lived in Istanbul, Turkey, for some 15 years!

I can’t believe I remembered so much of the conversation, but I do want to visit this restaurant.  It was given a high rating by a Buffalo food critic (the fellow chuckled, saying she critiqued the atmosphere, the owner and his wife, the setting…everything, but never once mentioned the FOOD!).  It also was featured on the show Man vs Food.

When Mark looked at the pricing, he was impressed.  He said too bad we were leaving town….this would have been an awesome place to take the kids for lunch!

Okay, so that’s it for Lewiston. (I think I oughta get paid for this! Or, at least get ONE of the vehicles fixed for free!!!)

This afternoon, Mark and I watched the Buffalo Sabres play the Philadelphia Flyers.  In the first period, it looked like Philly was going to run away with the game.  I wasn’t so sure I had the heart to watch the game, but I was sure glad I hung in there!  In the second and third periods, Buffalo really poured it on and wound up winning the game 5:3!

After the game, Mark had a “little problem” to attend to.  Our truck needs to be inspected, but a couple weeks ago, the “check engine” light lit up on the dashboard.  Mark went to Advance Auto and the fellow there diagnosed the problem as an O2 sensor.  Mark went online and discovered changing the sensor was similar to replacing spark plugs.  He read as much as he could and decided it would be worth a try to fix it.

This afternoon, Ben went out with Mark and worked under the truck replaced the faulty sensor.  Sure enough, once the code was cleared on the monitor,  the error code disappeared!  Great job, Ben!  I am glad Mark has that do-it-yourself attitude.  Ben is learning so many new skills and practical knowledge that will certainly help him later in his life!

I spent a couple hours in the garage and got chilled to te bone. When Ben vame in after fixing the O2 sensor, he asked if pizza would be okay for supper.  I gave him a big thumbs-up, as I had not planned anything.  Mark and Ben drove on up to the store and they said the error light never came back on, so hopefully, the problem is resolved!

Tomorrow, our rain is supposed to turn to snow and we are due to get several inches….

As Mark and I were driving along Broadway in Buffalo last Sunday after the Sabres camp,  I had my Nikon camera with me, but we had to move along, as we needed to break camp at the campground.  The sky was a gorgeous blue and the sun was generous.  

I opened the window for this shot…

Opened the window and leaned out for this one….

This church seened like a bit of a sad statement.  It is located in a run down neighborhood as the boarded windows testify.

The church is very beautiful, but looks abandoned; however, the yellow sign in the above photo encourages folks to attend the 10 am mass on Sundays.

There are a few churches located on the route we traveled, but it is hard to capture good shots doing “driveby shootings”!

The following church wasn’t actually visable from the street….must have been another street over,  but I liked the double steeples!

Mark had to stop to adjust the GPS at one point and as we sat in a parking lot just outside of Buffalo, I thought I spotted a small church just beyond a stand of trees.  Mark,, knowing I was curious, drove over and sure enough, there was a small Ukrainian Orthodox Church.  Well, this church won my vote for “photo of the day”!  Just take a look at those awesome golden domes set against the sapphire sky!

I could easily spend weeks in Buffalo shooting photos.  There is so much diversity,  architecture, and points of interest.  Why, there is even some interesting stuff to see while looking up!

The camp started with some hullaballo on Saturday, but we just had so many things on our plate, we didn’t leave until Saturday afternoon.  We packed the little camper and moved on out much later than we had originally anticipated.  I guess it was okay in the long run, though, as hurrying to leave is just too stressful!

When we pulled into the campground, the office was already closed, so we just picked a site and set up.  The most wonderful thing about camping this time of the year is that there are few other campers.  I love it, because during the summer months,  camping can get pretty overwhelming….while I love campfires and such, sometimes the smoke from too many fires is a bit too much! 

We pulled into our site and there were a total of three other campers parked in the same area!  They were far away from us, so you can only imagine how awesome this was…..we felt as though we owned the entire campground! It was so nice.

The kids decided they wanted to study and work on their homework, so on Sunday morning,  Mark and I set out alone to the Sabres camp.  It was nice, as the Scotties were left with the kids.  I think the four of them had some fun together!  And Mark and I felt at ease to enjoy watching the players!

I smiled when the Zamboni came out to resurface the ice.  One of the commentators for the game always calls out when a player gets the puck up over the goalie’s shoulder….he calls such a play “on the top shelf where Mama hides the cookies”!

Well, one of the large supermarket chains located in Buffalo is “Tops” and they had the slogan paineted on the side of the Zamboni, slightly modified!

I won’t bore you with countless photos of hockey, but after the session, Mark wanted to go to a Sam’s Club to find a new GPS, as our previous one (faithful for about four years)  was fritzing out!

Mark used a GPS ap he found on his cell phone and it actually worked nicely, although lagging a bit.  Thankfully, this was on a Sunday afternoon and there wasn’t a great deal of traffic on the roads!

The GPS led us along a section of Buffalo I was unaware of….namely, the Buffalo Irish Heritage District!  What a pleasant surprise!  As we passed the Buffalo Irish Center, we heard Irish dance being done inside.

Here are some photos along the way….not that much to photograph, really, as the Irish district looks pretty similar to other neighborhoods, save for some wee differences….

Oh my….there are times when a photo alone will not suffice. As we drove along the road,  poor Mark began to freak out!  “Katya!  I can’t read these street signs!!!! The font is so weird and I can’t make them out!”

Well, that in and of itself was worth “the price of admission” (so to speak) but I assured Mark everything was oaky…the English translation was located underneath on the “regular” blue street signs!

Buffalo is a city of rich ethnicity.  One of the largest groups has to be Polish, as well as Italian. I’m not sure that either of these groups has a specific neighborhood,  but I certainly enjoyed seeing the Irish influence as we passed along Bothar Abboid. (sorry about the proper “marks” being left out…not that savvy with such devices!)

Mark had to drive his mom to a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, so I went along and was able to pop into the hospital to visit briefly with my Amish friend.  Her baby is growing and seems to be doing well, although progress seems much too slow for her mom.  In pondering the situation,  I imagine it is a rough transition, living at the Ronald McDonald House, but Eunice is so sweet and she is so grateful for all the services provided.

Please pray for another one of my friend’s daughter and her family.  They also gave birth to twins prematurely, at twenty-six weeks.  One twin passed away shortly after birth, but the other seemed like a tiny little fighter.  She passed away early Friday morning, in her mom’s arms.  Such grief is so overwhelming for a young couple, although I know their faith will carry them through.

I had some photos on the phone that I thought I would share.

Wild grapes spotted at the park where Mark, Michelle, and I walk.

Sunrise taken while escorting Miss Michelle to college one beautiful morning.

Last Thursday, after taking Michelle to school, I found one of those rare times when I was all alone and I needed to wait for the bank to open. What an opportunity to walk around the city of Canandaigua a little! I have not done so in ages…

Well,  I have seen Horses on Parade, deer, squirrels, lighthouses, and now, (something seemingly a bit more practical?)  Benches on Parade!

The benches call out to passers-by with various messages from sponsors.

But my favorite implores one to sit down and “strike up a conversation”!

Yes, thought I might throw in a shot of the completed front porch.  I really like the colorful posts and Ben said the red is kind of growing on him, too, although he said he doesn’t like the floor color at all.  Ah well, it can be changed….at some point!  And while I’m at it,  I thought I would give a heads-up to anyone local for Sauder’s in Seneca Falls.

I bought those gorgeous Bachelor’s Buttons….one of my very, very favorites at Sauder’s for $5.49 each.  As you can see, they are more like bushes than flowers.  They also have a rainbow of Mums available.

We headed east on Friday to look at some snowmobiles and to gather information.  Yesterday, we left and headed west toward Buffalo.  The Sabres training camp is open to the public, so we thought we might have a look.

I have more photos from my cameras, but they will be for another time. When I find some time!

Everything secured, we pulled out just as the monsoons rain arrived.  This wasn’t a gentle little spritz, either, but a downpour!  I had a feeling the rain we would get would come in torrents, as the heat we experienced came with intense humidity.  How long could the atmosphere hold all that moisture without spilling over?

The rain continued as we arrived at the arena to watch the Sabres Development Camp.  I sat in the rather chilly rink in my rain-doused skirt and sweatshirt, shivering!  The event for the day was a game and it was fabulous to observe. Mark noted several players he is thinking we will be seeing on the team and for the third year in a row, we were totally awed by Nathan Gerbe.  What he lacks in height, he makes up for in skill and speed!  We are sure he must have turbo-chargers in his skates!

We left the rink and began to head for home, stopping to get food and gas.  The kids were so happy to be going home and I really didn’t mind so much, either, as the temperature was at least 25 or 30 degrees cooler than the previous three days! 

We are home and I am so exhausted. Mark (finally) admitted once we were home that the hot weather really seemed to take a toll on all of us!  Hmmmm……

I won’t even begin to tell what has happened to my usual demeanor.  Okay, so if you truly must know, think “dragon lady”……fire-breathing and all! Yes. I.am.miserable.

Well, the great news (that goes above and beyond just plain old “good”) is that we have been living in our little camper the past few days.  The reason that is good is because the little camper is air conditioned! 

It is that time of the year when we make the annual journey toward Buffalo for Sabres Development Camp.  We get to see all the young Sabres prospects working on the ice.  Even more, this year, we get to enjoy the fantastic cool temperature inside the ice rink!  Believe me, it is fantastic!

If there is any downside to the camp, it is that the workout on ice is only an hour and a half or two.  Now, if we could sit and watch these fellows play for maybe four or five hours….

Yesterday, we took Ben and Michelle to the Fort Niagara State Park where they went swimming in an awesome pool.  There is also a pool dedicated to waterslides, so they could have even more fun in the sun and  it is a short distance from the campground where we are staying. While the kids enjoyed their time splashing in the pool,  Mark and I went for a ride. 

We wound up in Youngstown, which is just “down the street” from the fort.  I took a few photos there, but they look a bit junky as it is so hazy, everything looks blurry and out of focus!

The yachts above are located at the Youngstown Yacht Club, which is located right next to one of the sweetest public launches I’ve seen.

This is a beautiful little park. Amazing and beautiful!

That land on the other side of the water (only a few hundred yards) is Canada! Mark has come to the conclusion that perhaps we need to get the enhance drivers’ licenses so we can travel across the bridges.  We kind of miss going on over to Canada!

Here are just three shots from the Sabres camp. 

And in closing, here is a shot of Sabretooth, the Buffalo Sabres Mascot.  Sabretooth was kind enough to pose just for me!

I hope the weather isn’t so incredibly hot where you are!  And, if it is, please stay cool! I will!

Oh, and as far as Dorothy is concerned, home is NOT where I want to be right now.  The air conditioned trailer is so pleasant.  we get the added bonus of lake breezes, too, as the campground is on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Life has been so crazed here in the Bristolwood lately.  With Mark’s diagnosis and the two of us left wondering what, exactly, he is supposed to be eating,  life has certainly been interesting.  Mark has been faithfully monitoring glucose levels and they have never once been as dreadfully high as when the bloodwork was done.  Hmmm….makes one wonder…..did someone accidentally mix up labwork, giving Mark someone else’s results?  Chances might be slim, but we do know things sometimes get switched!

Tonight, Mark and  I watched a Buffalo Sabres hockey game against the Boston Bruins. It was a good game, but as we watched,  I got terribly annoyed by the woman interviewing players.  She always had one-liner questions and she asked her (brief) question, the player answered, then she immediately switched over to one of the male anchors.  The thing that annoyed me most is the questions she asked.  She asked with no emotion and it just seemed like the questions were much deeper than her understanding of the game.

The icing on the cake was when she began talking about one of our star players….a young rookie named Tyler Myers who stands a mere six feet, eight inches tall!  She made comments about the fact that he was from Texas and it was interesting how he came to play hockey instead of basketball or even football.  She went on to say he had gone to a hockey game and after seeing the game “him and his dad” went to buy equipment so he could play hockey.

Heaven help me…I am certainly not picky when it comes to people speaking correctly, but “him and his dad”?  For Pete’s sake…..someone help this poor damsel….she is in distress and I wonder if she is even aware?  Ah well, perhaps she thinks all hockey fans are  beer-guzzling (well, that seems to be what the commercials aired imply!) mindless fellows who have been conked on the heads one too many times by a stray puck. My advice is that the network send the poor woman to school for a remedial course regarding proper speech (or, stick with the fellows that seem to be good at ad-libbing!

Oh, and while we are at it,  one of the male announcers kept calling our Tim Kennedy “Tyler” Kennedy.  Well, Mark and I decided to just join in, so we renamed everyone on the team “Tyler”.  Somehow, the name doesn’t fit too well with surnames like Hecht or Lydman.

The Sabres won with a score of 3:2.  I am happy!

Sorry, but no photos tonight.  Today was not very “picturesque”.  Clouds and rain aren’t so much fun, after all! And a bit of good news is that Mark receieved a call from the hospital regarding getting together with a nutritionist who will help guide us through what he should be eating!

This was on our property as we headed down the hill today.

Yes, there is ice there, along with water running. It was so pretty!

We took Michelle over to visit early this afternoon and then Mark, Ben, and I went for a nice Saturday afternoon drive in the country.  We decided to take another trip to Sauder’s (the Mennonite “grocery store”)  The store was so stuffed full of people, wecould hardly move!

Along the way, we saw this cool church steeple.

As you can see, the poor steeple is in need of some TLC.  The funny part is that the church below the steeple is in fine shape.  Only the steeple is in need of help!  Perhaps the problem lies in getting someone brave enough to do the work!

A we passed through the little town of Waterloo,  Mark thought I sould take a photo of the hardware store, where the window was full of highly polished bright copper weathervanes.  Of course, curiosity caused me to walk over to the store and check out the price of that big fish weathervane.  It’s price of  $899 was nearly as hefty as the vane itself!

We picked Michelle up again shortly after dinner.  As we drove past the boat launch down in Woodville,  I asked Mark to park in the parking lot for a few minutes.  I wanted to see if there were any redwing Blackbirds hanging out there so the family could hear the funny sounds they make.  Sure enough, there were many birds there. The fellow below kept opening his wings up and making all sorts of sounds!

There weren’t just blackbirds, either.  I spotted a Hairy Woodpecker working on a tree right near the water as well as the little Robin below, hiding amongst the brush. Shortly thereafter, another Robin appeared and I realized they were courting.

We got home shortly before seven, just in time to watch a Sabres game.  Thankfully, they won the game, assuing them a spot in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup this year.  Oh, how wonderful THAT would be……….