Rick’s Rants and Raves

Row 1: Nathan receives Wolf Rank; Nathan fishing at Chautauqua; Patricia, Emily and Lo at Switchfoot

Row 2: Zoo trip with friends; Apples to Apples on a rainy July 4th; Kathy’s birthday

Row 3: On the farm in Ontario; Niagara falls; horseback riding

Row 4: Kathy’s Ridge camp; Gaelic Storm at the Dublin Irish Fest; On the Ferris wheel at the State Fair

Row 5: On the ferris wheel at the State Fair; On Burr Oak Lake; Old Man’s Cave Gorge

Row 6: At The Wilds; Riding the Beast at King’s Island; Ashley’s Wedding.

My family recently visited Niagara falls on the Canadian side. Here are my thoughts, and “lessons learned.”

• The 6+ hour road trip from our home town makes the trip impossible as a day trip.
• The 6+ hour road trip from our home town makes the trip difficult as a half-day trip.
• Cost for adults to ride the People Mover: $7.50CA. Cost for children: $4.50CA. Our total cost for one round trip: $24CA.
• Despite the People Mover, Niagara Falls is not a place for people with disabilities. Maybe someone with an electric wheel chair could get around, but someone who has difficulty walking will not have much fun here.
• Eating lunch at Elements on the Falls incurs a $10CA seat fee. Well, not really, but it sure felt like it.  The entrees were $17-$25 for lunch, and would have been significantly less had they been anywhere else. But, while I didn’t enjoy my food very much, I did enjoy the view. All told, our lunch for 4 adults, and 2 children with no drinks (adults had water, children’s were included) nor desert was $110CA, including tip. As a side note, it is absolutely a shame that the website for Elements doesn’t include a real picture. The view was fabulous, even from our no-thanks-we-don’t-want-to-wait-for-a-window table. There were definitely cheaper places to eat in the immediate vicinity if one were inclined to save the money rather than enjoy the view.
• The Maid of the Mist was well worth the cost of admission: $14.50CA per adult, $8.90CA per child. The 20 minute wait seemed to fly by, but we were there on a Monday. However, practice you ability to say “No” to prepare for departing the boat.  An outside vendor insisted on taking our picture prior to boarding the boat (I didn’t argue with them, though I was tempted). At the end of the ride, you must exit through the gift shop, then be hammered by the photographers’ sales people. We emerged unscathed, fortunately because the boy had to go potty. The photograph they took was a pretty bad overlay of us on a Niagara back ground. The prints: $25CA for two 6″x10″. I much prefer my own shot.
• We paid $20 to park in the Falls Parking lot. We were walking distance (for those easily able to walk) to Table Rock. However, you can park at the Rapids View lot for only $10, and grab a free shuttle to Table Rock.
• We did not Journey Behind the Falls, but the people who did were clearly visible from our Maid of the Mist. I want to do that the next time we go. The price is roughly comparable to Maid of the Mist.

Here are some random thoughts from our annual pilgrimage to the Chautauqua Institution.

• Bicycle topic 1 this week: Emily and Anne had brand new bikes, with aluminum frames, soft seats, and 7 gears. Emily’s is a full adult sized 26″ bike. Oh. My. Garsh.
• Bicycle topic 2 this week: Emily’s bike was “borrowed” for about 20 hours until I found it behind a denominational house. The “borrower” hadn’t even bothered to take off the pink plastic hearts from her spokes. We spent most of our waking hours glancing at every bike that went by to see if it was Emily’s.  I found this habit difficult to break even three days after I found it. We started locking Anne’s and Emily’s bikes afterwards. I also noticed that, other than at “club”, 30-50% of all bikes at Chautauqua are locked.
• Bicycle topic 3: the house bikes look decent, but aren’t that great to ride. While climbing what has become known as “Bennett’s Bloody Bend” (the hill above the sailing center) a gear slipped while I had all my weight on my right foot. I lost my balance and rolled right over the bike, hitting the pavement with my right shoulder and elbow, most knuckles, and right knee. The damage was minor–the pavement was easily repaired. I’ll probably have a scar on a knuckle and knee. And the rear rim of the bike is bent.
• Sailboat lessons are well worth the $60 (a $10 increase from last year) as long as you get a cute, young, friendly instructor. Oh, and as long you can go with someone you love. We had a great time, and did well enough that the instructor let us do almost all the sailing. Our only regret: we didn’t take the camera.
• Drama and disappointment on day one of club does not indicate a bad week ahead.
• Clouds and nastiness 5 miles from Lake Erie does not mean clouds and nastiness on the beach. (Oh, and be sure of the directions to Presque Isle before you leave Chautauqua).
• It seems the Chautauqua Institution is cutting back on bike patrol. Several of us commented on it. There was a report of an attack (or was it an attempted attack?) on a student at a practice room one evening. And then there was the bike incident! And I distinctly saw some kids in Group 2 flash a gang sign–Erie Crips if I’m not mistaken. What has Chautauqua come to?
• Theo introduced me to Hed PE (NSFW) on Friday. Take 2 pounds Limp Bizkit, add 2 cups Korn, salt with plenty of profanity, then grind together with Rage Against the Machine. That is Hed PE. I love it. (sorry, Mom)
• We got to see Switchfoot, where Emily officially fell in love with her first lead singer. And I took the best picture of the week.
• Next year may be the first time we let the kids have their own rooms, especially if Emily invites a friend to go with her (which right now seems like a good idea).
• Next year will be Nathan’s first to go kayaking and sailing at club.

Sailboat rentals: $20/hour for a sunfish, $45/hour for a flying scot
Sailing lessons: $35/hour for one person, $50/hour for two (includes the price of the boat).
Lesson: for only 5 dollars more, I can pay an instructor to take Anne and me on a boat ride. Sweet.

Bocce is not lawn bowling. Theo and I played bocce and were told that we were playing on a bowling lawn and that our bocce balls might damage it. “Lawn bowling is a more sophisticated game.”

$250 for camp for two kids works out to $5/hour for “babysitting”.

Taking pictures of bats is challenging, at best.

A freshly charged set of AA NIMH batteries lasted almost the whole week in the camera, taking about 200 pictures. When the “low battery” indicator comes on for rechargeables, it really means “Change them now!”–3 minutes of video shooting later and they died.

We spent approximately $170 for food for 5 people for the week.

Sunset over Chautauqua is very nice from the Miller Bell tower pier.

Very few people at Chautauqua have ever heard of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I did my best to evangelize.

Alcohol is now being sold at a couple of the resaurants on the grounds. However, there is no bar service.

Chipmunks are cute.

Purple martins will noisily attack a hawk. And chase it away. And dive-bomb it.

Our kids are now old enough to go to the playground unattended.

The house we are staying in has adult bikes we can borrow any time. We don’t need to take our own, just the kids’.

Communication is the key to a successful marriage.