Our RV Adventures

Not a Beaver.

Jan and I headed out about Noon for a client visit. I got a call from a long-time client on Tuesday needing some help with their DSL service and their Netgear modem.

A client for my pre-RVing days, I hadn’t heard from Arlene in several years. But it’s always nice to hear from an old friend. But just about the time we were leaving, I got a call from my main client saying that the Shipping computer in the back had lost its Wifi Internet connection. So I made a detour by the office first.

Normally I just have to unplug the WiFi USB dongle, wait about 10 seconds, and then plug it back in. But not this time. The WiFi drivers seemed to have just disappeared. I even tried plugging in a spare dongle, again with no luck.

So then I pulled out the big guns. I rebooted. And that fixed the problem. So I was off to my scheduled client.

Arlene has phone service / Internet service through Frontier/Verizon. Then a couple of weeks ago everything quit. The repair guy fixed something outside, hooked his test meter up inside, said they had phone service and Internet service, and then left.

And yes, the phones did now work, and by not the Internet. They could connect via WiFi via their Netgear DSL modem, but there was no Internet. But when they called Frontier they were told that the company would not do anything with a non-company modem and they were on their own.

Checking the modem, it had a green DSL light, and a amber Internet light. But the amber should have been green. So I started changing out the DSL cable, the DSL/Phone Line splitter, and even did a full reset on the modem. All with no luck.

So it sure looks like the modem is bad, but the only way to tell would be to swap a new one in its place. But that would mean buying a new one for ~$200. I suggested that they call Frontier and have them bring out a new one.

That way Frontier will be responsible for everything, and let them fix it.

Wrapping that up, Jan and I headed back into Webster, but before that we made a bathroom stop at a new convenience store near Johnson Space Center, called Bucky’s.

No, not Buc-ee’s, but Bucky’s.

I had wondered about the closeness in the names, especially since Buc-ee’s just won a lawsuit against Choke Canyon Travel Center, because they said Choke Canyon Alligator looked too much like Buc-ee’s Beaver.

Not sure I can see the similarity.

But Bucky’s doesn’t have an animal in their logo,

and their Bucky is a dog.

But the place sure looks a lot like a Buc-ee’s, just not quite as big. Yet.

Then it was on over to Floyd’s Cajun Seafood for lunch, with a quick stop at the Webster PO to drop off a package.

And after our usual delicious meal, it was on up to Sam’s for a prescription and then the WalMart next door for a few things before we headed home.

Thought for the Day:

Patience – What you have when there are too many witnesses. 

hhdg

With not much really happening this week, I thought I’d repost another highlight of our 2009 East Coast travels, this time to Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls – For Trudy…

Originally posted on September 24, 2009

Today we drove about 30 miles from our park to visit Niagara Falls.

The title of today’s blog says ‘For Trudy’. Trudy was Jan’s Mother who died in 2007. She always wanted to visit Niagara Falls, but never got the chance.

So Jan said “This visit is for Momâ€.

After following the signs coming into the city of Niagara Falls we ended up on Goat Island, the home of the American side of Niagara Falls.

Goat Island and the Falls make up the Niagara Falls State Park. Established in 1885, it’s the oldest State Park in the United States.

Even before we got to the Island, Jan saw the mist rising from Horseshoe Falls, named because it’s shaped like a big horseshoe, of course.

But before we could see the Falls, Jan had to feed the a squirrel a Kashi bar.

The 2nd squirrel had this deal where he would lay flat on his belly and then slowly crawl toward you begging for food.

Walking over the small and looking down on the Falls was amazing.  BTW Most of these pictures can be seen larger.  Just click the picture. If there is a larger version, it will come up. Click the Back Arrow to get back to the blog.

You can walk right to the edge of the falls and look right out at the water going over.

And then looking straight down thru the spray and the rainbow you can see the Maid of the Mist heading into the base of Horseshoe Falls. Looks like fun!

After spending time at the Horseshoe, we walked over to the other falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.

After stopping to look at the many flower beds, we got in line to tour the Cave of the Winds.

Cave of the Winds is now kind of a misnomer.  The actual cave, named because the sound the wind made blowing off the falls, disappeared when the ceiling collapsed in the 1920’s.

What you have now is an elevator that takes you 180 feet down to the base of the American and Bridal Veil Falls and lets you walk on a wooden walkway thru part of the falls themselves. They give you plastic ponchos and sandals to wear, but they don’t really keep you dry.

You will get wet!

Here’s Jan standing where part of the falls comes over the walkway. Jan said she looks like a banana. I think she looks cute.

This is the Hurricane Deck where you’re actually standing in the Falls. I went up there while stayed kind of dry on a lower level. It’s impossible to get pics up there. My camera’s not that waterproof.

Here’s what the walkway looks like from the Maid of the Mist.

One amazing thing about this is that workers disassemble the walkway every fall and rebuild it every spring, otherwise the winter ice would destroy it.

Here’s what the area looks like in February.

After drying out we rode the trolley over to the Maid of Mist dock. These boat tours have been running since 1846, almost 40 years before the place was even a state park.

The boats take you right into the whirlpool at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls, fighting the current all the way. It’s like being in the middle of a hurricane.

One thing I found interesting on the boat trip was the remains of Nikola Tesla’s Niagara Falls power plant, built in 1896.

This plant was the first to harness water flow to generate electricity, and demonstrated the superiority of Tesla’s AC electrical system over Edison’s DC system. Many people don’t realize we owe our entire electrical to Tesla. But back in the late 1800’s, there was a big legal war going on between Tesla and Edison over whose system was better.

By the early 1900’s Niagara Falls was lighting New York City.

Leaving the Maid we walked out on the observation tower

to a fantastic view of the entire Falls area.

A fitting end to our great day at Niagara Falls.

Walking back to the toad, we saw something I’d never seen before.

Black squirrels.

And they were very aggressive. When I turned and walked away, and then looked back, they were following me, stalking me.

Leaving the Falls area, we drove down to near Buffalo to eat dinner at one of our favorite BBQ restaurants, Famous Dave’s. We always have great leftovers.

Then it was home for the night.

Thought for the Day: 

asdfads