Parrottrek Journal 2009

The team rebuilds the car

A shot of the car from inside the tow vehicle

A few last minute tweaks

Staged at the starting line

June 28th - The Final Round of Racing - Norwalk, Ohio -
It's been a hot one! Not only the car, but the weekend as well. But then I guess we were due for some heat considering that it is Summer and up until this point the weather, aside from far too much rain, has been very pleasant at the previous races. We did have quite a torrential downpour this morning, right as the opening round was about to begin but after a half hour of drenching rain and an hour or so of track drying, the show got back on the road, or more accurately, back down the track and was fairly seamless the rest of the day. The hard working Bud team had a pretty darn good day. We went to the final round, and even though the other team got the Wally, we received our fair share of points and are in the heat, no pun intended, of the battle of The Countdown to The Champion. I was lucky enough to escape a little heat and ride up to the starting line in the air-conditioned tow vehicle, which, as the title infers, is the vehicle that physically tows the race car from the pit area, where the team rebuilds and works on it, to the starting line. Considering the average speed of a dragster is around 250mph, it's not a good idea to drive it to the starting line on it's own, especially since you might be forced to plow through the crowds of spectators, and wiping out racing fans is not something we condone. :-)

The world's largest fresh water whirlpool

Class 6 rapids leading into the whirlpool

A close-up of the whirlpool

The whirlpool's vortex

June 22 - Niagara Falls, New York -
Let me just start by saying WOW! The views we saw today are some of the most stunning we have seen to date. We arrived in town last night and hit the Visitor's Center today to see just how to plan our day, since there is soooo much to do here. We decided on a bus tour of the city that left the driving and navigating to someone else. The tour started out at the Whirlpool State Park where we viewed the world's largest fresh water whirlpool and a river of class 6 rapids from the mountain side above. Next, we climbed to the top of Prospect Observation Point to take in some more views, followed by a trip on the infamous Maid of the Mist boat that takes you under, around and beside the falls

American and Bridal Veil Falls from the observation tower

Horseshoe Falls and The Maid of the Mist heading into it

A self portrait of us and all three falls

Goat Island that sits between two falls

Teeny tiny people below

Rainbow Bridge

On the boat wearing our oh so sexy oversized raincoats

A neighbor boat passes Horseshoe Falls

Getting soaked from the spray of the falls

A view of American Falls from the water

Atop Prospect Observation Point we could see all the falls, views of Canada and got a sense of just how enormous the falls are by comparing them to the very tiny people walking below. Once we boarded the boat the views got even better. Seeing these monstrosities from below was amazing and a bit wet. They do supply you with the obligatory free touristy raincoat, but these turn out to be fairly useless since the power of the wind turns your raincoat into Marilyn Monroe's skirt and once the boat gets close to the falls, the wind is now mixed with enough water the dampen everything whether it's covered by the raincoat or not. However, since it was a beautiful 80 degree day the water was refreshing and we dried quite quickly.

The observation tower and falls

Rocky shoreline below Horseshoe

Into the waterfall we go

A little closer... ...

... by now we are a wee bit wet

Frank stops to pose in front of Canada

Soaked again! And no, Frank's nose isn't that big, it's just a water drop on the camera lens

Our playground for the afternoon

So many staircases, so much time

I had to laugh at the no smoking sign. Not too sure a cigarette would stay lit for long up here.

Cave of the Winds - Laughing All the Way -
Imagine the mixture between a beautiful sunny day and 2500 lbs of rushing water tumbling all around you. Surrounding the flowing waters are beautiful plants, flowers and bushes so green, you can't believe the colors are real. This afternoon's adventure was a blast! We walked up and down all the different staircases that led to different platforms,including the very top called Hurricane Deck. Here, we physically stood underneath the waterfall and let it soak us while laughing hysterically. We also brought along a disposable waterproof camera so the good one didn't get demolished by the water, which are just below.

The views below us

The views above

However, it's a good thing they did have us all wear bright yellow raincoats, since there were times the visibility was quite low due to the amount of water in front of us and they served their purpose by keeping our backpacks dry and the free shoes they give you, to help you stick to the stairs and not fall below deck, are really comfy and will make great lake shoes for future outings and will make us laugh each time we see them.

Frank reaching into the waterfall

Another sexy outfit provided for us

A self portrait under the raging fall

Frank, are you in there???

Driving through Customs and into Canada

At the water before the falls

Such an amazing view

Where we were earlier today

Parrottrek Goes International - Ontario, Canada -
Yaaahooo! After today's tour of Niagara's U.S. side, and hearing that the views are even better on the Canadian side, we grabbed our passports, jumped into the Jeep and headed out to see if this was true. And boy was it ever! Going through Customs was quite easy and once we found our way to the backside of Horseshoe Falls, we caught a glimpse of an enormous rainbow. The closer and closer we got, the brighter and longer it got. We stood at the top of the walkway for a long time just taking it all in and then found a restaurant overlooking the falls and stared at them and the rainbow that much longer. After dinner we walked another mile or so along the tree lined walkway and strolled through the downtown touristy areas and got some cookies and cream soft serve ice cream. Yum! As we walked back to the car, we stopped off at each alcove to shoot another angle of the falls and said goodbye to our neighbors of the North and back to our own country. Today was another fabulous day living outside the box of average life.

Table Rock restaurant, where we dinned

Frank poses with Nikola Tesla

Below Rainbow Bridge

The walkway along the falls and river

The view from the restaurant

The ruins of Honeymoon Bridge

America across the river

We were sad to find it closed for the day

June 20th - Creative Corn-hole - Gilmanton, New Hampshire -
Hooray! The sun is finally out again. Considering that we have had two straight days of rain, we are more than excited that today's very nice and sunny weather was reason to celebrate. Well, that and the fact that it's Gary's birthday, so the guys started out the festivities with a Corn-hole face off. What started out as a serious game, with a bit of a competitive edge, soon turned into a comical competition to see who could not only score more points, but have the most creative throw in order to score those points. These moves included the "Kareem overhand shot" which looked quite impressive coming from Matt who stands 6' 5" flat footed. The 'off the foot toss' which Dave actually scored the most points with and Frank's 'under the leg throw' that had all of us laughing. After the game of Cornell ended, Dave bar-b-qued all sorts of exotic meats and once dinner was done, we played the now word renowned, fabulous game that Frank and Suzy have introduced to all our cross country friends, game of Wizard

The brave patient on the operating table

Scott, the master guitar surgeon

Frank outside the shop with the new set-up

All set up and ready to play on the porch

July 17th - Frank's Guitar Gets a New Sound System - Ashland, New Hampshire -
Over the last few months, Frank has wanted to put a pick-up in his acoustical guitar. This would allow him to plug into an amp, or other sound system, when he so chooses, and have the sound of his music carry that much further. We have been doing a bit of research and talking to a few guitar shops to see what the best type for his guitar would be. Being a little nervous of having a total stranger drill two holes into his pride and joy, we decided to wait until the right, knowledgeable, experienced person came along.

Cody enjoying the music across the yard

Bradley sings along with the music

Well, lucky lucky us! We found just the man at a little guitar shop just a few miles away from our current home which is Gilmanton New Hampshire where we will spend the rest of the weekend with friends. We spent this morning at the Vintage Fret Shop, watching the very successful operation on Frank's Collings guitar. To top it all off, they also had the exact amp that Frank has wanted to make the sound system complete, so now he is all set to start his traveling guitar business 'A Man, His Bird and a Guitar' Call now to book your event. :-)

Our seats outside the suite

The view of the game

Inside the party room

Frank and I with the mascot

June 16th - The Other Side of Hospitality - Manchester, New Hampshire -
Frank and I weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves this evening. Usually we are the ones that are the hospitality hosts, running around making sure everyone is having fun, keeping the buffet line full of food, the coolers stocked, making sure the tables are clean and no party crashers enter the VIP area. This evening our friends Gary and Kathy, whom we are visiting here in New Hampshire, invited us to be guests of the Coca-Cola suite at a Double A League baseball game and see what it's like to be the entertainees, along with themselves and a few other friends, instead of the entertainers. This evening's event couldn't have come at a better time since over the last month or so we have been trying to get to a baseball game, which up until this evening was something we hadn't yet done. When we were in Chicago the Cubs were out of town and while we were in New York we busied ourselves with other things and never got out to either stadium. Even though the Fisher Cats didn't win, we had a great time and got our baseball fix.

Frank and Cody feeding the geese breakfast

Driving through the Lincoln Tunnel

Times Square

The Naked Guitar Cowboy

June 15th - Under the Ocean and Through a Tunnel, to New York City We Go -
Taking our lives into our own hands, we decided to forego public transportation and drive ourselves into New York City. We drove into Manhattan, parked on 42nd street, had lunch on Broadway, which consisted of New York style pizza of course and then walked to the Empire State Building, where we took the elevator to the 86th floor and enjoyed the views from all directions since it was a sunny and fairly clear day. After our walk through the bustling city, we continued our adventures of driving... ...

The Empire State Building from inside the city

Walking along 42nd Street

Atop the Empire State building

A view of the Statue of Liberty

Central Park

and took the Long Island Expressway, which should really be called the Long Island parking lot that travels about 20 miles an hour, up into Long Island Sound and visited Holly, a friend of mine since the beginning of time, her husband Jon and little Anna, who will make her grand entrance into the world in about 2 months, for dinner and a tour of beautiful Port Washington. Aside from a little bit of traffic and some insanely priced tolls to drive through the tunnels and over the various bridges, driving in The Big Apple wasn't half as bad, or scary, as we expected and are more than willing to do it again in the future.