Hi Gang,

  This is the narrative for the summer trip back east after we stopped in Michigan and after Ted continued on his journey. Check in when you can to see what we are up to.

Tuesday, July 13.
hi all diana and tom are back on the road from a nice and relaxing week in south haven mi.
tom went deep sea fishing and was lucky to catch the only king salmon.
he tasted very good.
we didn,t quite make it to niagra falls in 1 day
we had to stop in london ,canada.
we are about 2 1/2 hrs from the falls.
we sure miss ted and his help
ted is a very patient and very helpful
his suggestions on packing sure have come in very handy
things have to fit in that trailer just so
diana is excited with the idea of going under falls.
i am bring my movie cam with me to get this.
speaking of pics i will try and down load some.well its getting late
we had a late start this morning.
we planned to leave at 7;30 but it was 9;30 when we started.
we chased the rain clouds, but we were lucky and didn't get wet.
nite all

Wednesday, July 14.
hi all we made it to niagra falls yesterday.yippy
the candian side was was too busy and had a tremendus amout of amusement things and restaurants.
the parking was very bad and the cost was $10.00
but u were way out in the bunnies.
so we went to the american side and the atmosphere was a lot better.
parking was the same cost.
but u were just a few steps to the state information center.
we decided to go for the 6 trip pass.
the trolly was then free all day.
first thing on the list was to take a boat ride called mist of the falls. they gave us plastic ponchos.
we got really close to the falls
i took some movies and i hope they turn out.
the boat went over to the canadian falls too.
all this is on the movie cam
back to the boat launch and up to the elevata which took us up 200 ft.
the next thing was a movie in the theather. it was very good and very relaxing.
don't forget before arriving at niagra we rode 200 miles to get to niagra.
so sitting thru the movie was very relaxing.
after the movie we waited about 10 mins and the trolly came along and wisked us to the next adventure.
this next adventure was the reason i brought diana to niagra fall.
its called the cave of the winds.
first they gave us a pair of rubber san dles and a poncho and a plastic bag.
we took off our shoes and socks and put on the rubber saddles and put the poncho on and put our shoes and socks in the plastic bag.
moving to the elevator which took us down 175 ft.
off to the adventure.
walking was the mode of traffic.
first stop we stopped and looked up and said omg
i took pics of this and a movie
i asked diana if she was up to this, she said if i am then she is too.
up the 1st flight of stairs wasn't too bad.
the 2 nd flight was ok, but the 3rd flight water from the falls was washing over the landing and the wind carried the water from the falls towards us.
up to the next landing was the top.
we made it and was being blown away with wind and water.
we were soaked
so much for the ponchos. hahah
i asked diana if she was ok she said yes, i said this was just like home in one of our storms she laughed and said no way.
so we made the treck down to the next landing.bty these landing and steps were all wood and moss was growing on them
kind of slippery
i tried to take a move shot i hope it turns out with water on the lens.
we made it to the next landing and was out of the wind and water.
it was very exciting.
we skipped the other things,aquamiam,hands on things and a rock wall to climb.
we hopped on the trolly again and back to where we started this adventure.
it was a lot of fun
we finally left niagra and hit the rode to find a motel.
we finally found one and fell into the bed and woke up 6;30 am and packed up.
wed 7/14/10 we spent most of today on the rode esp i 90
toll rode. cost us 18 dollars and we r just out of ammsterdam ny.
it was very hot today so we quit at 3 pm.
more tomorrow nite

Sunday, July 18.
hi all here is the update of our trip
on wed we got up early and hit the road early and drove across the state of new york
we made it to niagra falls and spent a wonderful day there.
evening getting soaked a few times. took a boat ride , went very close to the falls.
after that up the elevator and trolly car ride to wisping caves
here we got very soaked
have pics to prove it to.
on thurs we got back on the highway and stopped into too our old friends guy and margurite mayers.
in chapqua ny
guy made us lunch and a terrfic dinner.
it was great talking about all of our friends.
some have passed away which was sad news for us to hear about.
i got the phone number of one of our oldest friends roger.
i called him and he was stunned to hear our voices and thought we r nuts for doing this trip and the way we r doing it.
BUT WE MADE IT TO NEW YORK
on fri we arrived in queens ny and stopped in to see my brother in law in flushing then off to glen cove where my older sistet lives.
she cleaned out her garage for my trailer and trike to fit in. we even had extra room to spare.
on sat we went to a double graduation jessica and tommy my great cousins. very good time seeing a lot a family in one place.
today sun is a day of rest i think hahahahha
we think we will be staying with my sister for awhile.
rest and recoup before we head south to south carolina.
one thing i do have to say about this trip so far.
that is my trike has hit every pot hole there is between wa and ny. ouch ouch on our rear ends.
adious for now tom and diana
i proimse to have some pics the next time i log on bye all

Sunday, August 22.
hi all just a few words to catch up on our trip
we spent a month with my sister in glen cove long island.
she kept me busy doing small jobs like installing a dusk to dawn light over the garage door.
rebuiuld the guts to a water cloesth( toilet)
had lots of family to see.
i even got to drive my uncle's 2008 cadilac
cool ride
we got on the road sun 8\22\10
as we got into delaware my trailer decided to pass me
lucky i was not going too fast
i remembered what bob said about crossing the safty chains
the ball broke
i was able to get off the road with no accidents.
i called aaa and thats when the fun begins
1 they could not locate me
2 they wanted to know how big my trailer was.
3 they still couldn't locate me
4 i gave them my gps cordinates
5 again they wanted to know where i was
6 i gave them the cordinates again
7 the tow truck driver calls me and asked which side of the bridge i was on
8 finally the driver shows up with a tow truck
9 he gets the trailer on the truck and off we go to a motel
10 i tie the trailer up to a tree
11 today i get up early and drive about 10 miles down the road to find a auto parts store
12 they lent me the tools i needed to install the ball
13 back to motel and hook up to the trailer and off we go to wash d.c.
traffic in wash dc is something else
we will be here for a few days and use public transportation
14 to get on the internet in the sheraton hotel it costs 10.95
15 a burbon and 7 is $8.00
16 a simple hamburger is $11
no wonder why we have to pay our reps and senators so much
tomorrow we r off to see the sights
more to come in a day or so

Tuesday, September 7.
hi folks
been a long time in writeing this update but here goes.
we spent a few days at the outer islands.
it was very nice to see the wild horses and how they roam freely.
it was driving on the beach but a few people didn't pay attention to the
rules that were posted before driving on the beach.
we found at least 4 vechiles buried in the sand sand all the way up over the wheels.
the cost to tow these people would be close to a $1000.00
0r wait till the tide comes in and just swallows the car.
the houses built on the sand r built on stilts
some r 15 to 18 ft up
people have learned from past epersodes.
after leaving the beach and back to the motel to cool down but we turned on
the news and heard about hurricane earl
we decided to leave the next morning
we had resvations on the ferry at 3;30pm
we called them and guess what the ferrydidn't run in this kind of weather.
so we had to drive 220 miles out of our way
good thing we left when we did
the next morning the police gave out all evacuation order to leave all of the islands.
we were on our way to charleston s.c.
we contacted my cousin who lives there.we stayed there over labor day weekend
he took us to a fund raiser, all the wine and beer u could drink
plus quite a spread of food and a lot of seafood.
this morning tues we left the island and got on our trike and headed for columbia s.c.
tomorrow we will make it to our friend and past co worker, frank woods in alabama.
will let u know how this turns out nite to all drive safely.
tom and diana

Sunday, September 12.
hi all
well we reached kay and frank woods house on wed and had a great visit for a few days in cullman alabama
we really aprreciate their hospitally.
we left there on fri am and arrived in nashville that afternoon. we got tickets to see the live radio show
lots of older performers but still great singing and picking of guiters and banjos.
on sat we toured the country hall of fame.
we spent 4 1/2 hrs there
when we were ready to leave a great big down pour of rain was coming down and thundering too.
before i forget it parking was a mess in down town but in front of 1 of the bars there were plenty of bikes.
we parked the trike with them and found out the bar paid for all the parking if you were riding a motorcyle.
a savings of $15
we knew our seats were going to be soaked after that cloud burst of rain so we just stayed put at the coutry hall of fame
after the rain stopped we started walking and stopped at the bridgestone arena. we got tickets to
see lee ann womack, reba and george straight . what a terrific show each of these performers did
bty ronnie dunne stopped by and sand a song with reba
the show started at 7 pm sharp
we left there at 11;45 pm
the streets walking back to the trick was something else
we had to walk in the actual street to walk each bar was so jammed and blarring of music coming out.
i thought ny was bad but this tops ny
this morning we r on our way to memphis tenn.
will fill u in later.
live from the computer of the leprechaunand diana
later folks

Friday, September 17.
today was a very trying day
we planned to drive to dallas tx
well that was not to be
dead battery to start with
called rescue plus and the took 45 mins to get to the motel
the only place listed in the phone book was a yamaha dealership
they had the heavy duty battery for the trike
i gave them the cc and he was going to start charging it for me
this place 33 miles down the road
so off we went riding in the tow truck cab and trailer and trike behind us
we got there and they installed the new battery
after installation the amp gauge showed only 12 amps
should be 13.5 to 14
discussion with mechanics result was alternator maybe the cause
we called around and found one 100 miles away
this was the fastest 100 miles i have ever driven
i arrived at 4 ;15 pm
talked to service dept and they said sure we can do it
so by 6 pm the trike was running again and washed.
amp guage was showing 13 at idle speed
i hate to tell u how much the bill for all this was
when i call u i will tell u
so tomorrow we r off to texas
its been a long trying day
but we r safe and ready to get going again
nite nite tom and diana

Wednesday, September 22.
hi all
just a few lines to catch up on.
we left houston tx yesterday morning after spending a wonderful time with an old friend of 40 yrs.
even though we had not seen each other in all those yrs it was great talking to kathleen prion again
she took us out for lunch which was great.
the trip from houston to san antonio took us about 4 hrs. people said it only takes 2.
i wonder how fast they were going
let me back track a little
on our way to san antonio diana wanted to take a side trip to clark arboritom
well we thought this isn't too far
well 200 miles later we finally got there
what a beautiful place
one thing that made the trip worth while was a huge train lay out
the layout had 5 different trains running, inside to outside of the building.
also inside the building there was a train running about 7 ft off the ground running the perimeter of the room.
i have some great movie shots of all the trains running inside to outside.
the flowers in this place were fantastic
all colors and islands surrounded by water and ducks and other animals
we spent close to 4 hrs there great shots
then back on the road we didn;t mind the extra 200 miles this time
we finally arrived in houston at 10;30 that nite.
first time driving at nite on this trip
back to san antonio
after resting for a few hrs after our arrival we decided to go to the river walk and had dinner.
very pretty and restauraunts galor.
we will be going back today and to the alomo too
catch u laters tom and diana

Thursday, September 23.
hi all
we walked the river walk in houston,took the water ride. the river walk is just a a bunch of restaurants
very nice prices were not too bad
today thursday we headed to fort stockton
as we drove into town the heavens opened up with heavy rain and lightning
we drove into the 1st motel we could find.
the rain storm lasted about 1 1/2 hrs
good thing we got the cover on the trike.
tomorrow we r headed to carlsbad,n m
going to see the cavens
will update tomorow. oh forgot something tx is a VERY LARGE state and very windy. the wind almost blew us off the road.
no wonder y they have so many electric windmills going
have fun everyone from the leprechaun and diana

Saturday, September 25.
hi all
carlsbad cavens were terific
have lots of pics to share
leaving carlsbad we stayed in roswell
before leaving there we took in a ufo museam
pretty interesting stuff
the ride from rosewell to santa fe was very boring. flat could see for miles.
saw a few deer and lots of trains going by each way.
we arrived in santa fe late in afternoon
we had some house hold chores to do
we had a very late dinner at applebeys
diana has a big day planned for tomorrow
will fill u in tomorrow nite all
tom the leprechaun and diana

see ya later..
  Tom & Diana