Ok, so I’m sure that headline caught your attention…give me a few paragraphs, I’ll get there.

First, let me start with yesterday…it was very uneventful except when I nearly lost my pillow out my car window on I-90. It was so windy and, of course, I had all 5 windows open so all that wind caught my pillow and almost carried it right out the window…a very traumatic sight for me. I love my pillows. I slammed on the brakes, threw on my directional (which I’m sure the trucker behind me was thankful for) and pulled over with my hand in the backseat holding down my pillow. A sight to see I’m sure. LOL!

So, today…I’m doing my sight-seeing around Cleveland. I park my car in the reserved handicap places in front of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, my hip has been bothering me…don’t judge me. I put quarters in the meter, after almost forgetting, and head inside. It was cool but not nearly worth the $22 I paid. I’m heading to my car and I see something on my windshield…a parking ticket. WTF?!?! Apparently, I was taking up two spaces. In my defense there are no lines designating parking spots, but in the city’s defense I probably could’ve pulled up a little farther (can you tell I’m a Libra). Then I went to lunch with a college friend I hadn’t seen in…well it doesn’t matter how long. It was a wonderful lunch!! I had a great time & I’m sooooo glad he got in  touch me. I’m so hoping that I get to see some more friends. It’s so great to see people you haven’t seen in years. <3

After lunch, I continue heading west. Lorain, Vermilion, and Cedar Point lighthouses, a winery (yup, there was a purchase ), Marblehead lighthouse, and the drive-thru zoo. This is where the trauma begins.

When I was little, I think 2 is how the story goes, I was at Marineland in Canada, with the parentals, of course, when some deer at a petting zoo started “attacking” me in my stroller looking for food. I don’t remember this but I hear it was pretty traumatic for me and the parentals. Now, when I was about 12 I went on one of those camel rides they offer had at some amusement park we were at. I was kinda scared so I asked if camels ever reared like horses. The woman assured me they don’t…it did and ripped off my thumbnail! So I now hate camels, llamas and alpacas (they’re all in the same family so I hate them all the same).

I love drive-thru zoos…I think they are THE coolest things EVER!! I went to one in Mooresville, NC last year and my car was attacked by llamas looking for food. I nearly had a panic attack in the car I was so freaked out, thank God there was no one with me because they would’ve pee’d themselves laughing at me, an occurrance I have gotten used to over the years. So I’m driving thru this drive-thru zoo with my free cup of food and I stick it out the window to feed the reindeer that came to my window. I’m ok with this until it starts grabbing the cup and pulling it. I bring it back in the car and the damn thing sticks it’s head in the car to go after it. Kinda freaked now, but holding myself together. His buddy was on the other side of the car trying to get food from my invisible passenger. I start pulling away from them and the damn deer on the passenger side of my car is running alongside my car. A little more freaked out, even though it is kinda cute. I see an alpaca coming at me and immediately roll up the windows and start yelling at it that it can’t have my food and I hate it…like it can hear me or even understand what I’m saying. Yeah, I’m completely aware I have some issues. The alpacas finally walk away so I can feed the cute white-tailed deer. At first, there were just a couple then all of a sudden there were like 20 deer swarming my food cup and I completely freaked out, dumped the cup on the ground, said, “Here! Have it all! Get away from me! AAAHHH!”, then I rolled up the windows and whined. Again, I’m well aware I have some issues and I’m soooo thankful no one was with me, they would’ve been crying from laughing so hard at my personal peril, yeah, I’m used to that, too. After I get away from the majority of the attack deer and the stalker alpacas I see a buffalo coming towards me. I think, “Oh cool, a Buffalo is coming toward me. Awesome, it’s coming next to the car… picture opportunity! THERE’S A BUFFALO IN MY CAR!! Yeah, he stuck his head in my car window. The rest of the drive was, thankfully, uneventful. I got to my hotel, found somewhere to eat and am now ready for bed.

Much love…

Alright, well I’m not the world’s worst sister but I feel like a shit. I’ll get to that in a minute but first let me tell you about the FABULOUS day I had!!

I was worried when I got up because it had rained overnight and it was kinda gloomy and chilly. That changed quickly! The closer I got to Niagara Falls the nicer it got, thankfully. I decided, on the way there, I was going to have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. So, I find a place to park and prepare for my first meal, on this trip, where I answer the question, “How many?” with “Just me.” and watch the host’s/hostess’ face. I wish I had asked the manager his name. He was a doll!! When I answered with “Just me.” he asked if I wanted a table or to sit at the bar….God love him. I think he knows me!! LOL!! And then lemme just tell you about my bartender, John! Tall, bald, facial hair, tattoos…and made me a FAB chocolate martini…ok, ok he made me two (he got a good tip ). I did scold him for calling Ma’am but that’s such small potatoes. After a VERY relaxing lunch, that included all the servers singing and dancing to YMCA, I headed to the Cave of the Winds. All the times I’ve been to Niagara Falls I’ve never done the Cave of the Winds. What a perfect day to do it! And boy, did I get soaked!! I walked all the way up to the Hurricane Deck and thought I was gonna lose my contacts with all the water coming at my face and the wind. I loved it!

Now is where we get into the world’s worst sister part of the day. After Niagara Falls I headed to Buffalo, where my brother lives. I asked him earlier if he was able to go to dinner with me tonight. He said he had to work late, he has band practice and he has to learn the songs of another band he’s touring with next month and it’s just a bad day. I said, ok. He said he was going to call me when he got done with work. I was thinking he meant because we couldn’t go out to dinner. Well, I continue on with my day. I go to the Buffalo Naval Park and TRY to go see a couple of lighthouses. This is where my day gets interesting and where I will say to you…the GPS is correct, it is not stupid. I got lost in BUffalo in the warehouse district AND down by the old Bethlehem Steel yard. I will never doubt Mr. Herbert again (he’s the voice on my Tom-Tom)!!! After all this, it’s now 5 o’clock and, since I’m under the assumption that I can’t have dinner with Stephen, I continue heading west. I get to Dunkirk, only an hour away, and I decide to stop because there’s some wineries in the area I want to see and it’s too late tonight, and I’m getting kinda hungry. So, I’m pulled over by the side of the road booking a hotel online when Stephen calls. HE asks where I am, I tell him and he says, “That’s past Buffalo. So, I guess you don’t want to have dinner with me?” And I thought I was the master guilt-tripper in my family?! So, I feel like a shit because he made time to have dinner with me and he feels like a shit because he didn’t have a lot of time to spend with me. He said I was silly. I said I was a bad sister. He said, no but it is funny. Lol…I love my brother.

So, now it’s the end of my day. I am, as I type, enjoying dinner from Applebee’s and a very yummy bottle of Fat Frog Red wine from the Montezuma Winery.  Na zdrowie!!

Much love…