Tom, Betty & Jim are in Michigan. Ray & Teri are with family in Indiana

From Tom, Betty, & Jim: Took QEW to Garden City Pakway. Started raining about 10 and rained all day. Had lunch at "The 50's Diner" off TransCanada 402. It was also attached to a huge flea market. It was extremely windy all day. We crossed the border with 3 other Model A's. We found a hotel in Flint and ate at an old favorite of ours- Halo Burger. Laundry tonight! Today was our niece, Tori's wedding. It was also my birthday. It was the first time is many years that I was with my children for my birthday. It was even longer since I have been with my siblings and parents. It was a very nice day. Tomorrow is a cookout with family at my sister's home in Dowagiac. Then we will meet up Monday with Jim, Tom, & Betty at the Gilmore. The night picture is the view from our hotel room of the St. Joseph River. Basell's is Jim's favorite breakfast place in Niagara Falls. The picture of the three of us is Ray & I with our Granddaughter, Bailey.

Made it to Michigan & Last day for Tom, Betty & Jim at Niagara Falls

Ray & Teri left Toledo about 9AM this morning. Weather was cloudy but no rain. We arrived in Michigan in time to have lunch with our daughter, granddaughter, sister, & niece. It was in St. Joseph, MI at an Amtrack Station. AM Track still has a morning and evening train service there The track is just a few feet from the restaurant. The stone depot picture is in our home town of Niles. We are now in South Bend at a hotel overlooking the St. Joseph River. We attended the rehearsal dinner and met the groom. We also met John's friend, Sage. She is a very nice young woman. The guys worked on Jim's car: changed oil & adjusted brakes. Tom & Jim took Betty shopping. They also went to the Niagara Brewery for their free beer samples and had a snack. Next stop was a picture at the Hershey store. Tonight was dinner at Lucky's at the Casino. Neither Jim nor Tom won the overdrive. Tonight they packed up getting ready to leave tomorrow for Michigan. Yesterday Jim lost his keys to his car. He had to break into it, and get a locksmith. Needless to say, it wasn't cheap but now he has extra keys. He found the original keys later that night. The first three pictures are of the car games. Tom & Betty participated. This is the first time that Ray & I did not but we had to leave a day early.

Travel Day for Besch's; Grand Tour Day for Wingo's & Millers

Ray & I left about 9AM for South Bend, IN. We drove about 330 miles on I 90. I was surprised at how many vineyards there were in western New York, Pennsylvania, & Eastern Ohio. We have the over drive now & were able to go about 55 MPH. It started raining after lunch but it wasn't too bad. We are south of Toledo, OH for the night. I am looking forward to seeing family tomorrow and at our nieces wedding on Saturday. We turned over 88,000 miles today. All but about 25,000 are miles that we have put on the car. The Miller's and Wingo's went to the grand tour at the Niagara Falls meet. We will meet them again on Monday morning in Michigan. They ate lunch at Betty's Restaurant. The grand tour was a BBQ, Canadian style. Jim got a second place award. Kimmie flies home tomorrow. She was fun to have around! I hope that she will go on another tour with us.

Lady A's Tour & Touring Class Judging

The guys & Kimmie left at 7AM for the touring class judging. Tom & Ray ended up on a judging team, engine. Jim was on the interior team. The judging was over about 1:30PM. Then it was time for lunch & ice cream, of course. Jim won't know the results for his car until tomorrow night. Betty & I left about 10AM for the Lady A's Tour. About 40 ladies signed up for the tour but only 10 showed up and we waited 15 minutes past the scheduled time to leave. The tour followed the river to a look out where there was a whirlpool. Back when people were going over Niagara Falls in barrels, if a boat did not pick them up at the falls, they picked them up at the whirlpool. We went a little farther to the Flower Clock which has the face of the clock is made from flowers and the hands are metal. I don't know what the face of the clock is in winter. We went on to lunch at a restaurant at a golf course. There were five cars on the Lady's tour. We went less than 10 miles. When we got back, Betty & I drove in circles trying to get back to the hotel parking garage. we had some good laughs about it though. It was complicated because of one way streets and no left turn signs. Tonight we are going to the strawberry social here at the hotel. Tomorrow morning, Ray & I Will leave for South Bend for a family wedding. Tom, Betty, & Jim will stay in Niagara Falls until the end of the meet. (Kimmie will fly home Friday). We will meet up with them at the Gilmore Museum on Monday morning.

Day 25

This morning Betty & I attended the MARC Fashion Seminar. This was one of the best ones. It was about wedding and engagement traditions. They had several era appropriate wedding gowns. There was the start of a wedding ceremony where the bride, groom, father of the bride and attendants/guests walked down the aisle. It was lovely qnd I have posted some pictures. The guys were busy today helping Jim get his car ready for the touring class judging. I said guys but Kimmie did her part too. She painted the bolts at the end of the bumpers. After lunch, I walked a couple of miles to see Horseshoe Falls up close. It is even more impressive than the American Falls. I felt the spray from the falls as I was walking by. Tonight's dinner was a welcome party hosted by CanMARC. The entertainment was a Canadian family of musicians. They were pretty good.

Niagara on the Lake today.

Today the weather was perfect for a tour. The six of us left at 10AM & drove a scenic route to Niagara on the Lake. We wandered around town for an hour or so and ate lunch at Old Angel Inn, the hotel/bar that is the oldest in Canada. It was built on the foundation of a building that was burned down during the War of 1812. The atmosphere was great. The picture of the sign is from the Old Angel Inn. After lunch, we drove a couple of blocks to Lake Ontario. Teri was able to put her feet into the 5th of the five Great Lakes. She checked off one more thing on her bucket list. The next stop was for ice cream. Our server had a recommendation. We went to Avondale Dairy Bar where they have been making ice cream since 1956. Then it was on to the swap meet. Ray commented that it wasn't very good. The swap meet was in a hockey arena, a long enough distance from the hotels but they had a shuttle bus back to the hotel. Ray, Tom, & Jim went to a seminar given Rich Fallucca, owner of Antique Engine Rebuilders. All three men have Rich's engine. They all learned more about how Rich builds their engine. When Ray & I went to dinner tonight, we saw Elvis. The picture is below. Again, sorry about the sideways view. Today is Tom & Betty's 47th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!!!

Niagara Falls

We arrived in Niagara Falls, Canada a title before noon. Crossing the border was easy. However, finding the parking garage for our hotel wasn't. We circled three times before we found the garage. After we checked in, Kimmie arrived. We ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. it was OK. We walked down by the falls and took pictures. The whole area was crowded with tourists. Jim & Tom & Betty went to an A400 dinner tonight. Ray & I wandered around the area and went to Niagara Brewing Company. A perk from the MARC meet was a free beer sampler there. We went back down to the falls. It was pretty at sunset. The day ended with Jim & Kimmie watching the fireworks from the 13th floor.