15 Miles on the Erie Canal

We recently returned from a trip with the Bruening's to the Eastern United States (and across the river to Canada).  It was awesome.  Here are some funny highlights:

The trip began on our anniversary, so Scott and I spent our special day eating at McDonald's and sitting on an airplane.  And, just when you thought it couldn't get any more romantic, we spent the night in Ohio in a room with my little sisters who declared this anniversary "the best ever." 

Canada attempted to rip us off at every turn.  Don't be deceived when they tell you they accept American money because they'll give you change back in Canadian dollars.  This happened to me right before we headed home, so I ended up buying a lot of Subway sandwiches that day.

My brother, Scott, got severe burns on his knees from his canoeing trip with the Scouts (All in favor of vetoing all church camping trips, say Aye!), so we had to push him around in a wheel chair most of the time.  That, or he just found places to sit or lie down at every destination. I will never forget looking at the Niagara River and seeing Scott curled up on a slab of concrete next to it.

I've got a ton of photos that look just like this only the background is different.

We had an eventful trip to Denny's.  I've found it takes a special type of person to be a Denny's server.  Our NY server was not happy working on the 4th of July and serving 19 people with 1 cook in the back, so he gave each of us assignments to help pass out drinks and such and take orders.  I almost volunteered to scramble some eggs.

While we were in NY, we took some paddle-boats on the Erie Canal.  I think the highlight of the entire trip for me was when my dad yelled, "Ramming speed!" and tried to attack our boat...at between 2 and 3 mph.

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa and Mom & Dad for taking us on a fun trip!