Thrift stores of northwestern NY

Friday, September 4th.
Interior.
For a complete change of setting this log is written in the bathroom of the KOA campground outside Niagara Falls. It was started inside the van, to the beat of the raindrops on the roof. But as the battery ran low the hunt set in for an electrical outlet that could keep the laptop going. And yes, the only available outlet was in the bathroom. Therefore, what follows is the first sofalog written from a campground restroom...

Yesterday, Thursday, we woke up in the middle of another rainshower and finally realized that our towels just weren't going to get dry for a while. Chilly weather and the sound of rain on the roof just isn't the best incentive to crawl out of a warm sleeping bag, so it took us a while to get up. Once we did we got on the road back to Cooperstown.

Our first stop was the village library where we hoped to be able to borrow an internet connection so we could upload recent trip-logs to the website. However, although they were glad to let us use the internet access on their own computers they wouldn't let us hook up the laptop. So we settled for simply checking email on the web and putting of the updating for another time and place.

After that we crossed the street to finish our tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Our tickets allowed us access all day Thursday as well and since we hadn't quite made it all the way through the museum the day before we wanted to finish the tour, along with re-visiting a few of the exhibits. Since it was still raining too much to take any more sofa pictures we let the final tour of the museum conclude our visit to Cooperstown.

We got on route 80 northbound and headed towards highway 20 which we planned to take all the way to Niagara Falls. Stopping only for a combined breakfast and lunch at McDonald's sometime after 2pm and a sofa picture alongside a lake further on we stayed on higway 20 and just drove on. And on. And on some more. In fact, we made all of two turns the entire day, and that was only to go half a block north and then back on highway 20 west. But the drive was beautiful! The fall foliage is finally breaking out and we got some great views of the fall colors around the hilly landscapes of upstate NY. The hills were another story. With the load we've packed in the back of the van by now it was really struggling to do 35 mph uphill -- or less if it was really steep. Most of the hills had a second lane for slow traffic, though, so we did a lot of driving in those. Downhill was another story. We had it going over 75 mph and could almost feel the couch on our necks before deciding to slow down. A nice thrill after working so hard getting up to the top :)

Today, Friday, we woke up, started up the van and drove across the street to start shopping... Our first quick trip through the isles had us thinking that perhaps the store hadn't really been worth the wait and that perhaps for the first time we would actually leave a thrift store empty handed. But then again, what would be the likelyhood of that? :) Dan actually did walk out empty handed, but Jens bought a polo shirt and a pair of good Bauer hockey skates, which were a real steal at $3.

So after a quick breakfast at McDonald's we were back on the road. On a side note: The attentive reader will notice that we are eating at a lot of fast food restaurants. This is really against our basic principles. But then again, with the invention of the 99 cent "value menus" it's really hard to pass up a full lunch with all-you-can-drink soft drinks for $2... Plus it's quick, and they're all over the place (except for when you're actually looking for one, but that's a different story...). When we have the time and the money and find ourselves in the right place, we do try our best to branch out and eat some real food.

Our original plan as we headed out Wednesday had been to make it all the way to a campground outside of Niagara Falls by early evening and to spend the evening updating the webpage. As we began to realize just how long a drive it actually was (the time estimates we'd gotten from other travelers were apparently based on travel along the toll road the entire way) we changed the plan and decided to sleep in a parking lot Thursday evening and then visit Niagara Falls during the day Friday and then check into the campground Friday evening. Well, as we passed through Buffalo, NY, our plans changed again. Right along higway 5 through the city was a Goodwill Store. And naturally we pulled over to check it out. The store was better than the first one and we both made some good purchases. A woman we met there tipped us off about an even bigger Goodwill Store on the other side of town. So we decided to scrap the plan of getting to the falls that day and headed out on a cross-town expedition instead. On our way there we happened upon a Salvation Army store. Since we were already on a thrift store tour we naturally stopped there as well. And that turned out to be a good decision. We're beginning to decide that Salvation Army thrift stores generally seem to be better organized and for some reason seem to have much "cooler" clothes. This one definitely fit that description and we both brought out a great new selection of clothes. Clothes, of course, that we don't need at all but can't resist buying. It's sort of become an addiction. But as addictions go, shopping at a thrift store is a pretty cheap "fix", not too unhealthy and the money is donated to a good purpose. So we're doing pretty good... :)

We actually did make it to the Goodwill that was the actual objective of the mission. It wasn't all that great though, which supported our theory on thrift stores, and we managed to bring out only 2 shirts and a fold-out chair (which is being put to good use right now, in the campground bathroom...)

After that store we were finally shopped out. Dan headed to Wendy's (there we go with that fast food again...) for some very late lunch while Jens, who had survived all day on leftover pizza from the feast at Pizza Hut, headed down to Family Dollar for duct tape and some free cardboard. The time has come to start shipping stuff home... :)

Meanwhile, back at Wendy's Dan was suckered into donating a dollar to "local adoption" in exchange for some coupons for free ice cream desserts. Which we subsequently discovered are only valid if presented after Nov 1st by a child under 12 years of age. Apparently the coupons are meant to be distributed as "treats" on Halloween. So now we have to find some kids to give them to. Don't imagine too many will be knocking on our door on the 31st trick-or-treating. But you never know...

We actually did finally make it to the campground that we were headed for and have now spent the rest of the day working on the webpage, in various locations around the campsite, most recently the bathroom. Which, by the way, is very clean and well-kept. So if you're ever in the Niagara Falls area, may we suggest... :)