Date:      Tuesday, July 29, 1997
States:    RI, MA, ME, NH, VT, NY
Weather:   breezy, but clear
Altitude:  5000 ft MSL
Dep Time:  9:51am EDT (1331 UTC)
Arr Time:  3:43pm EDT (1911 UTC)
Airtime:   3 hr 58 min
Distance:  483 nm
Avg Speed: 122 kts
Fuel Burn: 50 gal

    We found the day clear and breezy. We left Newport late since Jared had wanted to return to the Mansions Gift Shop for a video tape and book, but alas, the houses and shops did not open until 10am (we had thought 9am) so we hustled to the airport and got loaded up by 9:30. We flew the day VFR since we had such good skies, but it was bumpy. A strong wind was blowing from the west as we went into Massachusetts and we bounced along for sure. We landed at Bedford (BED), picked up fuel and mailed an envelope. Away we went again.

    We decided to catch New Hampshire on the way back, so we went from Massachusetts to Sanford, Maine (SFD). We landed and didn't take fuel, but asked the lineman to mail our envelope, giving him $5 to do so. We taxied away and then realized that we had given him the New Hampshire envelope, not the Maine one, so back we go. Turns out he had already run the envelope out to the highway, so it took some more time. Anyway we finally got that straightened out and away we went into the bumpy air.

    We flew to Concord, New Hampshire (CON) and met some nice people. We took on about 12 gallons of fuel and mailed an envelope. We were told that Concord has about 30K people, which looked about right.

    On we went to Rutland, Vermont (RUT). When we arrived we found that the long runway was under construction so we used 31, which was kind of short, and had hills at both ends so it required some careful maneuvering to land. We did a good job and taxied in. The folks inside were not especially nice or welcoming and acted like we were wasting their time. They agreed to mail the envelope, though, so we will see what happens.

    We departed for Niagara Falls (IAG) in New York and flew direct which took us near to Syracuse and Rochester. We flew a mile or so offshore over Lake Ontario. It was beautiful. When arriving in Niagara we got clearance to fly the falls and we did two turns around the falls before coming back to land. The FBO here was very friendly and helpful.

    We stayed at the Ramada close to the falls and walked over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. We thought a little game of craps in the casino would be fun, but when we got there we found no craps tables in the casino. Turns out that the Canadian government considers craps too difficult to understand, so forbids it in the casinos. Seems to us, though, that with the house percentage always acting in the casino's favor, who's protecting whom? We ate dinner inside the casino and walked back across the bridge. From the bridge you could see the falls in the distance and they were magnificent.