Niagara Falls

We had the most marvelous day exploring both the American and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls. It's hard to know where to start, but I guess the beginning is always the best place. For that, I need to back up to yesterday afternoon. First off, you need to know the state of the states:

We added Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, and the Great State of New York to the side of the RV. Ta-da!

Also, we needed to do some grocery shopping. Along the way we noticed the name of these towns (Tonawanda) on some of the signs. Here's a picture from our road map.

The reason this is relevant is that Mike's brother, Phil (great guy...passed away much to young from prostate cancer in 2000), had a panel truck he lived in during college that he affectionately called "Tonawanda." The reason for the name was that it came from this area. It was an old Tonawanda Water Company truck. Who knows how it ended up in San Diego, California, but it was kind of fun to remember that about Phil. We sure do miss him all these many years later.

When we took off this morning, Smitty was getting ready to take a nap.

Will you guys please get out of here! Can't you see I'm trying to get some shut-eye?

Sadie was getting ready for a nap too, but when she noticed that Smitty had the Bee Loving quilt, she decided she wanted it.

So, we left the kitties in peace and took off, stopping first for our beloved Egg McMuffin for breakfast, and then making our way to the state park.

We were there before 9:00 a.m., and so parking was no problem at all. We've both waited for so long to see Niagara Falls that just approaching the rapids was pretty exciting. We were surprised at how quiet the flow of the river was here. Look carefully, and you can see the rainbow over the spray.

We were starting on the American side, and as we walked along, we got our first glimpse of the falls.

From the American side, one stands to the side of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. We noticed this observation platform from there and decided to spring for the $1.25 each to go out to the end.

From there, we could see more of the falls and we could see Horseshoe Falls off in the distance.

On the other side, we could see the Rainbow Bridge, and it was possible to walk to the Canadian side from there.

Here's a zoomed in shot of Horseshoe Falls and the Maid of the Mist below. The whole Maid of the Mist thing didn't appeal to us, and so we didn't do that. It was rather expensive and crowded.

From there, we decided to walk across to the Canada side.

We were really glad we weren't in our truck.

Halfway across the bridge, we saw this plaque.

On the Canadian side, there was a pretty topiary garden.

From there, we could see the American and Bridal Veil falls straight on.

There was a long walk along the Canadian side of the river. From there, I made a panorama of the whole area.

Here's a shot of Horseshoe Falls.

The sun was in and out, bright and dark, and our shadow selves decided to make an appearance.

Also, we took the requisite selfie:

And, puh-leeze...how many times do we have to go over this? Please do not climb over the fence.

This next image is the one that is going into my sketchbook. My one word for this One Word Wonder: "Thunderous."

We could walk clear past where Horseshoe Falls went over the edge. It was here that we felt the spray when the wind blew our direction. It was fun seeing the speed of the water flow and seeing it fall over the edge.

The water didn't seem as loud as we thought it would, but it was still impressive. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, we were occasionally hit with spray. Here's a video I took of horseshoe falls so you can hear it. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

And then, our faces, hands, and ears were cold, so we decided to partake of some coffee and pastries at Tim Hortons, which seems to be the Canadian (American?) version of Starbucks.

From there, I went on the hunt for refrigerator magnets...

I liked this one of Canada for honoring Canada's First Nation peoples.

It was harder to find a shot glass I liked. During my hunt, I saw these guys. Squee!

We had to go back to the American side before I could find the shot glass I wanted. Behold my first shot glass of the trip.

Here are some other things we saw today. Did you ever notice how much cuter fire hydrants are when you're in a foreign country?

Also, this double-decker bus.

Squirrels collecting nuts for the winter.

And, of course, we saw every blooming thing.

When I see cannas, I cannot help but think of my mother, gone 20 years now. We lived in brand new Capehart housing when my dad was stationed at Cherry Point, North Carolina. It was my mother's favorite duty station because of the new house. She planted a whole garden plot with cannas and that little patch was absolutely stuffed with blooms.

When we packed up and moved out of our house in Cherry Point to move to Virginia, we went back to see the house one last time before moving on. Every canna was gone...and that was not surprising. That's the way it was in base housing. She was finished with the flowers, and so more power to the other Marine families who would enjoy the flowers in their own gardens after we moved on.

Some of the topiaries had little red berries on them.

And by then, our eyes were pretty full. We stopped off at a liquor store to restock. While there, I saw this.

And this...we probably needed this, but we didn't buy it.

From there, I sweet talked Mike into going to a quilt shop. It only took him a few minutes to recognize the huge void that would be left in his day if we didn't go. I'll tell you about that in a separate post.

So, we're pretty well maxed out on Niagara Falls. Tomorrow, we'll do some hiking along the Gorge and, perhaps, visit the aquarium. We both love a good aquarium. Aside from that...rest and relaxation. We'll be moving on come Monday.