Goat Island, Niagara Falls, NY

Our plan Sunday morning was to do some hiking in the Niagara Gorge. We left the kitties tucked in for their morning naps. They are always tired in the morning after keeping us awake all night.

We were a little slow getting moving in the morning, and so parking became the deciding factor on the day's activities. Fortunately, someone pulled out of a metered spot right in front of us, and we were able to find a spot near Goat Island pretty easily. We paid the meter and then decided we'd walk across the foot bridge to Goat Island instead of hiking the gorge. It was a good choice, as it turns out.

We first walked along the river rapids leading up to the American side of the falls. A video captures it best, so here you go. If you can't see the video, click right here.

From there, we continued walking across the bridge and out onto the island. There is another bridge once you reach Goat Island to Luna Island. From there, we could get up close and personal with American Falls. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, and we were able to get some good views of the rainbows in the mist.

Standing so close and watching the water flow over the edge was thrilling.

This guy in the middle of the image above seems completely unperturbed by the turbulence.

I'm hoping you can see the pretty iridescent green of the rocks under the water's surface.

Walking to the other side of Goat island, we could get close to Horseshoe Falls. The images I posted previously were from the Canadian side. These next ones are from the American side (as are all the images in this post). Seeing the big gouge out of the river was impressive.

And standing close and watching the water flow was spectacular.

Again, it's best seen and heard via video. Click here if you can't see the video.

By then, we were running short of time on the parking meter, and so we decided to get some lunch and head back to the trailer. When we visited the liquor store a couple of days ago, we were right next door to David's Steak Hoagy. That sounded good to us, and as we walked through the door, I asked the man behind the counter, "What's the most 'New York' thing on your menu?"

Well, that stopped him cold for a minute, but after thinking about it, he suggested the Steak and Cheese Hoagy. We each had a 6-inch sandwich and he also gave each of us a sample of their pizza. Both were delicious. As we considered lunch, we decided we needed another of David's sandwiches and so we returned to the scene of the dietary crime.

Sadly (or not), the man behind the counter on this day rang up two 12-inch hoagies, which was more than either of us could eat. Rather than mess with getting it straightened out, we asked him to wrap up the second sandwich. We took it home and had it for dinner. I'm afraid this image can't possibly capture its deliciousness, but there it is for you anyway. We each ate half. It's mainly roast beef, onions, mushrooms, and cheese, and oh, so tasty.

From there, we relaxed for the rest of the day. I've made this much progress on the second cluster of flowers for the Sundress center quilt block.

For now I've set it aside, and I'll be starting on the October Bag Lady, Abigail. Since we're here in the cold northeast, I'm thinking Abigail might be an ice fisher person. She looks to be dressed for it.

So she's hooped up and ready to go, but I've yet to take any stitches on her.

If you're stitching along with us, don't feel as if you need to work on Abigail. You can choose to do whichever bag lady you like.

We're heading out again this morning. Today we're heading to Scio, via Letchworth State Park. I've been told by several of you that Letchworth (Grand Canyon of the East) is worth a visit. As it turns out, I already had articles in my New York folder confirming what you've told me about it. Along the way, I'm hoping for a quick meet and greet with my friend Sarah who blogs at Sarah Did It!. It will depend on whether we can get the timing right.

As for our final destination of Scio, New York, we'll be visiting with my friend Pat who blogs at Amity Quilter. Pat and her husband used to live in Amity, Oregon, and that's where we met. She's been kind enough to receive some orders from Amazon for us, acting as our temporary clearinghouse. It'll be great to see her.

After that, we're heading over to Schoharie, New York, to meet my friend Sharon V. who blogs at Vrooman's Quilts. It'll be so much fun to meet Sharon and then see some of the barns along the Schoharie Quilt Barn Trail as we head north to Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

As you can tell, it's a busy couple of days ahead, and I'm not sure how much time I'll have for blogging. But it seems a good time to say that I've appreciated all your comments and the information you've provided as we're traveling along. We aren't always able to put your information to good use, but it is always appreciated nonetheless, and stored away for future trips. Also, some of you are no-reply, and so I haven't been able to respond to you personally. Just know that I read and appreciate all your comments and well wishes, even if I don't respond with a personal email. Thank you. It's so much fun traveling with friends.