Woo Hoo Niagara Falls

Diane thoughts ~~  (it's long....grab a cup -o coffee)

Thursday ~~We are in Niagara Falls and it is more amazing than I imagined. 

(side note --- I think my last post was in Herkimer, NY, where I was cryin' a river by the river. Sometimes you just need a good cry, and life gets brighter.  It did. And it is.)

We arrived here on Tuesday, stayed one night in a way toooooo expensive non-impressive KOA.  Next day we moved to a beautiful State Park on the shores of Lake Ontario.  If you come to Niagara Falls and are camping..... STAY HERE!  Green, gorgeous, lots of trails and from many sites like ours, you can see the lake.  Kai is learning to ask the right questions as we pull into campgrounds.... she says "Does it have hook-ups?"  ha ha.  Yes it has hook-ups.

So, Niagara Falls has been on my bucket list.  And yesterday was THE DAY.  Keith and I spent the afternoon being tourists while Derek and Abby and kiddos and doggies relaxed around camp.  (that is... relaxed until Chester took off after a squirrel while he was tied up to the picnic table and well, he  sort of "moved camp")

Back to the falls. First of all I was a bit confused. (how strange is that?) I thought there was a Niagara Falls.  And so when the ranger lady said, "American Falls is this way, Horseshoe Falls is this way, and Bridal Veil Falls is this way..."  I'm like, BUT WHERE IS NIAGARA FALLS, I came to see NIAGARA FALLS, HELLO!!!. (don't laugh)  I was confused, but after a bit got unconfused and came to understand....that collectively they ARE Niagara Falls.  Whew, then I could breath.

I must have said WOW 5,387 times. They were spectacular.  We went on the boat , The Maid of The Mist, and wore those cute and necessary blue poncho thingies.  There were rainbows and humungous and ROARING falls , and when we got right up close to and next to Horseshoe Falls I felt like Moses looking up at the Red Sea.  And I said OH WOW really loudly.....and I screamed (I did) YEEEE HAH. I was so 'cited.  It was so over the top incredible.

Then....we went over to Canada and ate dinner at the top of the revolving restaurant which is at the very top of the sky, almost.  We did not time our dinner atop the revolving-sky-restaurant at all, but God did....we were seated at just the right spot, to see the falls, and then the ah-------maze-------ing orange-sky sunset, and then the falls lit-up in rainbow colors against the night sky.   We were dazzled by His creation and His kindness to put us at just the right place at just the right time.

We got home way after dark, and our kids left the light on for us. (seems a little backwards huh? --- they are so thoughtful).  At breakfast this morning, when we all told stories about our day (which was when we learned about Chester/squirrel and the doggies swimmin' in Lake Ontario), we learned that our kiddos ordered, and had delivered I might add, ....buffalo wings from Buffalo....and they did not save us any.  hello?

Today....Keith and I have a day at camp with doggies and Jack, while D&A&Kai tour THE FALLS.

So, that's the latest up-to-date travel news

P.S.

Bit's and pieces.....To answer some questions we've been gettin'

For those wondering about the vehicles (mostly the guys) Maxine is a champ and she is a great motor home.  She travels well (a bit bouncy in the back....whoa), and pulls Dori with ease. Dori likes touring around the small places and is running super-duper.

The most we've paid for gas is ....GULP $4.15/gallon and Maxine drank 44 gallons at that stop ..which was in Crown Point, NY.

And for those students out there who are mapping our journey.... 

 

From Bar Harbor we went to Dexfield, Maine.  (memories....laughing til we cried around the campfire, making slammin' chili, and the mountains at sunset and sunrise)

From Dexfield, Maine to Crown Point, NY.  On the shores of Lake Champlain.  We traveled through a corner of New Hampshire and then Vermont.  BEAUTIFUL.  (memories at Lake Champlain State Park (super spot to stay---no hook-ups)...riding bikes and hiking through  the ruins of a French & British fort  built early in the 1730's during French & Indian War... and climbing the stairs up to the top of the lighthouse)

From Crown Point, NY , to Herkimer, NY.  Herkimer KOA on the river is a beautiful park...with hook-ups :-)  (....memories....doggies swimming in the river til they were pooped pups and watching them figure out how to doggie paddle upstream.... good talks and a good cry by the riverside)

From Herkimer NY to Niagara Falls.  (do not stay anyplace but the STATE PARK on Lake Ontario!!!)

I am SOOOOOOOO excited!

With my sweetie, Horseshoe Falls and Canada in background

On the boat! American Falls

 

Looking up at Horseshoe Falls...I totally felt like Moses in this one....

 

dinner view at sunset ...from atop the revolving "Sky " restaurant  in Canada