Niagara Gorge

The second day of this trip we stopped on our way to the Falls at the Whirlpool Scenic overlook. This is a great place to get a close up view of where the Niagara River takes a sharp right on its way north to Lake Onterio. We also got our first look at the Whirlpool Aero Car ride on the Canadian side.

As we were walking along the path high above the river, a medium size diamond patterned snake slithered across our path. We ate lunch and then continued on south to the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center parking lot where we caught the Scenic Trolley and took another look around the park. Along the way the driver informed us that it has been estimated that the Falls will disappear in about four hundred years at the current rate of deteriation. Early in the 1900's, someone figured out how to divert the falls for the power plants thereby greatly slowing down the tearing down of the falls.
We returned to the Scenic Trolley and got off at the Visitors' Center. From here we could walk to the Observation Tower and the Maid of the Mist trip to get a really close up view of the Horseshoe Falls, too.
After a good view from the Tower, we boarded the elevator for the trip down to the base to get on the Maid of the Mist. As our boat cruised to the base of the American Falls, then to the basin of the huge Horseshoe Falls, we could feel the rough water and stronger winds created by the falling water thundering down to crash onto the rocks. In order to get out of the pull of this action, the captain had to power up and swing rapidly away from it. It was extremely loud as we got closer and closer. We also got wetter and wetter - it felt like we were in a tropical storm!
We couldn’t hear each other talk, nor could anyone with glasses on see anything even under the canopy which protected us from most of the hard spray.

We could really see the destruction of the Falls from the boat.

Niagara Falls - Getting There

After leaving Virginia following US 522, we traveled northwest through Pennsylvania on I-70 and picked up US 219 going north until arriving in Salamanca, just over the state line in New York, getting a campsite in Allegany State Park.
US 219 through Pennsylvania is worse than the Alaska Highway! It’s full of potholes and lumpy concrete made worse by the fact that every mile or so is a village of several house and one or two commercial buildings. Oddly, each sign said below the village name: Building and Sewer Permits Required. (How come???) Then expecting much better road conditions, we happily got on I-86 while still following US 219 in New York, and were bitterly disappointed to discover it was no better!
Arriving in Buffalo and following the Niagara Section New York State Thruway across Grand Island, a toll road, we missed the connection to the Robert Moses Parkway which borders the Niagara River and all points of the Niagara Falls State Park complex. After finding it, we paid the parking fee (we were charged for two spaces!) and walked over to Terrapin Point past the closed Top of the Fall Restaurant which we found out later wouldn’t be open for the season until Thursday. The Point offers fantastic views of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

We then boarded the Park’s scenic trolley for a trip around the whole park and getting off near the Cave of the Winds entrance. We were given ponchos and sandals again (we should have saved the first set and reused them!).
The sandals are given to the poor though Angel Shoes. After going down in the elevator with eight of our newest and dearest friends - everybody had taken showers that morning - and traversing a tunnel, we stepped out onto the pathway to the windiest, wettest stairs leading to the Bridal Veil Falls. The experience was wonderful We felt like were being blown off the stairs and landings the closer we got to the top of the falls. Our lower legs and feet were soaked.

Afterwards we traveled north to the Four Mile State Park for the night. This was a park with great views of Lake Ontario, good breezes, and nice level, grassy, large spaces for RVs and tents. The next morning as we were leaving, we discovered that our campsite fee entitled us to free parking for the day at the Falls!

This park is the summer home for hundreds (maybe thousands) of Canadian geese as they are raising their young here before getting them ready to fly south in the fall. We had to watch where we put our feet!

Headed for Niagara Falls

The first night on the road was spent at Colleton State Park in South Carolina. This is a really nice park and easy to get to off I-95. The next morning because we awoke really early (4 a.m.!!!), we decided to go ahead and leave. We were told that if we needed to leave before the gate was unlocked that the combination was ####, to pull down sharpley on the lock and it would pop open. After 20-some very frustrating minutes of both of us trying to work the combination (upsidedown) and in the dark with a flashlight and magnifying glass, Frank went over to the Ranger's Residence and woke him up only to find out that after working the combination you were to squeese the top and bottom together. Worked like a charm!!!
The second night was spent at Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia off I-81, exit 101. Again, a very, very nice park with many level RV sites with water and electric. The next afternoon we arrived in Front Royal to spend several days with my sister,Janice. The following day we went down to Grottoes so I could meet her newest grandson, Alex. We then went to Mt. Crawford to the Green Valley Book Fair where I bought very little compared to previous visits as most of it seemed to be the same-old, same-old. After that we went to the Dayton Farmers' Market to get our supply of miniture marshmallows. Of course, we went to Michael's craft store to buy some supplies for our crafts. It's frustrating when we have great coupons but everything we want is already on sale!
On Friday Janice and I ran over to Winchester to Michael's and JoAnn's to hopefully use up our coupons. Again, everything we wanted was already on sale, so I gave my coupon which was expiring on Saturday to the woman in line behind me.
When we returned to Front Royal, we stopped by McDonald's to pick up a lunch for the birthday girl, Emma, to have lunch with her at school. Upon arriving at the school, we found out we were an hour too early. As her mother is a teacher at the school, she went to her classroom and got her released to have lunch with us outside at one of the picnic tables.
Frank and I left for Luray to spend a couple days with his sister,Kay before leaving for Niagara Falls on Monday.