Motorhome Day 6 - Niagara Falls

Motorhome Day 6 dawned as have the previous four - cold, wet and miserable.  This time, however, we were already at our destination for the day, so no long hours at the wheel - just a short jaunt after breakfast to the falls.

Cold Enough for You? - Freezing Morning at Niagara Falls

The day may have been miserably cold, but the falls were well worth the effort.  We were one of the few groups who were dressed for the conditions - we were all rugged up in scarfs and beanies (Rod had to buy a beanie from the gift shop), and so we enjoyed our day in spite of the cold.

Helen & Maureen at the start of the Falls

The falls are massive, and the amount of water going over them is unbelieveable (675,000 gallons a second).  We looked and marvelled at the falls from the American side, then hitched a ride on a trolley car to the Canadian Border and crossed over into Canada to get a view from that side.  Crossing over involved walking across a bridge about 1km long and having our passports checked and stamped.

Bridge from the USA into Canada

Maureen frames the falls

Water Water everywhere

The view from the Canadian side is even better than from the US side.  The two major falls can be quite clearly seen,and the mist from the falls was thrown up hundreds of feet into the air.  The weather was in our favour - it seemed to keep the crowds down - and we didn't have to jostle for a position.  The Maid of the Mist boats were doing a great trade despite the cold weather, though we were not tempted to take the boat ride as everyone was getting off the boats very wet despite the ponchos issued to them.

The Maid of the Mist is dwarfed by the falls

Brian & Maureen between countries

Roachy met some new Canadian friends at lunch - he finally found someone to listen to him

The cold walk from the USA to Canada

The entry back into the US cost us 50c each as a toll over the bridge - only the Yanks could come up with that.  We then caught the trolley car back to our rig and found a supermarket (Walmart) to get some groceries and refreshments.  Brian sure has got a handle on driving the rig.  Today he even chucked a massive U turn in a tyre mart carpark, charged across four lanes of traffic, asking if there was anything coming and not waiting for an answer, and telling us all to close our eyes and hope for the best.  All that to get into the bottle shop. He would do anything for the girls to get a drink.

The Rig is parked at the RV park in Niagara Falls

Helen & Maureen enjoy the gardens on the Canadian side

The decision was made to return to the KOA park where we stayed the previous night, as it was almost 5:00pm and too late to head to Cleveland or Chicago. So, we went back to the same campsite with fresh supplies for a quiet night, a nice home cooked meal and the prospect of an early start tomorrow. It looms as another long day travelling.

What we have decided is that rather than go due south through the Missippippi Valley where there are massive floods, we will head towards the West Coast taking a more northerly path, probably through Kansas City, thus avoiding the great wet.  We will still get to see the Grand Canyon and Las Vagas as well as San Francisco before getting to LA, so we won't miss out on too much.

Love to all,

R,H,B & M.

PS - K & K - it's colder than Buckenderra !!