Ahhh...Niagara Falls!

Niagara Falls is one of the major milestones along our family journey. We wanted to see the falls from both sides, Canada and New York. Each side has a very different feel as well as a very different view of the famous natural wonder.

We stayed at an RV park in Canada on the banks of Lake Erie, a few miles beyond St. Catherine. The drive to Niagara took about 30 minutes and we made an early start, intending to dedicate the day to the Canada side. The route to public parking passes right alongside the Falls and through Victoria Park. Parking is a premium! We paid $18 for all-day parking near the visitor center. We saw other lots close to the restaurants that advertised $13 parking, but there are a limited number of spaces. The weather was so beautiful and our fascination with the falls so great that we didn't mind the walk at all. Before seeing the Falls, we saw the mist rising high into the air.

The visitor center is a very attractive structure with a pedestrian walkway from the parking area to the falls and several attractions.
Do you see the wet walkway on either side of us? That's mist from the Falls on the other side of the building!
From the Canadian side, the view of the Falls is straight on. The Horseshoe Falls on on the right, an edge of the American Falls is on the left.
Our first look at the Horseshoe Falls! The mist was so thick rising from the crashing water below that we could not see the falls on the other side.
From the walkway along the river, the American Falls come into view.

Looking back at the Canadian Falls, you can see the mist in the middle of the 'horseshoe'.

This structure provides a frame for the American Falls behind the boys. The age of the walkway is obvious everywhere along the path. Hard to imagine the millions of people that have passed along this way with the same view!

We skipped the Imax presentations that are heavily promoted everywhere to go straight for a voyage on the Maiden Mist. The boats board from either side, US or Canada, pass by the American Falls and head straight into the Horseshoe Falls before returning passengers back to the boarding dock. A narrator was speaking to us the whole time, but either crowd noise or noise from the falls obliterated the message. The blue ponchos are provided upon boarding the boat.
The boys led the way to a railside view front and center on the boat.
Getting closer....last photo before getting too wet to take out the camera!

The blue poncho is really more like saran wrap and the turbulent air with all that mist prevents it from working very well. At least our clothes were mostly dry!

The Canadians win the prize for spring landscaping! The bright floral beds were covered in blooms all along the riverside walkway.
Since we made it before summer break for the schools and were visiting on a weekday, the crowds were minimal. The mornings were especially quiet and allowed us to really enjoy ourselves!
The plantings were and framed the falls beautifully! These are the American Falls again.

Later in the afternoon, the sun was behind us and rainbows appeared everywhere in the falls. This is a view of the Maiden Mist taking a load of spectators in close for the look and sound of the falls. Remember...we were right up front and center of the bow on our turn!

A more dispersed prism is visible in the American Falls with another Maiden Mist trip passing by.

The boys are posed below our dinner spot - the rotating restaurant in the Skylon observation tower. The restaurant turns 360 degrees in an hour. When we arrived, our table was directly across from the Falls and we were back at the Falls in time for dessert!

The food was great with generous portions. The ticket was a little pricey, but considering a ticket to go to the observation tower was $13 by itself, we didn't feel too bad about the cost. The elevators climb along the outside of the tower, so the view is terrific all the way up.

The trip up is well worth the trouble, providing a grand perspective to the mighty wonder on display below!

After dinner, we had some time to kill as we waited for nightfall when the Falls are illuminated with huge spotlights across the river. We found a black variety of squirrel that was a new sight for us!

We visited Starbuck's to enjoy while we watched the sky display beautiful sunset colors. Finding an unoccupied bench across from the American Falls, we enjoyed the leisure of simply sitting with no agenda!

At last, the lights came on and we found it worth our wait!

Oh, that's not the end of this extremely long post - we've got to show the New York side of things so that you can decide for yourself where you should see this amazing sight, should you take the opportunity!

This is the view of the falls as we crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

A fellow American on the Maiden Mist had tipped us off to a free parking area on the New York side. In New York, the area is a state park with no admission fee. Three parking areas are available: Lot 1 (closest and $10 per day), Lot 2 (next closest and $8 per day) and Lot 3 (no charge, but the furthest walk). We chose Lot 3 and enjoyed the walk along the river toward the falls. It seems like it only took about 10 minutes of walking at a very leisurely pace.

The sights and sounds of rapids are with you every step of the way.

Before long, here's a preview of the coming spectacle. Those tall buildings are hotels on the Canada side of the river.

As we approached, the more of the beautiful rainbow presented itself for our morning treat!

It was such fun that it absolutely took our breath away! God is a masterful designer of beauty, isn't He?

We purchased an excursion called 'Cave of the Winds'. No longer a cave, it's actually an elevator ride down to the river level with a series of boardwalks to bring you close to the American Falls. Years ago, tourists walked behind a section called Bridal Veil, but a large boulder protecting them from the rush of the water deteriorated and finally was removed. No longer safe to allow tourists to go that direction, the stairs climb up alongside the falls for the closest look on foot.

As we approached the boardwalk, we found a vast flock of gulls perching in the riverside rocks.

Then, we noticed the babies!

This mama was very indifferent to the close proximity of people and allowed us a peek at the still wet hatchling beside her other egg.

The hatchling is on the left, well disguised by the nesting material.

On to the main attraction in our souvenir ponchos, yellow this time but equally ineffective as the blue ones of yesterday! We also were furnished water sandals - not optional!

We paused for a moment before tackling the wettest part of the trail.

And here it is - the Hurricane Deck where the force of the turbulence as the falls hit the boulders is equivalent to hurricane force winds. Craig and the boys are up there on that upper deck. The camera got wet and several other shots had big water bubbles in the middle.

After we rode back up in the elevator and dried out a bit, we took this photo looking down on the decks we had walked just a few moments ago. The trails along the river on the New York side are not formally landscaped and allow a closer look a the river rapids.

This photo demonstrates the view across the American Falls toward the Horseshoe Falls in the distance. Completely different in its perspective, the US view is very worthwhile with the unforgettable sounds that accompany the spectacle.

In closing, a few footnotes about the two sides of the falls. To capture that Canadian view, you now must have a passport or other proof of your citizenship to cross the international border. Children accompanied by both parents doe not require a passport at this time, but a birth certificate demonstrating both citizenship and proof of parents is necessary (at the time of this writing). Before scheduling the trip, check the current international border crossing requirements for documents to assure a trouble free crossing. The Canadian side has a river view look at the Horseshoe Falls similar to the Cave of the Winds. We saw the folks at the base of the falls and it didn't seem to compare well for getting as close as possible. You also wouldn't get nearly as wet! There are no towers that really provide the view of the falls on the US side. The Canadian side is full of casinos, but we found them to be set back from the beautiful park that allows continuous strolling along the river. The walks on either side are flat and paved, so good walking shoes are needful, but it's hardly a hike! Trolleys and buses provide some relief for foot sore or the physically challenged, but if able - put on those tennies and enjoy the exercise!

Where've we been?

We've not posted lately due to lack of internet access for the past week or so. We stayed at a terrific RV campground in Canada that allowed us to easily visit Niagara Falls. The park also had a marina with WIFI at the restaurant. We were very busy with visits to Niagara Falls, however, and were not up to toting the laptop over to the marina at the end of our day trips. A couple of the nights were also chilly and we were back after the restaurant closed - necessitating working on picnic tables under the covered patio - brrr! We further were hindered by our AT&T air card service not being international. The charges were going to be really expensive, so we didn't use the air card or our cell phones until we were back within the US coverage.

From Niagara, we scooted across a section of Ontario to enter the US at Port Huron, Michigan. We parked at another terrific campground that has an even more terrific overnight rate - but no WIFI except at the office. We can use our air card with no problem, but will not load photos until we are using WIFI. We've not tested our limits on how many photos can be downloaded within the data limits, but don't really want to! We'll just wait for photos until later.

As long as we're talking about no photos, I can share with you our border crossing adventure. Not really that dramatic, but for those that are curious, we can share stories - but no photos!

The easiest way to cross the border into Canada - a very tourist friendly country, by the way is to follow a few simple tips:

1 - Travel light - don't take anything into or out of the country

2 - Travel without children - border crossings are monitored for potential child trafficking or kidnappings (including those nasty cases of divorced couples taking a child out of the country without the spouses' knowledge or approval)

3 - Travel without pets - no one likes the critters sharing germs across the borders

4 - Travel without firearms - border officials just get touchy about these things

5 - Travel without food or live plants - not sure the real reason behind this one. Supposedly based on health issues, but seems more likely to be a ploy to assure that you will purchase as much as possible from the country you are visiting (and pay their taxes while you're at it).

Here's our experience with our crossing at Lewiston, just north of Niagara Falls, NY.


1 - We're not travelling light. We're dragging a 7 ton, 40 ft. long, 13 ft. tall RV with about 1 ton of baggage and belongings with us with lots of nooks and crannies for stowing items that may or may not be OK with border officials.

2 - We're travelling with children. Minors must have identification such as a birth certificate, passport, or resident card. Both of our children have passports, but one of them is not a US passport. Our youngest child was born in Guatemala and has a passport that was issued after the completion of his adoption. Fortunately, due to the process we followed within the adoption proceedings, he also was granted US citizenship as soon as his feet touched ground in the country. Because his passport is not a US passport, we have to show his citizenship certificate as well. It wasn't a 'problem', just one of those things that gets your vehicle pulled over so that you can be interviewed inside the office rather than at the booth on the international bridge.

3 - We travel with our dogs. Proof of a rabies vaccination and the pet's age and breed is required. No one really checked this, but we were glad that at the dogs' last vet visit and updated shots, the vet's office provided a photo identification with all the information about the vaccinations, breed, gender and age on the card. We thought that was a bit over the top at the time, but were glad to have it when we elected to take them to Canada!

4 - We travel with a shotgun. We looked up information ahead of time for this issue. The
Canadian government provides a form online that you can complete in advance of crossing. We completed it online, printed three copies and had it ready at the time we crossed. Procedure requires that the gun owner sign the document in the presence of Canadian officials, so that part is left blank until you enter the country, there is also a $ 25 fee charged to process the form. Once completed and on file with the country, it is not necessary to do so again for 6 months. We had absolutely no intention of deliberately taking a firearm to Canada and hadn't given it a lot of thought until our plans were made. If making the trip to Canada frequently, I'm sure we would reconsider taking a weapon with us. Some blogs suggest not disclosing the fact that you have a firearm with you. Chances are, you might find a little cubbyhole somewhere where the weapon would escape detection, but then how do you look to those officials if you are found out? We didn't think it worth the risk and the review only took about 30 minutes. Once justified by our carrying a firearm for an inspection of our trailer, I might note that the officer prowled around pretty thoroughly with a flashlight. I later found that the drawers had been tussled around (we waited outside the trailer while he looked around). We were not concerned nor offended by the inspection. We're travelling as guests in this country rather than citizens and if they wish to be careful about who is allowed in, that's their prerogative.

5 - We deliberately didn't have a very full refrigerator. Stories are out there on the internet about some food items being discarded at the border crossing. Again, we checked the website for allowances and were sure that we remained within the allowable limits. The government is very clear about the authority of the border officials to use their discretion within the limits also, so we were prepared to let some items be thrown out if questionable (dairy and produce items seem to be the sticky issue).

If you're considering crossing the border and especially with your RV, we suggest perusing this website.


http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5082-eng.html#s1x2

Firearms are regulated by the Canadian Mounties and this link provides specific information for visitors bringing firearms:

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/information/visit/index-eng.htm

Because we invested time in our homework online, we weren't surprised that we were asked to pull aside from the general flow of border crossing. The official at the booth indicated that the firearm was the initial reason for asking us to pull aside. Our child's Central American passport just added to their reasons for additional scrutiny. Everyone treated us with respect but had no room for humor or chit-chat. We, in return, treated those officials as people that were performing an important job and we're thankful that they are there to protect their country. Our suggestion to anyone travelling in another country is always to bear that in mind, rather than take offense when questioned.

Our crossing back into the US was uneventful. Possibly, it always would be the case when returning to your home country and having decent documentation to prove that is the circumstance. We also were travelling on a Friday preceding a big holiday weekend for Canada, Victoria Day. Traffic was backed up at the international border - at least 1 1/2 hrs of waiting and that was at noon. Traffic handlers told us that it would be much worse as the afternoon bore on. They also told us as they were routing us into designated lanes that no one was being pulled in. We're not sure that they were supposed to divulge that bit of information, but were happy that the 1 1/2 hr traffic delay was all we would have to suffer through to get back across!