Niagara Falls

We escaped the maze of 10 Ton Load Limit signs in Pennsylvania and made our way north through Buffalo, NY to Four Mile Creek State Park about 10 miles north of Niagara Falls.  We plotted our course very carefully, but did not expect the Robert Moses Parkway pavement to be in such poor repair. The bus is not very good at dodging potholes and we bounced along quite a bit.  When I say in poor repair, I mean grass is growing between the concrete expansion joints and potholes exceed 3 inches in depth.  We were so concerned that we did a little research and found that the Robert Moses Parkway is about to be removed and turned into green space along the river.  That explains it. We planned a different route to take when we depart.

 

Niagara Falls has awed man since the first eyes looked upon it.  Today, we have beautiful parks on both the US and Canadian banks from which to view it as well as boat rides, tunnel tours, helicopter rides, and high-rise buildings to view it.  Each angle is a different view.  We found ourselves taking more pictures here than anywhere we have been.  This is a sure sign it is one of those places that you want to capture on film, but can’t.  You must see and experience the falls to understand the magnitude. 

Once again the RV lifestyle makes our visit special.  We are not rushed to see everything in a day or two.  We spent a day on the US side then came back for another half day to hike around Goat Island for some different views.  Another day, we spent on the Canadian side taking the Behind the Falls Tour through tunnels.   I wasn’t impressed by the behind the falls tour.  The tunnel goes behind the falls and you have an opening to look out at the backside of the falls.  There is so much water coming down; you cannot see anything. I didn’t even take a picture.

The best tour was the Maid of the Mist boat ride.  You ride a two level boat right up to the edge of the falls and sit there while the engines roar to keep the boat in place.  You get a bit wet, but it is so worth it to feel the power of the water crashing down. 

We had several days to explore the area and took our bikes for a ride around Fort Niagara, which is worth a visit to learn of the history of the area and its strategic importance in our nation’s history.

On another day, we went back to Canada for a south to north bike ride along the gorge bike trails.  The Canadian bike trails are excellent with several wineries along the route to the Niagara on the Lake Township.

With the week completed, we look forward to heading west to Ohio and the upper Michigan peninsula just to see what’s there.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Here is a map of our journey in April and May 2016 for those curious about how far we have traveled.