Niagara Falls

Another exciting thing we did this summer was make a trip up to Niagara Falls.

Sometime last year, Dan and Margie attended a sales presentation and had received as a thank you gift a free 2-night stay at any Great Wolf Lodge resort and waterpark for a family of four.  Lyn looked at the list and declared that she wanted to go to the one in Niagara Falls, Canada, so we planned to make a trip during the following summer.

However, when Margie went to make the reservations, she discovered that 1) she needed to do so 60 days in advance, and 2) she needed to provide three alternate dates.  Well, spring break was just around the corner, and we only had one week to choose from, so we decided to go in the summer instead.  "Besides," Margie said, "I suspect it will still be a little cold in Canada in the spring."

Time went on, and Margie kept thinking she needed to make those reservations, but she didn't.  Finally, when it was close to 60 days out, she picked up the gift certificate, only to discover it had expired!  Ack!

Well, Dan and Margie had a long talk, and since we were all already looking forward to Niagara Falls (we can go to a water park anywhere), we decided to make a trip up there on the cheap.

It is only a six hour drive from here to there, but we decided to make an extended trip out of it, so we left the afternoon of Monday, August 4 and drove a couple hours to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where we camped at Prince Gallitzin State Park. We stayed in site #73, and it was perfect.  Our tent opened up to the lake and woods (with hiking trail), we had a water pump one site over, we were just a few steps from the bathrooms and shower, and we were just across from the playground.  It was lovely!

We built a campfire for the first time, and that was a little challenging.  Margie did not bring any matches, but rather a flint and rod that she had gotten for emergencies.  We were able to make it spark, but not enough to light the paper we had put under the logs in the fire pit.  Luckily, one of our camping neighbors saw our difficulties and brought us a piece of burning wood.  Yay!


Lyn and Margie prepared foil packet dinners (and dessert!) the night before.  It was yummy!

All was well until bedtime, when some other neighbors completely disregarded quiet hours!  They were so loud that Margie had to call the ranger on them. :(

The next morning, we had pancakes and fruit for breakfast.  Since we almost always get campsites with electricity, Margie had had the brilliant idea to bring her electric skillet.  It worked great!

After breakfast, we went on a little 1.3 mile hike around the lake.  At one point, we came across a tree that had fallen into the water, and Margie felt her life would not be complete if she didn't climb out onto it.  Then Lyn decided she felt the same way.  And, of course, John did, too.  Dan stayed behind and took pictures.


This was much scarier than it looks!

Made it!

Lyn didn't want to venture out quite as far.

Yeah, John felt the same way.

By the time we got back, it had warmed up, and Margie decided to take a swim in the lake.  Afterwards, we packed up and headed to Farmington, New York, which is just outside Rochester.  It was about an hour and a half from Niagara, but the price of the motel was definitely right, and we didn't mind the drive.

After we got settled in, we headed into town for dinner.  Dan had found this really cool place called Dog Town.  It's a gourmet hot dog joint that caters to vegetarians.  It was fantastic!

The next morning after breakfast we started our trek to Niagara.  We started with Cave of the Winds.  We picked up our sandals, then headed down the elevator, where we received our ponchos.

 

We had to take pictures before, because we knew we would be too wet to do it after!

It was AMAZING!!  You climb a staircase right into the edge of the falls (Bridal Veil)!  Lyn said it was like being in the middle of a storm, and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face!  At one point Margie looked at John and said, "Where are your glasses?"  They had fallen off somewhere along the way!  We thought they were lost for good--another victim of the falls--but luckily Dan found them on one of the platforms below.  Woo hoo!!

After that we walked up to a little bridge/observation platform, where we could look over the edge and see where we had been.

See those yellow specks?  That was us, just a few minutes earlier.

 

From the platform overlooking the American Falls.  The greenish tower in the background is where we're headed next!

From there we walked across the pedestrian bridge to the other side of American Falls.  Over there is another observation tower that allowed us to see both American Falls and Horseshoe Falls (in Canada).  The tower houses an elevator that took us down to where we would board our boat--Maid of the Mist!

This famous boat ride was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! Lyn thought she loved Cave of the Winds, but this turned out to be her favorite.  Such a close view of the Falls (including Horseshoe!)! So much wind and water! It was FANTASTIC.  Even Dan and John--not boat or water people at all--seemed to enjoy it.

Passing by American Falls.  Too much water at Horseshoe to get any pictures.

After that, we hiked up a little cliff to get a view of American Falls from the other side.

So the artistic sillouette of Dan didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped, but I love how this picture captures the power of the water.

John wanted me to take this picture, because he thought it was funny.  I agreed!  What's the opposite of enter?

We were all hot and thirsty, so we got some lemonade and ice cream (not together!), before we hopped on a trolley that would take us to the Discovery Center, a little museum about the natural and manmade history of the Falls.

Next we headed to the IMAX theatre, where we watched a movie about the history of the falls, including the daredevils who had gone over in barrels and walked tightropes, and Roger Woodward, who had fallen when he was 7 years old and survived.

At that was it!  Time to head out and find some dinner.

The whole trip, we had meticulously avoided toll roads, but leaving Niagara Falls, we accidentally ended up on one and found ourselves on Grand Island.  What a happy mistake!  Thanks to the magic of the iPhone, we stubbled upon what may be one of the coolest restaurants of all time, Comic Book Cafe.  There was comic book memorabilia EVERYWHERE. Margie wished her brother could have seen it!

Spiderman welcomes you from the roof of the Comic Book Cafe.

John and Batman.

Unfortunately, due to the lighting, the camera just couldn't capture how cool the decor of this restaurant was.  You'll just have to trust us!

The next day, we spent some time visiting a couple Church history sites.  Joseph Smith, the man, who we believe restored the Church of Jesus Christ in the our time (i.e., "the latter-days"), lived in upstate New York at the time, very close to where we were staying.

We started with the Grandin building in downtown Palmyra, where the very first copies of the Book of Mormon had been printed.  There we received a tour of the new (well, 1998--new since Margie had been there 20 years ago!) visitors center, including a detailed lesson specifically for the kids about how the printing press and book binding process worked back then.  When John mentioned something about going back in time, the missionary who was our tour guide asked if we had ever heard of Doctor Who!! We had fun chatting with her about doctors and companions and daleks.

From there we went to the Joseph Smith Farm Welcome Center, which included the Smith family log house (which they built when they first arrived from Vermont), the Smith family frame house (which they built later), Brigham Young's barn (which had been brought in to replace the orginal Smith family barn, which is no longer standing), and the Sacred Grove (where Joseph Smith received his first vision).

It was great to see all these things, especially all the places Joseph hid the plates when the mobs came and tried to take them away from him.  Unfortunately, this stop took much longer than expected, so we had to head south before seeing any more of the sites.

We stopped at a grocery store to pick up some lunch and then stopped at a little park along the Finger Lakes to eat it.

Our lunch spot.

We stayed the night at Cowans Gap State Park, which we thought was going to be another lovely lakeside spot like Prince Gallitzin had been.  Unfortunately, it was set up more for RVs, so there was only gravel to put our tent on.  No thank you!  And while we were close to the entrance to the water and hiking path, we were across the lake from the swimming area.  We hunted down the ranger and found a better spot, putting our tent in a little clearing in a grove of trees.  It was very nice, but we didn't have a view of the water, which Margie always looks for.  Dinner that night was some prepared food that Margie cooked in the electric skillet.  Again, what a great idea to bring it!

That night, our neighbors quieted down and we had a great night's sleep.  Whew!

The next morning, we went on a hike around the lake.  It was lovely, but we were ready to come home.

Cowans Gap

Unfortunately, the trip home was a big frustrating.  As long has Margie has been a vegetarian (around 20 years now!), she has wanted to stop for a meal in Hagerstown, Maryland.  This town is the headquarters of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which promotes vegetarianism, so there is a well-known cafe and market there.  We had planned to go there for lunch, and Margie and Lyn were really looking forward to it.  Sadly, we got there 15 minutes after they had closed.  :(

Forced to find another place for lunch, we selected Red Robin.  John recently discovered a love of rootbeer (I guess he takes after his dad!), and the bottomless rootbeer floats made his day!

After that, we made our way back to our house, our beds, and our normal lives.

But it was a great adventure!