Tuesday, 07 July 2009
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Niagara Falls (with pictures)
(Why is it that before every vacation I run around like an idiot with my head cut off? Jim is absolutely amazing and does a ton of stuff around the house. But when it comes to vacations? I swear I could throw the video game controller through the tv. This is never a good way to prepare for vacation!)
Wednesday morning we headed out after sleeping in a bit. (You know you are old when you leave at 9:30 and you still slept in...
) I had printed directions so that we would definitely be able to get there because Jim said the GPS in the car probably wouldnt have Canada in it. Thankfully, he was wrong and we were able to follow the GPS the whole way. No getting lost on this trip! Driving was fanatastic. We had the windows down most of the way because the weather was simply amazing. There was hardly any traffic. We really couldnt have asked for anything better. (On a side note, a really cool and helpful feature on Jim's car was the ability to change everything from mph to kmph. His car has a digital display and being able to change the display meant no guessing games. Way cool.)This was my first time driving through border patrol. Honestly? I really didnt expect any questions from them. I do half wonder what we would have had to do if we did have more than $1000. I knew that we didnt have anything illegal and we were going for a legitimate reason, but he definitely still made me nervous! Of course Jim almost busted up laughing as soon as we pulled up because he asked "Why are you going to Canada, eh?"
Jim and I stayed at a KOA just over the Canadian border. It was awesome! It was actually on a pretty major road - which made it easy to get to - but it was still quiet. They had a playground and a 'jumping pillow' (think giant moon bounce). I really wanted to jump on the jumping pillow, but there were always tons of kids on it and I dont always share well!
They had 2 outdoor pools - one was a shallow kiddy pool and then a regular pool. There was also an indoor pool and 2 hot tubs. We did sleep in a tent, but there is also tons of space for RV's and they had little 'kamping kabins'. There were regular bathrooms and showers. They had kitchen areas that had a little electric buner thing and sink. If you wanted, you could also bring some of your own kitchen things - like an electric skillet or george foreman grill. So while we were camping, it wasnt the middle of nowhere without modern amenities that most people think of.
On Wednesday evening, we did not much of anything. We went swimming a bit. We played a bunch of cards. We just sat around and relaxed. On Thursday morning, we woke up, had breakfast and relaxed a bit more. (That is really one of my favorite parts of camping - we dont do much of anything.)
After lunch, we headed out to the Falls. We did make one stop first. We traded in all of the Canadian coin we have been collecting. When all was said and done, we had $905 Canadian. Not too shabby!
Nothing like getting paid to go on vacation!We found a parking lot that was only $5 for the day and parked. We really didnt know for sure which direction the Falls were from there, but we figured we couldnt miss them. (Usually this would be the part where I would say that we were wrong, but thankfully it was pretty obvious which direction it was to the Falls!) As we were walking down the street, Jim and I both noticed a woman who appeared to be trying desperately to hide in the crowd. She was definitely strung out on something. And she was wearing a sheer black shirt, with no bra.
I dont think I will ever understand people.The Falls were pretty amazing. Something that is apparantly not common knowledge: there is actually 2 sections to the Falls. From the American side, you wouldnt be able to see the one section very well because you are pretty much right on top of it. Jim and I walked around for probably about an hour and a half or so before heading out. I absolutely loved the Falls. But the area was extremely touristy and there were way too many people for my tastes. I can only imagine how bad it would be on a weekend - especially for the 4th!
When we got back to the campground, I took a nap and Jim went swimming. When I got up, we went over to the hot tubs. Just before we got there it started to down pour. We hurried into the building so that our towels wouldnt get soaked before we got to use them. By the time we were done in the hot tub, it wasnt raining anymore - but it started raining soon after we got back to the tent. So we ended up just going to bed early that night.
On Friday morning we woke up early. We took our time eating breakfast and packing up, but we were still gone by 8:30 to head over to my sister's place in New York.
The part you cant really see from the American side.
I loved the color of the water! It looked so awesome.
I think this picture turned out really cool. You can see the Maid of the Mist - just barely. It really shows how much mist is produced from the Falls!
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Comments (14)
Those border people are bastards. Excuse my language, but they are. I've had terrible experiences with them and even though I can understand them not wanting to let terrorists into the country, they seriously need to chill out just a little bit. They whisked an old lady off into one of the back rooms for "further questioning" the one time I tried crossing. Seriously, the woman looked 90.
As soon as you have luggage that makes it look like you're staying there for a few days, the questions start coming out.
Anywho, glad you enjoyed yourself! :)
@omgitsmackie - I can definitely see them being like that all of the time. They asked if we had any weapons and we said 'no'. He looked at us funny and said 'you dont have any pocket knives or anything' and we were like, oh yeah. He gave us a dirty look. Sorry that I dont think of the pocket knife as a weapon! I understand wanting to know what is being brought into the country, but not everyone is trying to do something terrible!
I have only actually crossed the border once. We went down to Mexico for a few hours. It scared the bezeesus out of me, but it was fine.
Heading to AZ requires you to go through two Border checkpoints. They set them up to make sure you aren't smuggling people over. Most days they just wave you through, but I always get nervous.
@gwacemom@momaroo - coming back into the States was better. I do wonder what people try to bring back in coolers though. Ours was sitting on the back seat. He asked what was in it and I said 'leftover food'. I can only imagine what he thought when he looked in it. A bunch of ice packs. Some plates, bowls, cups and silverware. And some food buried in there somewhere. lol. I do wonder what they see sometimes...
I love the falls. We've picniced beside it (Canadian side). and rode The Maid of the Mist, and all that jazz. It's a great day. Glad you had fun there. That campsite sounds like my klind of place!
Wow, that's a lot of Canadian money!
@RoAngie467@momaroo - It really was. I cant tell you how happy I am that all of that coin is no longer in a box on the floor of my dining room!
Sounds like a good trip to me! I have never been to Niagara Falls. I think I would love it!
@der_lila_Stern - LOL. I wish I could get paid to go on vacation! Can't wait for pictures.
How in the world did you collect all that Canadian currency? That was quite a windfall!
I would love to see the Falls some day, but for now I will settled for looking at your pictures when you post them. :)
@Erin1022 - Canadian change is magnetic. It gets sucked out of coin counting machines by magnets. We got it from those machines. It was indeed a lot of money.
Great pictures!
Wow - I am going to have to visit this place someday! :) Glad you had a good time!