Niagara Falls, The Rest Of The Story

As with most places we go or things we do, there are different levels to the adventure. That is true of our trip to Niagara Falls. Everything I said yesterday was true—we got up early, we drove to Ontario, we got went on the Maid of the Mist, the falls were gorgeous, we had a picnic lunch, and we made many, many pictures. But we were bombarded with other stuff, things we didn’t expect or even want, which, all rolled into one, made it a truly international, summer vacation experience.

Flowers in Victoria Park

We are from the south where there are very few toll booths. We are not opposed to the practice, we just don’t have that personal relationship with toll booths that the folks in the north, especially in New York, have. The one thing we did more than anything else yesterday was pull up to a booth and hand over money. I am confused as to why it costs $7.10 to drive on the New York Thruway from our campground exit to Syracuse (about 30 miles) but only $4.00 to go all the way to Buffalo--a distance of 100 miles. My personal favorite was the little fellow who wanted $20 at the park and ride lot. Then we found out it costs extra if you wanted to ride. We decided to walk and leave the riding to souls richer than us.

We have crossed the border between the US and Canada many times, most often on our trip to Alaska. When we went to Hyder, Alaska, we crossed the border 4 times in one day. Always, without exception, the Canadian Border Guards are much more thorough in their questioning than the Americans. They are all business. They want to know who you are, where you are from, where you are going, how long are you going to stay, why are you here anyway, when are you going to leave, and just what have you got in that truck with you. When we came back into the US yesterday afternoon, the young guard wanted to know if we were citizens and all about our “See all of America the Beautiful” map which rides on the driver’s door of the truck.

Time of day has a lot to do with our enjoyment level of what we are doing. Saturday morning was great. There was very little traffic on the freeway and we could usually pull up to the toll booth without waiting. There were plenty of places in the park and ride lot to choose from which is critical with an F250 extended cab, long bed with tow mirrors that reach to the next county. We marched ourselves right up to the ticket booth at Maid of the Mist and had tickets within 5 minutes. After our picnic lunch, things changed dramatically. The crowds came out. It has been a long time since I have seen so many people in one place and it seemed nobody spoke English. All countries were represented in every imaginable dress. When we drove back by Maid of the Mist ticket booth as we were leaving, it was a mass of humanity—like one of those popular water rides at Disney Land. The line of cars to get across the bridge to the US was backed up three blocks from the river. We were shocked to find 14 lines open at the border and still have that kind of back up. Where did these people come from anyway—everybody in the world was standing in line at Maid of the Mist.

The sun came out along with the crowds and brought with it a sauna. I was not surprised that it was 10 degrees warmer than normal. That is always the story of where ever we are.

My man in a blue poncho

Our nerves were somewhat frayed from the crowds and the heat. I was pushed right over the edge by the young girls trying to lure folks to see the “Fury of Niagara”. In their enthusiasm they were going through the masses, one with a bull horn and the other shoving a brochure in your face. We were walking along dodging strollers and Hagan Das carts when out of the blue up comes a bull horn about 3 feet from my left ear while at the same instant a hand with a brochure flies up in my face. I informed the girl that her style of salesmanship would not win me over as a customer. Well, I may not have said it quite that nicely.

Twin bridges over Niagara River

We really did enjoy our trip to Niagara Falls. The falls were beautiful. The crowds and heat are things we expect at any major tourist attraction. We prefer the solitude and quite of a backwoods trail. However, there is more to our great land than trails, and we want to see it all. It makes us proud that everybody else in the world wants to see it, too.