cleared Canadian customs easily and arrived at the Windmill Point RV Park in the afternoon. After setting up, we drove into town for a fish & chips dinner and then on to the falls. All we did today was a drive-by but the view was absolutely spectacular. I can’t wait until tomorrow to spend time there up close and personal. We returned to the park and Claudia soon commented, “I think I see lightning!” Well, she did. We now have a humungous thunderstorm sitting right on top of us. Our weather radio says it should blow over tonight. All small craft have been ordered off the water immediately. The rig is shaking pretty good from the close bolts. The rain coming down is a full-blown toad choker. We are parked so we have a view of a small 12-acre quarry lake. If there were any gators in it, they would surely be heading for high ground. WOW, a bolt just hit at the other side of the lake. I jumped! There was absolutely no time separation between when I saw the lightning and the rig shook HARD! That was too close! I’m going to bed. To hell with this!
The storm blew itself out, or at least moved on by morning and there was nothing but blue sky when we woke up. The TV reported that some areas had received from four to seven (7) inches of rain over the past 24 hours. We drove in to the main city parking lot, stashed the car and walked to the nearest tourist information booth. We purchased two “Adventure Passes” and headed off for the “Maid of the Mist”, the up close and personal boat ride to the falls. We received two fashionably coordinated blue plastic poncho’s and boarded the boat.
We cruised by American Falls first. American Falls is the smaller of the two falls and is…duh…on the American side of the river. We got rather wet from all the mist. We then cruised to the (Canadian) Horseshoe Falls where we got soaked! The majority of the water (90%) flows over the Horseshoe Falls and the sound is almost deafening. This is truly one of nature’s most spectacular sights.
After the boat ride, we hopped on the People Mover (a shuttle bus) and went to the “Journey Behind the Falls”, a tunnel behind the falls themselves with openings to watch the water fall. Good, but just a so-so from our point of view.
Back on the bus to the “White Water Walk”, a wooden walkway that takes you right by the rapids along the river. The rapids are classed a “6”, making them one of the deadliest rapids in the world, if not THE deadliest.
After the rapids, we decided to slow it down a bit so we headed for the Butterfly Conservatory to check out the bugs.
Bugs they did have! Lots…and in many colors, sizes and shapes. I burned up a lot of “film”, hoping to get a few good shots. Turns out that most of them were good. It was now five o’clock and we started to head for the car, stopping for a mocha cappuccino soft serve ice cream in a waffle cone on the way back.
Returning to the park, I broke out the maps, brochures and a margarita and planned for tomorrow’s activities. We are tentatively going to explore Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie.
Saturday, June 7, 2008 – That’s exactly what we did. Actually, we went to Fort Erie first, but that’s splitting hairs. We arrived 20 minutes before the next narrated tour by a young man dressed as an English soldier (a Redcoat) of the War of 1812 era.
We got an excellent 90-minute tour of Fort Erie, the site of the bloodiest fighting between English and American forces. Several tour guides dressed as Redcoats, Canadian militia, Canadian civilian forces and Iroquois Indian scouts gave us a demonstration of the loading and firing of .75 caliber smoothbore muskets.
We then went on a tour of the fort itself, seeing the enlisted men’s quarters (very meager), the officer’s quarters (nice, by 1812 standards), the mess hall where we were served lemonade and cookies cooked right there by a young lady in period dress in a reflector oven.
We then were led outside and they torched off a “three pounder”, a brass cannon that fired a three-pound cannonball. It was loud!
We then went on a tour of the fort itself, seeing the enlisted men’s quarters (very meager), the officer’s quarters (nice, by 1812 standards), the mess hall where we were served lemonade and cookies cooked right there by a young lady in period dress in a reflector oven.
We then were led outside and they torched off a “three pounder”, a brass cannon that fired a three-pound cannonball. It was loud!
Next was a great scenic drive up the Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on-the-Lake where we miraculously found a parking place right in the middle of the town. After some sightseeing, we parked our butts at the golf course restaurant which dated to 1875. Claudia had fish & chips. I debated between a meat pie and “bangers and mash”…sausages and mashed potatoes with caramelized onions. I opted for the pie…and it was good! On the way back to the car, another ice cream shop beckoned. It advertized 56 flavors of ice cream and that was enough for us. I tried rum and raisin. Claudia had a cup of very ordinary French vanilla and some sort of apple pastry that looked better than it tasted.
We then headed west on Lakeshore Road, past spectacular lakefront properties to Welland Canal, the main freighter canal between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. We stopped at Lock 3, the canal museum, gift shop and viewing point for ships transiting the canal.
Unfortunately, it was a slow day for ship traffic and the next freighter wasn’t due in until 7:30. We didn’t wait! I took Claudia to the viewing platform and patiently tried to explain how the locks work. To say that Claudia has a problem with visualization is like saying that King Kong was big! Luckily, there was a model of the locks in the Interactive Room. The volunteer docent also explained the process to her. Only when she realized that the lock doors go well below the level of the water did she understand how the process works. We then returned to the RV park to watch the Belmont Stakes, “Finding Nemo” and get ready for the trip to Groton, New York tomorrow.
Here is an email to us from Larry and Linda Slycord back in Iowa. This was part of the storm that hit us here.
“Hi, hope you are enjoying your time at Niagra Falls area. Glad you were not here Thursday night, actually 1:30am Friday. Had a toronado touch down in the campground. 2 trailers rolled over a few times, blew out their slides, and picnic tables flying everywhere. We were the only ones without damage, but real scary. 2 injuries, had to cut the bottom out of one trailer, turned on the side to extract the person. Two semis rolled up on the off ramp going west on 80. One occupant was sucked out after a sign went thru the windshield. Fortunately the two in the campground received leg injuries only. Keep us posted of your travels.” Linda & Larry
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