Sunday, August 3, 2008

July 31 - A shower under the falls







We woke with a haze free view across the Lake. The water was a beautiful shade of blue – so inviting. Rich and Rob cooked up a full English breakfast. At about noon we drove the few miles south, up the escarpment, to the Niagara Falls. The aspect one gets from the American side is of looking sideways along the length of the falls. The pile of rock at the bottom of the falls creates some wonderful spray back. While looking over the edge we saw the tourists walking the boardwalks at the base of the falls. This really appealed to us so we bought tickets to the Cave of Winds. We were kitted out with disposable ponchos and sandals, and took the elevator to the base of the falls. The boardwalks along the edge of the falls are rebuilt each spring when the ice melts. One walks progressively closer and closer to the spray. The force of the water pounds one by the end of the walk. We enjoyed the feeling so much we did the walk a second time. After this experience we decided that the Maid of the Mist boat trip would just be an anti-climax, so we skipped it. We then crossed the border into Canada so that we could see the falls front on. After that we moved on to the Welland Canal. We watched a cargo ship entering lock 7, and spent the next three hours following its progress until it passed through lock 3 and under the vertical lift bridge. I think they enjoyed watching the process as much as Rich and I did.

We returned to the USA and our campground quite late. I went to sleep enjoying the view of the Toronto skyline from my bed.

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