Niagara Falls

This was Niagara Falls day.

Mercifully, the weather was cool and it was the first time we wore jeans in months.

The drive to the falls was uneventful and we arrived early enough to park close the American Falls and entrance to the Maid of the Mist.  After viewing the falls on the American side, we descended to the Maid of the Mist, donned the blue plastic rain poncho provided, boarded the boat and set off for the tour.  The boat travels upstream right to the base of the falls.  It is really impressive and certainly gives a unique perspective.  The falls kick up a lot of spray and mist (Jeanne thought this was smoke from industrial activity when we approached the area) and the poncho kept us moderately dry.  Well, sort of dry.  Try to imagine walking through a car wash wearing a dry-cleaning bag.

View of the Niagara Falls from observation tower on American side of river.

Jeanne enjoys view of Niagara Falls.

Jeanne and Marty wearing rain ponchos on the Maid of the Mist boat ride.

Approaching the American Falls on the Maid of the Mist.

Looking back on American Falls from the Maid of the Mist. Notice observation tower in background.

Horseshoe falls on approach aboard the Maid of the Mist.

View of American Falls from Canadian side of river.

View of Horseshoe Falls from Canadian side of river. Notice roof of power plant directly below.

Panaramic view of American Falls, river gorge and Peace Bridge.

We grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch and walked across the bridge to view the falls from the Canadian side.  The weather cleared long enough to give us a truly spectacular view of the falls and river gorge.  It seemed like thousands of people turned out to enjoy the cool fall-like day and we had to elbow our way through the crowds.  The only down-side to the day was the long customs wait while returning to the U.S.

We returned to the coach and spent the last few hours of daylight preparing for tomorrow’s departure.