written by Julie Hackler & David Fink
May 22, 1998 to May 25, 1998
Niagara Falls, New York
Preparation is everything! We sure learned a lot from our outing over Memorial Day week-end. This was my second trip to Niagara Falls and David’s first. I think he found it quite overwhelming. The Falls are truly a wonder of nature.
Our first night there was exciting, we camped at a beautiful state park in New York called Four Mile Creek State Park and Campground only about a 10 minute drive from the falls off the R. Mosses Highway (Rt. 18). The rates were better than any KOA’s in town, we only paid about $13 a night. The view was spectacular, Lake Ontario bordered the entire campground and off in the distance we spotted Toronto, Canada (or so we think). We arrived around 6 p.m., set up camp and decided to catch the fireworks at the Falls (displayed only on Friday nights). The Illumination of the Falls was quite nice also. Your best bet for both of these is to see it from the Canadian side, we watched the Illumination from the overlook at the American Falls and the fireworks from the overlook at Horseshoe Falls.
My first night sleep was pretty bad, Dave has yet to get his own sleeping bag, so we took mine and a few blankets. Well his sleeping patterns turned my night into a cold and sleepless night. We also had the disadvantage of not having an air-mattress, so needless to say our next purchase for the BIG TRIP will be a sleeping bag for Dave and an air-mattress. We looked into both and found that the L.L. Bean Feather Down Rectangular bag and the Therma-rest self inflating air mattress will work out well.
The next day we set out for both the American side and the Canadian side of the Falls. Customs was nothing, all we needed was our drivers licenses and an honest face. The view from Canada was great, but Dave and I agreed we liked the Park in New York a lot better. We took the Maid of the Mist in the early morning and had no wait. Once we got around to the Journey behind the Falls in Canada the line was about an hour long, so we skipped it. An older gentleman the night before (while waiting for the fireworks) told us about the Botanical Garden and the Flower Clock off of River Road in Canada. So, we decided to give it a try. The Botanical Garden was nice, but many of the colorful flowers were not in bloom. There was also a butterfly museum, but we decided to pass on that one also. We were on a search for some hiking, but much to our dismay Niagara Falls was a trip for sightseeing. Although they did have a great biking and roller-blade trail that followed the river that looked nice.
Our four day week-end was just enough to get a chance to see the beauty of the falls and relax by a cozy fire, toast marshmallows and day dream about doing this forever.
Index of Trips -----------------------Delaware Water Gap
We welcome any suggestions or comments. hacklerj@mindspring.com