One of the great things about traveling the country as you work is maximizing vacation days. We chose to take a Monday off to visit Niagara Falls as we were only a couple of hours away. No need to take time off to travel to a destination.

Niagara Falls has always been on my bucket list even though it is not a National Park (it’s a state park, America’s oldest, in fact). We woke up early and arrived in the visitor’s center parking lot by 8:30. As a side adventure, we were having vehicle troubles, but that’s for a different post. Crossing the parking lot leads to the pathway to the visitor’s center, the Maid of the Mist ticket booth, and the first view of the falls. A stunning rainbow awaited us as we approached the fence. What a sight!

There are two falls; the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls. To see the Horseshoe Falls, you will need to head over to Goat Island. You can drive over, but we chose to walk because it was only a couple of miles round trip. I think both are stunning, but the Horseshoe Falls is more iconic. When you approach Horseshoe Falls, prepare to get wet. The falls produce a significant amount of spray that covers the walkway. We made a point of walking all around Goat Island and then returned to the Maid of the Mist for our boat ride.

The line was long but moved fast. A boat departs every fifteen minutes, and we were down the elevator and getting our blue ponchos in no time. You should wait to put your poncho on until you are on the boat. Since it was over 80 degrees out, that made sense. I could not imagine trapping all of that heat and sweat inside of a body-length piece of plastic before there was a chance to have the water cool things off. We were fortunate to get the Nikola Tesla boat (there is a monument to him in the park as well).

Across the river were the Canadian boats with their tourists garbed in red plastic. We waved as we passed by on our way to the bottom of the American Falls. The rocks at the bottom of the falls were massive. Some of the mist hit us, but we had no idea how soaked we would get once we were at the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls. The boat drove right into the mist, making it hard to see. My shoes began to fill with water since my poncho was being pressed against my body by the wind creating a funnel to my feet. The noise and power of the falls were incredible. You could feel the force of the water exploding as it hit bottom. We were drenched!

After the Maid of the Mist, we grabbed some New York pizza and headed back to the campground. The truck didn’t make it all the way there, and perhaps Jason will share that adventure in a different post.