Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 2 - June 12, 2011

We woke up this morning and had some breakfast in Sandy. The advantage of having a Westy is sleeping in it, and not needing a hotel room. This also becomes a disadvantage at times like this – we were pretty sure we were coming back to the same campground again that night, but we had to take apart beds and put all our luggage and chairs in the back so that we could drive Sandy down to the Falls. Then when we got back in the evening we had to set everything up again. It is a bit of a hassle, but we love sleeping in Sandy and pretty much know where everything fits the best.

So we drove down to the Falls area and parked at the Comfort Inn parking lot – you could park all day for $10 (not bad), and we could leave and come back in the evening for fireworks and to see the Falls lit up. We took Katelyn down to the Canadian side of the Falls. She loved it – we had to stop about every 30 seconds as we got closer to the falls so that she could take a picture. It was cute – her reaction, “They’re beautiful!” We walked the whole way to the Falls and then back. By that time, we were ready to get something to eat so we got some burgers and fries and sat at a table where we could see the Falls. Then it was back to Sandy to take a rest. :)

After lunch we walked across the Rainbow Bridge to the American side of the Falls. You had to take your passport along, but it wasn’t a big deal – they just asked what you were doing - again no stamp :(. We went to the Maid of the Mist first. That was pretty cool – you get super close to the Falls. Katelyn really enjoyed it – she was taking pictures and I think some video too with her waterproof Kodak Playsport video camera.(I had to include a picture from 2002 with our family at the Falls - this time we didn't take the big kids.)









Next we went to the Cave of the Winds. That was insane. You are almost standing under the Falls! There is a hurricane deck where you get pelted with wind and water. Doug and Katelyn had a great time with this! I didn’t get too close, but I had a great time watching them! :) Katelyn thought it was cool that you got to keep the sandals. Even though we wore ponchos, we still got wet – Doug and I even kept on our Maid of the Mist ponchos on which were a little longer.

We walked back across the bridge – it was a little chilly. We had to get the picture of us standing in two countries at one time! I'm sure when I was a kid there were actually lines painted on the ground - now it's just that plaque.
We stopped at a souvenir shop and got a couple things. Then back to Sandy and the campground. We were tired, so we just picked up a Hot-n-Ready (yes, Little Caesar’s) and took it back to the campground. We ate our pizza and then decided that the pool and hot tub sounded good. After that we got showers.

Around 9:15, we headed back to the Falls area. We ended up in the perfect spot for the fireworks. The Falls looked very pretty all lit up – they changed the colors – the American Falls were red, white, and blue for a time. When the fireworks started, they lit up the sky… huge and beautiful! They only lasted about 10 minutes, but extremely impressive! We really liked it – definitely worth it to go back at night.
After that we returned to the campground, got our beds ready, and went to sleep!

Niagara Falls/Lake Erie - Day 1 - June 11, 2011

We said we’d do it and we did! We wanted to leave right after school ended for a trip in Sandy! We gave Katelyn 2 choices – Cape Cod or Niagara Falls. She chose Niagara Falls – she was there when she was 2 years old to visit Uncle Randy, who was doing border patrol at the time. That time (with Randy’s connection), we got to ride in a helicopter over the falls. She fell asleep! :) She was ready to see the Falls again – this time as a bigger kid with a video camera!

So we got up on Saturday, June 11, and drove to Niagara Falls, Ontario. That was quite a drive. We stopped at a Sheetz for gas and food along the way. We got our food and ate in Sandy. We enjoy that. Katelyn brought 10 books along, so you can guess what she did the whole way up to Canada! Crossing the border was no problem. We had our passports ready and were a little bummed that they didn’t stamp them… I wonder why they don’t?
It was about a 7 hour drive – we went right to our campground – Niagara Falls KOA.

It was a very nice and clean campground. They had a huge inflatable pillow that Katelyn had fun jumping around on. Then we went to the indoor pool – Doug and Katelyn swam while I read The City of Ember (a book of Katelyn’s that I started to read one day and now I can’t put down!). They had fun swimming, then back to the campsite for a campfire. We roasted hot dogs and those new HUGE marshmallows!! They were pretty fun – roast the outside layer then eat that and roast the next one and so on! Takes a while to eat just one!

We have our new top on Sandy – did it ourselves – that’s a story for another entry – I think I’ll let Doug tell that one since he did most of the work! Anyway, it got very chilly as night hit, so we didn’t even need our extra two windows! Needless to say, we used sheets and blankets this night! Katelyn loves sleeping up top.