Niagara Falls.

Today we had a fantastic time. Our tour guide picked us up in our RV park. No driving for me today. Yea! We had a nice group of people to share our adventure.

Niagara Falls is the oldest American State Park and is 125 years old this year. Our first stop was at Whirlpool State Park. Our guide told us that the whirlpool is probably the only one in the world that changes direction twice a day. It can go clockwise and counter clockwise because of water being diverted to the power plants at certain times of the day.
WHIRLPOOL

Gondolas cross over the whirlpool from Canada to what looks like the US, but is actually still Canada. In the past, some unscrupulous men tried to make money by telling people they would smuggle them into the US after dark. They even went so far as removing the Canadian flag and replacing it with a US flag.


Next we went to Cave of the Winds on Goat Island. You can't get closer to the falls than this. We were issued rain ponchos and disposable sandals and we were told, "you will get wet".
Here we are dressed in our stylish yellow ponchos. We descended down to the foot of the falls in elevators cut out of solid rock. We were told the shafts were built without the use of dynamite.


Janice is at the bottom of the boardwalk to the Cave of the Winds. Look at the rushing rapids behind her. With the mist swirling, this was the end of our hairdos today.


The pounding of the water is awesome. The boardwalk goes up so close to Bridal Veil Falls that it feels like you will be blown off. The platform that goes closest to the falls is aptly named "Hurricane Deck".

We recycled our yellow ponchos as we knew we would be getting new blue ones shortly.

A short walk from the Cave of the Winds put us at Terrapin Point which is very close to the famous Horseshoe falls. The rate of water flowing over Horseshoe Falls is 681,750 gallons per second.


Onward to the Maid of the Mist. This is a boat ride that goes right up to the base of Horseshoe Falls. We picked up our handy dandy new blue ponchos and boarded our boat. They are very well organized with little or no wait times.

MAID OF THE MIST

We passed the American Falls which is the larger straight falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls on the way to Horseshoe Falls. The wind created by the fall of so much water, practically ripped our ponchos off. Even with rain gear, you still get wet. It was such a warm day, it felt wonderful. The mist was so thick, you needed windshield wipers on your glasses. No kidding, it was really to wet to take up close pictures. I am sure any picture this close to the falls would have looked like smog.


The view from the boat really shows you how majestic these falls are, and makes you aware of how very small you are. Another perk from being on the boat is the view you have of the New York State Observation tower.
NEW YORK OBSERVATION TOWER.

Can you see the people who look like ants at the rail of the deck?
The Observation Tower is the only place in the park where you can view both the American and Horseshoe falls at the same time. The tower deck extends over the Niagara Gorge.

When you get off the boat, an elevator brings you up to the tower platform that has spectacular views. The bridge you see is the Rainbow Bridge connecting the US with Canada. I plan to drive my RV across this bridge next week when I go through Canada to MI.


Just to show you how high up the observation deck is, I took this picture over the side railing of the people getting ready for the boat trip. The tent like structure at the base is where you get your blue ponchos. Can you see the small blue dots near the tent? Those are people in their blue ponchos. The Maid of the Mist can be seen in the bottom left corner.



So long for now, until next time...................