Yesterday we drove from Canton, Oh to Niagara Falls. It was not a long ride, so we arrived with plenty of time to tour the area. In fact, we arrived just around lunch time, so stopped in Buffalo at one of the original Buffalo wing restaurants called Duffs to try original recipe wings. Unfortunately, I also looked up the history of Buffalo wings and found out how they are made. Not on a nutrititionist’s list of top foods. But it was worth the try!
Upon arriving at Niagara Falls we started in the visitor’s center to read the background information and pick up a map. We then went to the closest overlook, near the American Falls, but we were much too anxious to get up close, so we purchased our tickets for the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the bottom of the falls. Since it was not crowded (summer crowds are gone – yeah!) we walked right on to the boat. They hand you a blue rain poncho (The Canadian equivalent has red ponchos) and within a few minutes we were floating by the falls.
First you go by the American and Bridal Veil Falls
and then move as close as possible to the Horseshoe falls (the Canadian side) and hang out there in the mist of the falls for a few minutes. (You do get pretty wet!) It was awesome.
We did not bring our passports so that was as close as we were going to get to the Canadian side of the falls. At the boat launch area there is also a set of stairs that climbs along the side of the American falls, so we checked that out as well.
We then wandered around the Niagara Falls park finding all of the viewpoints to the falls. There is a site for the Horseshoe Falls from the American side. You cannot see the full horseshoe but you do get a pretty good view of it, so not much missed if you can’t make it to the Canadian side, although I am sure seeing the full view of the Horseshoe Falls is amazing.
This is a picture of the crowd in that area. If you look closely you can see women in hijabs and Menonites in traditional dress. It has been cool to see so much diversity in the more well known sites. 
We found another nice RV Park and had another rainy night. Our typical routine at the RV parks is find a level place to park in our site, then prep. dinner, I mean I prep dinner while Shayna checks out the grounds. We are always excited if there is a sink to wash the dishes in. Our van has a sink and water, but it is difficult to get the dishes really clean. We have 2 stoves, one that is removable and one that stays in the kitchen, one pot and one pan, but we have eaten pretty well. Then, we get the van ready for the night, get out the bedding from storage, pop the penthouse. We are tucked in by dark but usually spend some time reading and working/homework. In the morning we repack the bedding, drop the penthouse, prep. breakfast (usually yogurt or oatmeal) and hit the road. For lunch we usually stop at a rest area or try to find a park and make sandwiches.
Today has been strictly a driving day. We drove from Niagara Falls to Albany, NY with a stop in Schenectady for an oil change – we hit 5,000 miles. After a few nights of rain, we opted for a motel room in Albany. We are staying right across the street from Albany State University and had a nice walk around the campus.
American History Roadtrip 