Cape Cod to Niagara Falls and THE FALLS

We left Cape Cod early Tuesday morning to have the water reserve tank replaced in Boston. A small crack in the tank developed into a small hole causing water/coolant to escape. The part had to be special ordered and was fairly costly considering the size of the part. When we arrived at the truck repair shop in the middle of nowhere Boston, we discovered that they had ordered the wrong part and wanted us to stay another day so they could air express the correct part. A long discussion occurred which resulted in us leaving without the repair, and ultimately a patch job done 9by steve)until we could get the repair at our next stop. The patch appears to have worked so far, but we are carrying extra coolant until we get to the next available shop in Milwaukee.

By the time we finished the discussion in Boston, it was noon. Steve (me) set the GPS to avoid toll roads and major highways and the result was driving through downtown suburbs of Boston. The streets in places were extremely narrow, and some of the turns with our car behind us very challenging. We survived with no damage except frayed nerves. I think there were a lot of people wondering what we were doing driving down residential streets with the coach and car, and so where we. As we traveled out of the suburbs, and into the country the roads were two lane and very pretty. We wandered for miles through wooded hills, very small villages, farm areas, rivers, streams and school buses dropping off kids every three blocks. We arrived in Easthampton where our overnight stop was scheduled. It appeared that we were slated to go through downtown. We had been successful earlier in the day so we headed into town. About a block before going onto main street we noticed a bridge ahead with 10' clearance. Since the coach is 12'6" it didn't look like a good idea. We turned into a neighborhood and tr aveled parallel to main street looking for a way back to the main street finding that every road had a railroad overpass 10 feet or less. After some exploring, we back tracked and found a freeway entrance and headed east several miles until we were beyond the town. The GPS guided us to the campsite, and no bridges!! We reprogrammed the GPS allowing toll ways, and freeways for future travels when necessary. Other than that, the trip was uneventful.

We left early Wednesday morning and headed for I-90. After a hour of scenic country, small villages, and school bus picking up children for school, we found the on ramp to I-90. The lions share of travel was on I9 0, a toll way and unexceptional. When we finally turned off of I90 in Buffalo NY, the toll master looked up and said, 45.50. I was hoping he was showing me he could count in fives. No luck, that was the cost for traveling across the fine State of New York.

We traveled up to the campground on Grand Island, about 7 miles from the Falls. We are about a week ahead of the busy season, so the campground was relatively empty. We settled in and than took a quick trip to the falls for some reconnaissance. Most of the "features" were closed for the day, so we hike

d a little, and saw the falls from above, and returned back to the campsite awaiting a full day on Thursday.

And a full day it was!!

We arrived at the Falls around 10am, as our plan was to stay the entire day, and watch the lights at 9pm before we journeyed back to camp. We bought the passes that allow access to five of the most popular attractions including a IMax history show, The Maid of the Mist, The Falls Cave walk at the base of the American Falls, the aquarium, a cable car tour around the different sites in the park,and a natural history museum(that is only open on the weekend). The boat ride, and the caves are great opportunities to get up close and soaked. They do provide you with a plastic poncho and shower slippers. The weather was great, so the mist and water actually felt good.

To say that the falls were spectacular is like comparing the Grand Canyon to a draining ditch. Never have I experience the raw power of water cascading over the ledge. While it is not as high as Snoqualmie Falls, the shear volume is awesome. We walked on the trail at the base of the American Falls, took the boat next to Horse Shoe Falls (Canadian), and found tons of picture perfect views.

We walked across the bridge to Canada around 4pm to view the Falls from the Canadian Side, get dinner, and see the Falls lit up at night. We were not disappointed (except for dinner). We walked up a street just above the falls that was one of the most interesting, glitzy, touristy Streets we have seen thus far on this trip. As if the falls aren't enough, shops and attractions are in every building.

At 9ish, Canadian time huge spot lights from the Canadian side lit up the three falls. Initially it was just bright white pot lights, than the colors changed. Over the day Steve shot 600 pictures, a few of which are posted on the blog. Digital is so great. Shoot and sort.

We saw just about everything, and are now headed for Milwaukee to see a couple of cousins. It is great visiting with family, some of which we haven't seen for years. Another drive, another tollway, but a great adventure awaits us.