Day 191 Thur. Oct 11, 2018 A drive to Niagara Falls , then Lake Erie.

Niagara River below the falls

Niagara Falls Canada

 

First Bridge over the Niagara River

The lodging in Niagara Falls Can.

"Maid of the Mist" on the niagara R.below the falls.

Ruth got her wish. as she stated. “As long as we are going through Buffalo on the way to Lake Erie, why not detour  a bit to Niagara Falls?” Ok, that’s sound reasonable  so we made two plans. (The underlying reason here is to get some photographs of the Falls). So we did that. (The last time we drove through Buffalo in October with the trailer …it snowed while crossing the bridge (2-3 inches)— UGH!)

It looked quite auspicious as we started out in a steady rain until we got passed Rochester, NY heading east.  The wind was SW at our quarter so the ride was less than smooth. Then it let up, the sun threatened to shine and the roads became dry.  So we would try for Niagara Falls. (The alternate plan was to drive on through).

The customs crossing into Canada was quick as they had us get out of the truck, asked a few questions, as we waited for them to check the passports. (We had to park in a special zone for RVs and busses.) they were back in 3 minutes and we were on our way. (no inspection of the trailer.)

We drove a circle; over, around and under the Rainbow Bridge and headed for the Niagara Parkway south, where the parking lots were located just beside the “Horseshoe Falls”. Lot “A” was first and we found the entrance (not easy to see) where “Devon” took care of us and our money. He was a sports broadcasting major at St Catherine’s U. and had worked parking, all season. He took a semester off to work.

Ruth got her wish to see the Falls one more time.

A long view of the American Falls

The American Falls

The Canadian "Horseshoe  Falls"

A major coup for us was the shuttle. As we had to park at the end of the lot with the truck and trailer, it was a very long walk, about 3/4 mile.  The shuttle and Bob the driver gave us a private ride to the entrance of the Visitor center which was only short walk. That was a great help.

The Visitor  Center has two levels and afford you a very close vista of the Horseshoe Falls and a good distant one of the American Falls. We got as many shots as we wanted and were awed by the immense power that is provided by the falls. The roar is deafening.  There are no crowds but a steady movement of people along the rails over the falls. Not the summer crowds that can be stifling.  (see photos)

We returned to the truck by the shuttle and Bob’s hospitality. I pointed the truck out of town by the”back way” avoiding the downtown streets and the heavy stop and go.

I had mapped that route and it worked perfectly until we came to place where we were suppose to turn but no found street name posted (construction) . So, as not to miss the turn we turned …into a dead end street! We made the turn around in an apartment building complex and found that  the NEXT road was the turning place.

From there it was a SW route to Port Rowan taking 5 different roads in the process.  This is mostly flat country with many farms and woodlots along the way. This part of the Canadian Province is where tobacco is grown (It is all cut and stored now), and it is also one of the nations largest producers of GINSENG. We have come at the time they are harvesting the crop. All the sun covers  must be taken off before the crop is harvested and I will have more on that tomorrow and some photos.  There were workers in many of the fields getting things ready.  They have expanded the production  of ginseng closer to this campground. It is a crop that takes much from the soil so it cannot be grown a second time in the same spot. They keep moving the fields they use. Gensing takes 5 years to grow a crop.

We got settled in our camping spot by “Sherry” who with her husband runs the campground. There are very few ‘temporary campers’ as it is about 95% seasonal campers.

Tomorrow we will head for Long Point Bird Observatory  just down the road a few ‘klicks’, which was the reason for coming here. It banded its MILLIONTH bird this summer, which is quite remarkable. They are still banding  migrants so we should see some birds and learn many things.

(We did! So see tomorrow!)