Niagara Falls- More than a great view

Niagara Falls is one of the Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World and one of the Top 10 Natural Wonders of the World. For us to get to see the Falls was a glorious and mesmerizing moment. We did have a funny moment when Landon sees a squirrel and gets excited and wants us to take a picture. We got a little laugh out of that since we could see the mist rising up over the railing and hear the beginning of the roar of the falls. I am sure that we were all full of anticipation over what we were about to see. When we peaked over the railing we saw mist rising high from the falls, water crashing to rocks below, water rushing and swirling below, and lots of people there to see the same thing we were (a lot were visitors from other countries). It was really awe-inspiring. We looked around the visitor center and found where to buy tickets for us to ride on the Maid of the Mist. To get to the Maid of the Mist you have to pay to go onto the observatory (kinda tricky). Randy got some really neat pictures from up there but I wasn't the most comfortable. If you walk out on it, to the edge, you end up being suspended out over the water and rocks, more than 200 feet. When you are ready, you ride down an elevator to the bottom. There you get your poncho and get in line for your boat ride. It was quite amazing to be on the boat, feeling the spray of the waters and hearing the massive rush as the waters went over and collided with the water and rocks below. Randy took a little video with the camera so you can hear the sound of the water. If you can, click on it and listen and watch. I think it is about 2 minutes long. (Our digital camera can only take videos that around 2 or maybe 3 minutes long)
We went onto Goat Island (I believe that is the name). You cross a couple of bridges and can go out to an island. There is an area where you can stand over Bridal Veil Falls. The area is really beautiful up there. I wasn't expecting it to be so breathtaking. I am so glad that we took a little detour and made it up there.
The couple that helped teach us pickleball invited the girls over to make a bead project, well, the lady, not really the man. The boys ended up making a necklace too. She sat there and helped them pick out the beads and taught them how to make a beaded necklace. It was great. The kids had a great time. She also gave the girls stuff to make a charm bracelet and let the boys take fossilized shark's teeth. She made the kids day and they all had the biggest smiles ever on their faces. Barb, if you happen to read this, thank you so much!
Well, we are off to Pennsylvania now. I hope to be updating the blog again soon!

New York, land of vineyards

We managed to make it to New York without an incident. We are getting much better at packing up and leaving. Our first time to pack up and leave took most of a day, now we are down to about 5 hours total. Western New York is beautiful. The countryside is quite picturesque. Farms, old houses, vineyards, fields of crops, and hills, or mountains to us Texans. I had no idea that New York state had such a pretty side over on the western part of the state. And to think we almost missed seeing it. Randy found out that we were just 2 1/2 hours away from Niagara Falls from our current campground in Ohio, so we made reservations through our RPI membership to stay at Niagara's Lazy Lakes. We didn't make record time, although I think record time won't happen for a while, maybe never while we are pulling the camper. The kids are all filled with excitement to see the falls, and to be honest, so are mommy and daddy. I never really thought I would actually make it up here. While we were at 1st Baptist of Jefferson Ohio, they had a few backgrounds on their projector screen. One of them was a picture of one of the falls. Randy leaned over and whispered to the boys that we were going to see the falls in a few days and the looks on their faces was priceless. They are quite excited about the prospect of seeing such a large waterfall. I can't wait to see what their response is really like.
Oh, and the couple who did most of our pickleball teaching are here at this campground too. They say that you are often running into people you meet at other preserves.
I will post more later- it seems most of blogging is done going down the road, the internet is usually pretty fast and I don't have to fight anyone for the computer. :-)