Niagara Falls - Take Two

If you're not on photo overload yet, here are some of the best photos from our Niagara Falls trip last week.  There are three main waterfalls - American and Bridal Falls are bunched together, but the big one you think of when you picture Niagara Falls is Horseshoe Falls.  It's the great big one that's shaped in what else, a horseshoe. One side is the United States - the other, Canadian.

All that "smokey" appearance, is the mist from the water hitting the bottom.  I cannot explain how loud the roar of the falls is.  I tried to capture a video to give you some of the effect... it still doesn't do it justice.

Dave and I at Horseshoe Falls US Overlook.

The big drop... Imagine going over that in a barrel!  Out of 16 people who went over in a barrel, only 9 survived.

Drew wasn't nearly as impressed with the Falls after a few minutes.  So he and Grandpa ran their hearts out in the grassy area.  

I mentioned the fact the waterfalls are just a shelf.  Straight down, nothing subtle about the drop.  Here's a shot I captured showing that steep drop.

Every rock we saw, Drew had to climb and walk across them.  I'll spare you the plethora of shots of him walking across the rocks.. and show you the one Rocky Rock (notice his Rocky T-Shirt?).

Drew was so excited to eat dinner that night, but just as we were pulling into the parking lot he conked out.  He never once woke up during the meal, instead laid on Daddy's lap.  While we were walking back to the car, he woke up briefly and whined "Why aren't we going in there to eat".  He wasn't too happy when we told him we already ate - we took his meal to-go and he gobbled it up at the hotel that night.

We hoped to watch the fireworks show at the Falls that evening - it was Victoria Day in Canada.  But on the drive back from the restaurant it started to rain.  After getting soaked by the falls during the day, the last thing we wanted to do was get wet AGAIN.  So lucky for us, we had a great view of the fireworks from our room!
The next morning we were warmed up enough to brave another attempt to get right up to the Falls.  Dave, Brianna, Tim, and I did the Cave of the Winds tour at Niagara Falls.  It gets you face to face with the American and Bridal Falls.

 That's a shot of Horseshoe Falls from the Cave of the Winds Balcony (remember yesterday's shot from above of the deck below... that's where we are now).

We again get to sport some very attractive gear - this time yellow ponchos.
L-R: Brianna, me, Dave

There weren't many dry areas of this little walking tour, so I couldn't get too many pictures.  Above is a shot from below looking up at the American Falls (to the left) and Bridal Falls (to the right).

The force of this water is amazing.  Oh and the water temperature that day... a chilly 44 degrees.

Dave and I in the last semi-dry area.  that water would gush up and hit us in the back quite regularly.  With the cost of admission, not only do we get those gorgeous yellow ponchos, but sandals.

As you can see, the higher you go up those steps, the more damp it is... but we HAD to do it.  I had to tuck the camera away for safekeeping for that trek.  I managed to find a deck off to the side (at the top) to capture the picture below of Dave getting nailed by the Falls.

We all went into the corner of that deck and were just pelted by the Bridal Falls.  Again, 44-degree water slamming into you with such force.  When I was in that corner I couldn't help but scream from the cold and force of the water.  It took me nearly three hours - the entire drive back to Ithaca to dry off.  But it was worth every minute of it.

We cannot than Grandpa Tim and Grandma Lolly enough for such a memorable trip... and of course Aunt Brianna for graduating from college to make everything possible.  This was for sure a trip to remember.

Niagara Falls - Take One

If you haven't seen Niagara Falls... it MUST be on your "bucket list" of things to do.  WOW.  While we were in New York last week for Brianna's college graduation (Dave's little sister), we drove the three hours to Niagara Falls.  Words cannot express the noise we heard when we got out of the car at the hotel and heard the rushing waters from about 1/4 - 1/2 a mile away. 

We were so excited to go and see them (we got into town around 1 or 2pm), so we got checked in and quickly unloaded everything into the hotel room.  It was a little cool and overcast, so I decided to change out of my capris and Drew out of his shorts to put on jeans.  Big mistake.  I'll get to that in a bit.

We hurried out to see the majestic Falls, and it did not disappoint!  We took full advantage of every tourist attraction at the Falls (well nearly all - we didn't do the aquarium or see one section of the park).  There are so many pictures we took, that I figured I'd spread them out over two days - since we spent 2 days exploring.  Let me just say, the photos do not do it justice.

First on the agenda... hitting up Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes you right down into the falls.  With the admission price you get a "pretty" blue poncho.  Um, you definitely need it!  In fact they should just give you a body suit!

 Drew shows us his new get-up, and we were amazed at just how handy this sucker would be...

Now that we're on the boat, Drew is in awe of all the falls...

American and Bridal Falls - the first of the three main waterfalls.  The view from the top deck.  Be prepared, all the blurry/hard to see photos coming up, are because of all the mist from the waterfalls!

Now for the big kahuna... Horseshoe Falls.  The one that stretches from the US to Canada.

It was tough to pull the camera out too much since all the mist and spray was pelting the camera.  At one point it wouldn't close properly it was so wet!

 (over our shoulders - to the right of the picture - is the Canadian side)

After the Maid of the Mist tour, Grandpa Tim, Dave, Aunt Brianna and I walked up toward the American Falls (some stairs/deck that goes right along side it).  It was a drenching so I didn't even bring the camera.  Drew who was cold and wet opted to stay with Grandma Lolly.  I cannot tell you how spectacular that walk was!

Afterward we took the elevator to the observation deck where it was SUPER windy.  I'd guess 30 mph winds (nearly knocked Drew over several times) but it was perfect to catch some of the scenes and dry off some.  We were SOAKED!

On the left side of the picture you see the American Falls, and in the distance is Horseshoe Falls.

From here we began making our way to see the Falls from above at a closer vantage point.  Dave and I just wanted to soak it all in because who knows when we'll be able to make the trip back here.  We were amazed by just how fast the water rushes toward the American Falls - they said about 30mph, and the depth is only 3-5 feet.  There's a point just beyond that bridge where they say it'll take you 3 minutes from start to the bottom of the Falls.

And the gang (I'm taking the picture obviously) - L-R: Brianna, Lolly, Drew and Daddy, Tim

That's what the end of the Bridal Falls looks like!  Below where you see the decks, that's Cave of the Winds.  I'll share that adventure with you tomorrow. But that gives you some perspective for tomorrow's post.

Drew and I in front of American Falls.  What's amazing about these waterfalls, is that it's a straight edge/cliff.  nothing rounded or anything.  Just a great big shelf.  In the distance you can see the observation tower where we were drying off, and below that is the Maid of the Mist boat tour.

I think that's enough photos for one post.  I'll share the rest of the day's adventures in tomorrow's post along with our Cave of the Winds tour!

Empire State Wine Tasting

Since my guess is most of you aren't at work looking for reasons to avoid that mound of paperwork on your desk, and therefore reading this blog on Monday... I'll save the really good post for tomorrow.  Today I'll focus on the wine tasting we did in New York.  Yes, there are wineries in more places than just California!

We hit up the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail  - who knew there were multiple wine trails in New York!

When we told the wine pourers we were from California, we got the stink eye, and the question "If you're from California, why are you tasting wine here?"  I mean the fact they said "WINE" on their doorstep isn't enough reason for us?  Really?

Hosmer Winery - our first stop

It's definitely different than here, but it wasn't all bad.  We tasted at two wineries and purchased vino at both.  We even had our first Ice Wine tasting experience.

The folks at the second winery - Sheldrake Point were super helpful, and Drew was happily playing with my cell phone... he's quite the professional underage wine taster.

(for some perspective, this is the same lake where Drew was throwing rocks in from the graduation party/gathering I showed in last Friday's Post.)

When we left the second winery it was 4:50 and most of the wineries close at 5pm in the middle of the week - go figure NY wineries are open 7 days a week where most of the ones near us are Friday - Sunday. Hmmm - and the say Californians are the winos.

So we were happy to see there was more wine in the New York town of the same wine location we got married at here in California - Lodi. 

In fact when we commented at one of the wineries that we got married in Lodi - California that is - and we were interested in tasting in this Lodi, we once again got the stink eye saying "oh there is no comparison."  Meaning our Lodi was much much better... Well duh!

Unfortunately all the Lodi wineries were closed by the time we got there (15-20 minute drive and on the other wine trail).  So we were forced to find a UPS shipping center to send all of our excess luggage back home.

So Much To See and Do

What a trip back East!  We did so much and I took an insane amount of pictures!  So over the next several days expect to be inundated with an obscene amount of pictures and details of our trip to New York for Dave's sister Brianna's College Graduation.

First up, our trip to Taughannock Falls State Park - where Brianna had her graduation party gathering for family and friends.  Dave, Drew and I showed up at the slotted time because Drew was getting antsy in the hotel room.  Everyone else showed up about an hour-and-half later.  We made the best of the time while we waited - enjoying the scenery.

When everyone arrived we enjoyed lunch and playing catch, baseball and throwing rocks.

Drew even gave fishing a try!  It lasted a whopping 2-3 minutes.

Dave's Family.  L-R: Dave, Brianna (the graduate/sister), Grandma Lolly (Dave's Mom), Grandpa Tim (Dave's Step-dad), and Chris his brother.   Daniel, Dave's other brother wasn't able to make the trip.

Shortly after those group shots we took an amazing hike to see the park's waterfall.  Boy am I glad we did it!  It was definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

Brianna, Drew and Dave near one of the "scary" caves.

Drew and I in front of one of the mini waterfalls.  Drew was anxious to climb on all of the rocks.

Drew and I ventured out on these really cool rocks/shelf.

I love this family shot. 

Then we finally made it to the waterfall.  It was beautiful!  This first shot is the view from the bridge.

But we could get much closer... and get wet!

Here Drew is trying to hide from the mist.  This "lookout" is about 30 yards from the fall itself.  And from the park's website... "The falls cataract has an incredible drop of 215 feet, and is one of the highest east of the Rocky Mountains."

After playing in the water we hiked the 20-30 minutes back to our site.  And that's when I captured this precious shot of Drew and Grandpa Tim looking at the birds that flew by. 

OK I think that's enough photo-blasting you for one day.

In Flight Entertainment

This look at the in flight entertainment is brought to you by Drew.












That's what you find on your phone when you try to keep your 3YO quiet on a 6 hour flight. I couldn't tell you how many voice memos I erased this morning either. Until this weekend I didn't even know I had a voice memo feature!

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Home Again, Home Again

I'm in the San Mateo Bridge blogging - that's a first for me. There are three of us who are happy to be on California soil and off the airplane.

Drew was amazing on the flights in both directions. Only one puke-fest on the before we even left San Francisco. Thankfully he made it into the barf bag. Too much lemonade we think.





I will have more pictures from our trip over the next few days.

That was one long ass bridge.

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Niagara Falls Teaser

I tried last night to post some other pictures but the hotel wireless was being feisty, so you can have a few pictures I took yesterday from my cell phone.

Check out Niagara Falls:












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