Thursday, May 3rd: NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK

This morning we got up early to drive  2 ½ hours to Niagara Falls.    We are very excited to see this beautiful creation of God. 

Niagara Falls is the name for the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls, and for a small Bridal Veil Falls.   It is located on the Niagara River which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario and the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world.  It has a vertical drop of more than 173 feet.  Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America.    Niagara Falls forms the international border between Ontario, Canada, and the state of New York.   It is the oldest state park in America established in 1885.   The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet wide, while the American Falls are 1,060 feet wide.  The volume of water approaching the falls during peak flow season may sometimes be as much as 750,000 gallons of water per second.  90% of the water goes over the Horseshoe Falls and 10% goes over the American Falls. The speed of the river at the crest of the Horseshoe Falls is 25 miles per hour.

Niagara Falls is also used to generate electricity.  In 1853, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Mining Company constructed the canals which would be used to generate electricity.   In 1881   Niagara River's first hydrielectric generating station was built. The water fell 86 feet and generated direct current electricity, which ran the machinery of local mills and lit up some of the village streets.  In 1961 it was the largest hydropower facility in the America.   Today, Niagara is still the largest electricity producer in New York State

When we arrived we went straight to the visitors center and got tickets for the Maid of the Mist, which is the boat ride that takes you right under the falls.   It has been running since 1846 when ferry boat captains made more money taking tourist to see the falls than transporting goods.    When you enter the gates to go to the boat we walked onto the observatory that overlooks the whole falls.  It’s quite breathtaking!!  Then we rode the elevator that takes you down to the boat ride.  As we walked through the line to get on the boat the boating assistants hand us bright blue rain ponchos to wear.  Obviously we’re going to get wet.  And we all looked like a bunch of blueberries!!  :)

Look at the double rainbow with all the mist!!!

The boat ride goes all the up to the incredible mist coming off the horseshoe falls and as we approached it, the mist was so strong that it was impossible to see the falls.  Our ponchos were blowing up, we were getting sprayed in the face,  and we were laughing hysterically!!  It was very exciting to see the mammoth falls from the bottom and thank goodness for the ponchos because we only got minimally wet!!

We walked all over the falls from the American Falls, over to Goats Island to the Horseshoe Falls.  We couldn't contain ourselves with all the pictures because it was so incredibly beautiful!!

Next we went to see the “Niagara Legends of Adventure” movie about the history and survivors of the Niagara Falls.  It was a very interesting type of movie because it started out with the Indian people and of course the millions of years ago.    Then is showed a little about the war of 1812 but didn’t explain much of the history.  After that it went into the “crazy” people who has braved the falls . . . a French man walked a tight rope down to the horseshoe falls and back; an older lady put herself in a barrel with her cat and went over the falls and survived;   a man with a young brother and sister was boating and the engine quit – the man didn’t have a life preserver and didn’t survive, the young lady was rescued right before she went over the falls by a ranger & a random gentleman on the edge of the falls, and the young 7 year old boy went over the falls and actually survived and the Maid of the Mist boat picked him up!  We left feeling a little shocked and I wanted to see more of the history and beauty of the Falls.  They need to have National Geographic redo the movie!  On the way out of the theater we were informed by the ticket taker that this summer another “crazy” man is going to walk the tight rope over the falls!  Amazing that people will play with death that way!!

We shopped a little before we left for the camp ground.  Dave, Brandon, and Madison are flying home tomorrow so they need to get their bags together.  The little kids were excited to jump on the jumping pillow back at the KOA.    I will miss my boys very much – very sad that our time with them is over!!