Niagara Falls Loop

Kids ready to go!

Pennsylvania landscape

One nice 2010 Ford Explorer later and we were on our way.  I had initially raised my eyebrows at Justin’s $300 purchase of a TomTom navigation system the day before but when it came to finding our way out of New York with all those freeways I gave him a big smooch instead.  Suzy (her name) has saved our sanity.  First off, she gives you the chance to focus on driving on the right hand side of the road without having to worry about directions at the same time.  Secondly she gives us the fastest route which is so important with two squawkers in the back seat and if there are road works or a traffic jam she will give you another quick route.  Thirdly, she converts miles into kilometres and calculates the exact time we will be arriving and she has yet to be wrong.   Fourthly, if you decide it’s time for lunch Suzy will direct you to the nearest park, recreation area or tourist spot.    Once she took us to a park which turned out to be the nearest town’s baseball park so we had lunch in the bleachers…very American.   And finally, she tells you the speed limit on the roads you take so there is no chance of getting pulled over by the local Sherriff much to Leo’s disappointment.  Suzy has been wholeheartedly welcomed into our family and her presence has made for a very peaceful journey for the most part!  I highly recommend a navigation system if you are going to do what we are doing in any country.

Cabin

We drove out of New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, long freeways and lots of farm area.  Eventually you start hitting state parks which are lovely.  Unfortunately for us we have arrived in school holidays so there aren’t any free cabins for miles.  We ended up in another motel for the first night in a place called Williamsport.  On our second night we managed to score a cabin in Pine Creek Gorge but it cost us a fortune $$135 for one night.  It was a lovely cabin though,  2 bedrooms, full kitchen and air-con.  We thoroughly enjoyed it and had our first BBQ in America there.  We saw our first bald eagle down on the dam lake and almost ran over a deer on our way out.  Leo and I have been practising what to do if we see a bear….FREEEEZE!......and slowly walk away.  Black bears are out and about and very hungry as they are beefing up for hibernation when winter hits so there are warnings everywhere and not far from us a group of scouts had been attacked and escaped within inches of their lives.  So I’m not sure if I want to see a bear or not!

Kath and Spence at Pine Creek Dam

Pine Creek Gorge

Cabin styles

Justin at work

First view of falls, mist 100m in the air

From Pine Gorge we drove a further 3.5 hours up to the Canadian border to see the Falls.  You basically cross a bridge between the two countries and pay $$3 for the privilege. Niagara Falls falls mostly from the US side but Canada is blessed with the better views so most people bypass staying in US Niagara.  You can see you are coming up to the falls because you wonder what all that mist is in the air rising up about 50 meters in front of you.  It costs $$20 just to park there but the rest if free.  There is a boardwalk along the falls to view it and you pay extra if you want to go to platforms closer to the bottom (you get saturated) or approach the falls on a boat.  They are pretty spectacular that is for sure, such a huge volume of water and noise.  Leo loved it and both kids had a blast in the spray because it was such a hot day.  There is a big establishment there called Table Rock which has eateries, toilets etc inside so we grabbed some sushi and rolls and had a lovely picnic with the kids.  We had been worried that the afternoon at the falls wouldn’t be enough but you can definitely see all there is to see (without paying extra) in a couple of hours.  We had booked a motel at St Catharines on the side of Lake Ontario or at least that’s what it looked like on the map!  It was a pretty bad motel right on the motorway but it had a pool so the kids loved it.  We drove to Lake Ontario for some dinner and found a lovely little marina with restaurants on the side.

Canadian Border

Niagara Falls

Thumbs up!

Wright Family - Niagara Falls 2011

Lake Ontario, Canada

St Catharines, Lake Ontario

It’s about 7 hours drive back to New York so we decided to break it up and stay in Endicott (a historic little village) on the way back.  It took an hour to get through the border though so that held us up a bit.   

Keuka Lake Picnic

On the way we stopped at one of the finger lakes called Keuka Lake for lunch and it was brilliant.  What a beautiful lake, we ate, we swam and we ate again.  Two happy and tired kids later we were on our way.  We passed through the southern end of the Catskill mountains which was lovely, all very lush and green despite the heat.  Endicott is a bit of a no where town.  You can almost hear the town creaking and groaning under the recession.  A lot of these small towns are that way, complete with a sagging porch and rocking chair on each house and American flags everywhere.  The small towns also have pictures of their boys away at war “Hometown Heroes” on their street lights with the names of their family members on it.  You forget that this is actually a country at war with Afghanistan and more recently Libya.  It has been hard on the kids doing 3.5hours in the car each day so we took a day off and found a beautiful spot about 30 minutes drive away called Nathaniel Cole Park.  This is a gorgeous white sand lake with a park surrounding it and lifeguards on duty.  You can buy icecream, cold drinks and hot chips etc there too and it comes complete with poser lifeguards.   Leo and Spencer had a brilliant day and so did we.  Spencer has no fear in the water and Leo spent his time making friends with all the other kids who very kindly let him join in with their sandcastles etc.  Justin and I spent our time running around after the both of them loving every minute. 

Just and kids at Nathanial Cole Park

Lake at Nathanial Cole Park

Check out the life guard posing!

Leo Thomas - 3 yrs old

Mummy and Spencer time

Justin's beiber

Keuka Lake lifeguard

Kids enjoying rocks at Keuka

Spencer in flight at Keuka Lake

Mummy and kids at Keuka

We aren’t really enjoying staying in motels that much, they are OKAY but I try not to look too closely and I cringe when the kids rub their faces in the bed covers, roll on the floor or pick something up and examine it.  They are also not that cheap, the best we have found so far is $$60 and the most expensive was $115 because we need two double beds.  Only one hotel has been able to give us a travel cot (they call them “pack and plays” over here, no motels have them at all so Justin shares with Leo and I’m in with Spencer.  It’s not ideal but we are all sleeping quite well.   The car rental is also expensive so we have decided to try and buy a car and camper so our trip will last longer, our kids will have their own beds and we will be able to budget better for meals.  At the moment we never know if we will have a fridge or a microwave or nothing at all so it’s very hard to ensure we have things to eat and I’m determined our kids will eat healthily over here so it’s been a real challenge.

We drove into New York via the Palisades highway and over some massive bridges much to Leo’s delight.  Thank heavens for Suzy who got us there quickly and safely right down to which lane to be in before turning.   One airport hotel later and we caught our flight to Washington DC, you only have to be there 30 minutes before departure but for once I’m glad my hubby is always early.  It took 2 hours to get through check in and security and we made it just as our flight was closing.  It’s true, they search everyone and make you take your belts and shoes off, even Spencer.  I suppose it’s a flight like this that was hijacked for 9/11 and flying into Washington DC (the only target they missed) is a risky business.  The flight was fine though and we are now in FIND A CAR to buy mode.  We are staying in Warrenton about 30 minutes out of the city and it’s HOT.  This motel has a great pool though at is about $$65 per night so we’ll stay until we have our car.  Yesterday we drove miles to different car yards in Manasses and Vienna only to find a promising Jeep Cherokee 100 metres down the road from our motel!  It was a very frustrating day with lots of false information and salesmen who said one thing and then said something completely different either when we arrived or when we looked interested in the car.   The only good thing that came out of yesterday is a few names of Insurers that don’t mind insuring non-citizens.   To register a car all you need is an address so we are able to use our motel’s address and travel for 2 weeks on temporary plates.  In 30 days though we need to be somewhere to apply for permanent ones and then stick around for 2 weeks to receive them so we are thinking we’ll do this in Florida Keys.   We have had a quote for $$52 per month on insurance which is very reasonable.  Justin test drove the jeep today and it all checked out, we had to fix the air-con but other than that it was all good, we now own a 1993 Grand Jeep Cherokee!  We have decided to head into Washington DC tomorrow because we have to drop the rental car back at Dulles airport anyway and we can then see the sights and head out to a camping area.

All in all, we would totally recommend the Niagara Falls loop from New York up to Ontario and back.  This is a truly lovely country. 

Over and Out for now xxx