Niagara Falls

Well, Niagara Falls... The only thing I truly wanted to do in Niagara was to see the Falls and in particular, do it from the Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes you to the base of the American Falls and then to the basin of Horseshoe Falls, through the crashing waters and massive rock formations. It's about a half-hour tour and allows you to experience firsthand the power and intensity of the Falls. That was my sole purpose for going and thusly, had allowed only one day. We were scheduled to arrive at 7.15am on the 10th of Sept and were scheduled to leave at 7.05am the very next day. We would be in Niagara for 23hrs and 50mins. We Greyhounded it to Niagara. There were a couple of driver changes. Our last change of drivers was also a change of buses to the partner company, Trailways, and a driver named Tim. It was a good change. Not only was he a good driver, but he spoke to the passengers, a bit like a tour driver, gave us some history and tourist ideas. And with Scott & Alina being the socialable lil bunnies that they are, we had a good chat with Tim, which worked out in our favour later (as I will relate soon).

When we arrived in Niagara, US Border Security was waiting to greet us (as in the bus), this was normal procedure. They checked everyone's passports/visas and drivers licence for the American folk. Again, we made socialable and was having a good chat and a few jokes with the Security guys. Tim was checking where all the passengers were staying and advising them the best way to get there. When he checked ours, he said, "That is ages from here. But if you are willing to wait for Border Security to finish here, I can drop you a lot closer to where you are going." Who's gonna knock back a free (safe) ride…? Not us! So we threw the suitcases back under the bus and continued to chat with Tim and a couple of the Border Security guys. Everyone was off the bus except for three guys. Now on the way, for about 10 of the 11.5hr trip, there were 6 Russians (3girls & 3 guys) laughing, chatting, yapping loudly as if they were the only ones. This was a night trip, started at 7.50PM and got in at 7.15AM. So, everyone is off the bus, except for the 3 Russian guys. The girls were off the bus and standing together, very limited English. But you could see they were worried. They asked why we were still there & we said this wasn't our stop. Everyone else was gone. One of the Border Security guys told Scott & I that the 3 guys had overstayed their student visas, one by 2yrs and the others by 1 yr each. And that they were going to be deported, they would not be seeing Niagara Falls. I then said, did someone want to tell the girlfriends, as they didn't understand what was happening. So they tried to explain to the girls and the guys were handcuffed and marched off the bus to the waiting paddy wagons (well they were more like SUV's than a wagons ). We then jumped back on the bus and Tim dropped us off a couple of blocks from the Y (YMCA).

A quick shower and clean clothes, made us feel a lot more human. A map and some advice/directions from the locals manning reception and we headed off in search of breakfast and the Falls. We kinda took a wrong turn and took the scenic route. We stopped at a grocery store, briefly, but long enough to discover they stocked Fosters beer, hence the photo in my USA Snippets album (on facebook) of Scott holding the Fosters beer. Back on the road again, yes, we are walking, because apparently it's not that far… Alina was excited to finally see a Denny's. Breakfast inhaled and I am ready to go again! But first, we stopped at the Days Inn next door to get some clearer directions and I am sad to say, I forget his name. But he was on the Customer Information Desk. Older gentleman who had retired and then realised he was bored, so went back to work. We had a good chat and he encouraged us to go on the Maid of the Mist, but to also go see the Cave of the Winds. Armed with a different map and different directions, we headed off. And made it to the Maid of the Mist. I won't bore you with the descriptions of how to get to the boat etc, you can see that in the photos. The boat trip was all I thought it would be. Amazing. To be out there at the base of the Falls, to feel the boat rocking and swaying from the waves caused by the Falls, to feel the spray coming off the Falls, WOW. We had a bit of a chuckle about how we all looked like we were a part of some cult. You see they hand everyone these blue disposable ponchos to wear to help keep you dry. And all I could think of, was those silly Snuggies (most Aussies will know what I mean, especially you Sarah M! I remember your desire to have a snuggie made from shamwow ).

So, Maid of the Mist - Check! Next, to take the advice of Days Inn Man and go to the Cave of the Winds. We had a bit of a long walk ahead of us, cross the Niagara River and then through the Niagara Falls State Park. Very Beautiful - see photos Ok, here we got to have a further laugh, as we felt we had defected from the Blue Poncho Cult and joined the more lucrative cult - The Yellow Poncho Cult. More lucrative because they also supplied their members (followers?) with sandals to wear too - again, see photos Well, I am so glad we stopped in at the Days Inn. The Cave of the Winds was absolutely AMAZINGLY WOW. To be that close to the Falls. To be that close to raw power. It was a bit of an awesome God moment for me. There are photos that show what we saw, but I cannot adequately describe the experience. I will say this - if you go to Niagara - go to the Cave of the Winds. And make sure you do it from the American side. They like it dangerous and you are out in the open walkways, getting wet and blown around. The Canadian side is all nice and protected. An interesting piece of info about the walkways (American side), they take them down each year before the freeze and then reassemble them when the ice melts. That's a heck of a lot of work. Keeps it all safe though. On our way back towards the Y, we dropped into the free Blues Festival that was on. I saw a Formal Dining option that had me laughing and snapping a pic - check it out in the album, it is a roast pig.

Now, this next bit is a bit of a drama saga. While we were waiting for Border Security to be done with the Russian passengers, Tim asked us what our plans were and we were telling him we were 'shipping out' the very next morning on the Amtrak. He said to us worriedly, I think you better check on that, the Amtrak hasn't been running from Niagara lately, still fixing the track from when the flooding happened the month before. Now when we had got to the YMCA, we had tried calling Amtrak and got nowhere really. We were told that we should just call tomorrow morning t make sure it was indeed running. We decided that we would go do the falls and then pop over to the Amtrak station and speak to someone face to face. Bad move. So we were walking back to the Y from the Falls and we stopped back in tell the guy at the Days Inn thank you for his good advice. He then gave us directions to the Amtrak and assured us it wasn't that far. So we set off. And we walked, and we walked, and we stopped and asked for directions… oh yeah, it is not far, just go up here and turn left onto Hyde Park Blvd and then it's just a couple of blocks away. And we walked, and we walked and we asked for directions… again assured it was really close and given the same directions. So we finally turned into Hyde Park Blvd and I was feeling slightly relieve but overly weary. Most of you know that my body is far older than what I actually am. My knees were aching so bad and my hips. I couldn't hide it any longer, I was in pain. I was walking at a 'fast shuffle'. Scott turned and said, we are not going any further. And I said, I'm fine, it can't be far now. And he said, 'Lady you can't go any further.' We were standing on the sidewalk, out front a church. And Scott said, "We'll go in here and see if someone can give us a ride." Whereupon I promptly told him I didn't need any help, that I was fine and we should keep going as it was getting late. Sigh, I've been hearing a lot of late that I know how to give, but I need to learn how to receive. Accepting or asking for assistance is not necessarily being weak. Scott told me something about of all the places to ask for help this would be it and if I didn't walk up there, he would carry me in. So I walked in. We got into the foyer and were heading into the open doors of the auditorium when we were greeted by a man (turns out he was one of the Pastors). He asked what he could do for us and Scott told him our dilemma. He asked us to come take a seat and offered to get us some drinks (and I started to cry, sigh). I was just so exhausted and totally past my ability to deal with any of it. Ps Rickey and Scott worked together and phoned Amtrak and spent about half an hour on hold and about another half an hour explaining to the customer service operator that it was not acceptable that they cancel services and not advise their passengers. It turned out we would have to organise transportation from Niagara to Albany and catch the Amtrak from Albany. Ps Rickey let his Sound Tech guys know that he was going to give us a lift back to the Y and bundled us into his SUV to take us 'home'. You can see a photo of the church in the album.

Back at the Y, and the saga is not over, we need a bus out of Niagara. On the phone to Greyhound who assure me that we can catch a bus from the same place we arrived that morning, to be at the "station" by 7AM to purchase the ticket and secure our seat - as they could not sell the ticket over the phone. Then we book a cab to come pick us up by 6.30AM to take us to the bus. And then, then we could think about getting dinner. Scott had heated up my wheat bag in the kitchen and it was easing some of the pain in my knees. And what a man! We checked the menu at a localish take-a-way place and he then walked on over to go get me/us some dinner while I slept.

The night was too short. All of a sudden it was time to get up and catch the cab. We were dropped off at the Dare Devil Museum… hmm the word museum is very very generous. Anyways, we had been given a street address, which the cabbie very diligently dropped us to. I called Greyhound who were extremely unhelpful about the location of the station and it was eventually suggested I call Trailways, their partner and check with them, as this was their part of the journey (Scott caught me on camera chewing out the unhelpful rep, and I obediently posted the pic in the album). So I did. The customer service rep at Trailways was very helpful and explained that indeed I was at the right location and that the museum opens before the bus gets there and that the proprietor would be able to sell us tickets. She was very reassuring and could answer all my questions. Why Greyhound just doesn't immediately redirect these queries to Trailways I have no idea! OK, that is it for Niagara. There is more travel saga about getting to Philly (the next stop), but that can wait until the Philadelphia blog.