One Day...ONE State

Whew! What a day!
From the hotel we started off for Niagara Falls on I-90, but turned off the beaten path after filling up with gas (only the third time! – we are getting 31 mpg in our Toyota Camry!). After a few miles of driving we noticed grapes – everywhere. There was a sign for a winery so we stopped and asked (and picked up a bottle of Sweet Cranberry wine) – we had inadvertently stumbled across New York’s wine country in our off road travels! The clerk said there were 25,000 acres of grapes in the region we driving through and another 60,000 in the Finger Lakes Area. Who knew New York even had a wine country? After touring a little more, taking these beautiful photos (thank you Jamey!) and a little sampling -- after all it WAS after noon in the Eastern Time Zone, we purchased one more bottle of sweet wine called Bella Rosa from the very helpful and friendly owner of Merrit Wineries . He explained that sweet wines are popular in this region because the concord grape – the grape used to make sweet wines – grows better there than does any other grape. WHAT A FIND!

So…after reluctantly driving out of beautiful NY wine country we traveled a few more hours past quaint country villages and interstate towns and more of Lake Erie to Niagara Falls. Niagara was amazing! The magnificence and majestic splendor of nature at Niagara is something nearly past description. Upon arriving (in a very commercial area), we packed up our picnic basket complete with bread, cheese, grapes (from California), pastries and salami – and set out in search of a spot. We walked past massive swirling churning rapids so loud you had to nearly shout to hear yourself over – past the viewing deck for the American falls – where you see the smaller falls in all of their glory and finally found a great spot for a picnic right in between both. Here is Avery chasing what Jamey calls the Niagara Pigeons – seagulls (they were everywhere!). He would chase them away then we would throw more food and they come right back.

We decided last minute to spring for tickets on the Maid of the Mist and we are glad we did. It was amazing! After donning the signature ponchos we boarded the boat, and took our choice of spots (we were first in line) and soon we were off, rocking in the water as we moved closer to the falls. We were soon within a few hundred feet of the amazing Horseshoe Falls with a view you can’t get from the US -- getting drenched by the water around us—producing 12 million horsepower of energy smashing around us -- it was an experience that we will not soon forget!

We checked out a bit more of Niagara Falls National Park, climbed some rocks, took a few more photos and hit the road for Fillmore Glen National Park in NY for some camping and smores (really? the spelling for smores is not in the Microsoft dictionary?). Thunderstorms all night and forecast for morning as well however, turned Fillmore Glen into a few more miles on the interstate (the GOLDEN New York interstate that is – or if it is not it should be because it cost us $7.25 to drive on it!) and hot dogs and smores into pizza from Pizza Hut and a handful of Spree in the quarter machine on the way out– so I’m blogging on the road tonight until we decide to stop... or not.

POST NOTE: 5:59 am - Olay! We finally stopped in E. Greenbush, New York about 1:00,am the price on hotels here is CRAZY! They want $77 for a closet with a mattress, a pillow and a roach to keep you company. We finally haggled the night staff at America's Best Value Inn to give us a room for $50 after we told him that is what he would spend - then left...he literally chased us out to the car to give us the room. Immediately upon entering the room, we were overpowered by a Mexican food smell (Jamey says jambalaya, but I'm pretty sure it's Mexican rice of some sort), and we couldn't find it anywhere -- so we slept in little Mexico in NY. The one king bed was OK, we packed in like sardines on top of our own pillows and blankets, and the air conditioner worked, as well as the bathroom - so we were happy! Urban Camping!