Western New York

North into western New York state. The Finger Lakes area,(wine tasting) Rochester, the Erie Canal, and Niagara Falls. Still cool, but a beautiful area. Stayed a few nights in the Seneca, Keuka Lake area then up toward Rochester. Camped outside Rochester near Lock #30 of the Erie canal.

We met one of the lock masters just starting his shift. He was great and spent over an hour with us. We got a glimpse of what life was like on the Erie Canal before the St. Lawrence seaway opened. The New York State canal system still operates today, mostly for recreational and historical purposes. 524 miles from Albany to Buffalo. Time to do some housekeeping, we'll stay in Four Mile State Park west of Rochester on Lake Ontario near Niagara Falls.

A beautiful park. We are on the south shore of Lake Ontario with a great view. It was good to have a few days of down time. Do laundry, rest and explore the area. A side trip to Buffalo for mail and visit the Navy museum in downtown Buffalo's harbor. With clear days we can see just the tops of tall office buildings and condos in Toronto, 30 miles across the lake. The horizon blocks the lower 12-15 floors. Soon we'll visit Toronto but first Niagara Falls.

Niagara falls is a 15-20 minute drive from 4 Mile campground. You can hear the roar of the falls when you're getting out of the car. Excitement builds just walking into the park. Before the falls are visible, we can see spray, boiling into the air atthe top of the river. Then the river disappears over the falls 180 feet into the gorge. Awe inspiring, huge and grand, photo opportunities are everywhere, 24-7 it never stops.

Combination tickets let us take the Maid of the Mist boat ride, view the falls from the Observation Tower, walk the Cave of the Winds catwalk(base of rainbow falls), Niagara Gorge Discovery Center(film & displays), unlimited Tram rides and go to the Aquarium. More than you can do in one day. It took Don, Jill, Linda and I two days and nights and we still didn't "do" the aquarium. We walked the rim of the Niagara to Whirlpool Gorge, there were fireworks at night and the falls are illuminated from the Canadian side at dusk.

We also spent one afternoon getting a better view of Horseshoe falls, and supper from the Canadian side. American and Rainbow falls offer a walk through the water at the base, Linda and Jill had to go through twice, and were soaked despite their "raincoats". More later...on to Canada, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec.

We'll cross into Canada here and start working our way east along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway up to Quebec. Then past the Gaspe Peninsula down to New Brunswick, and east to the coast and Nova Scotia