
We awoke to rain. Our American Tour of the Falls is not until 2:20 PM so Jim and I hop on the road and head up to Fort Niagara. It's only about 25 miles away and up on the most northwest tip of New York State and on the shore of Lake Ontario. We drove thru rain and arrived at the beautiful Fort Niagara park. They have a huge swimming pool and soccer fields and playgrounds as well as picnic areas on beautiful grounds with lots of large trees. At the end of the park stands Old Fort Niagara. I didn't expect it to be so loud but it shook all of us with the BOOM!

The first building on the site of Old Fort Niagara was built in 1726 by the French. This fort has been occupied by the French, the British and the American forces. This location played critical roles in the French & Indian War, the American Revolution and the War of 1812. There are also many other buildings on the site built by the French, the British or the Americans...whenever they were in control of the Fort. There is even a wall which was built during the Civil War when it was feared that the British would come from Canada to help the South.
We headed back home in bright sunlight anticipating our first look of the falls. Arrived back to the motorhome with enough time to eat lunch and gather what we needed for our bus tour. While waiting to leave the rig we checked our emails, etc. All the time clouds were gathering and it kept getting dark then darker in the motorhome. Finally we heard a loud clap of thunder. It started pouring rain! We were under a severe weather warning!

We were picked up by our tour guide was told we were the only two on the tour! Even though it's still raining we head out in the 15 passenger bus. Our guide, Rita, is born and raised in Niagara Falls. She does manage to give us hope that the rain will pass and we will have a good time. She took us on a drive around the immediate area and the city of Niagara Falls, NY. On the way to downtown she drove us along the Niagara River and explained how the city uses the water for the power plant. She drove us onto Goat Island...the piece of land that divides the river into the two major sections of the falls...the American and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. First stop was Cave of the Winds. We are given plastic ponchos and special rubber sandals to wear as we will be walking outside on wooden decks at the foot of the American and Bridal Veil Falls. Why did I wash my hair this morning? I roll up my pants, try to protect my phone and camera and head down in the elevator and to the falls. The site is amazing and the sound is roaring! And everyone is wet! We walk all the way down and the back up to the Hurricane Deck which is right under Bridal Veil Falls. I get a great pic of Jim.

We returned back to the top of the falls and walked all around the pathways above the falls. The speed of the water falling over the edge is fast and the size of it all is huge! We get right up to the edge of Horseshoe Falls and are mesmerized just watching it rush over the edge. Of course, there are people with cameras everywhere and posing with family and friends. I'm sure the crowd was lighter than usual since it was a weekday and because of the earlier rain.
Next we get to the boat ride...Maid of the Mist. We again are given a plastic poncho to wear to protect us from the water. Ha! We'll see. Our guide told us to get on the bow of the boat..right in front on the bottom level. Lots of others have the same idea but we manage to find a great spot there. Finally we get underway and head past the American Falls and straight into the foot of Horseshoe Falls. It's too wet to bring out the camera but I manage to get a couple of pics in the less wet areas. The mist is heavy and blowing like a gale. The perspective is powerful. We hear stories of people who have dared to go over the falls in homemade barrels, etc. One story sounds too miraculous to be true. In 1979 a young 7 year old boy, wearing a swimsuit and regular life jacket, was swept over the falls and survived!!
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