Niagara Falls in the Fall

You. Guys.

1. Thank you for being here as I am, yes, STILL talking about our vacation.

2. If you have never been to Niagara Falls in the Fall....GO.

The first time I went to Niagara Falls, I was two months old. My parents drove an old green Dodge van with carpeted walls and no seats in the back. My carrier rested on the engine between the two front seats.

Surprisingly, I don't remember that visit. Also surprisingly, that van has long since given up the ghost, and seat belt laws now prevent such extraordinary adventures.

The second time I went to Niagara Falls, I was somewhere in the neighborhood of a third grader with bangs splitting down the middle and teeth to match.

Ryan had never been to Niagara Falls. So we put it on our list. And I must say, it was a stunning, stunning visit.

Niagara is just about an hour and a half north of Letchworth, so that Thursday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed that way. It was supposed to be a cold and rainy day, and we determined that was okay, because we were touring a waterfall. It seemed appropriate. But God had other plans, and the day turned into a gorgeous, gorgeous time. And the sun...the leaves...the power of the waterfall...we were overcome. Worship come to life in nature, for sure. I will try not to show you every. single. picture. we took. But I am not sure this is possible.

His first view of the Falls: 

 We took our chalkboards and after we did this photo, a really nice mom said to us, "You seem to know what you're doing. Can you take our family's picture? And can we use your chalkboards?" LOL! Made my whole day.

 The leaves. I can't even...

And then...I cannot even tell you the joy THIS brought to my soul:

A rainbow!!!! I never get to see rainbows and yet...there it was. Just for us. God is good!

Amazing. Just amazing.

It was nice enough that we were able to eat lunch outside that day - and because we were there on a weekday in the fall - it was just quiet and lovely.

We spent the afternoon testing out different views, including going down to the bottom of the American side of the falls. {We did not do the Cave of the Winds or the  Maid of the Mist mostly because it was windy and cold enough that we knew we'd get chilled to the bone by the water, and we were afraid of ruining our camera. And we are of the persuasion that if you can't take pictures, there's no point in doing it. HA!}

Started the afternoon with a broken travel tripod. Had to move to the big one for the rest of the time. 

He told me to flex. Not sure why. Also not sure how.

Back to the natural scenery:

In the late afternoon, we walked across the pedestrian bridge to enter Canada. The gentleman at the border lacked a wee bit of personality, but we got through okay. And while the view from the Canadian side was more complete than the American side, we weren't able to get as close...so it wasn't as overwhemlingly powerful. {I say that so you know we loved both sides for different reasons.}

 We had fun walking up and down that side. And Ryan scored the photo of the entire trip:

We climbed a RIDICULOUS hill and ate dinner at the first restaurant we found. Had an amazing waiter who took such good care of us.

And then? We enjoyed the lights:

We didn't want to be gone from our home and native land too long, so we crossed the bridge and came through security to get back in the States. The guy asked if we bought anything while we were gone. We told him we'd gotten a Christmas ornament and he shot back, "That's IT?" Sorry to disappoint you, Sir!

By the time we got back to our hotel room, we could no longer feel our feet. We had been on them ALL day and they hated us. In fact, mine hurt so much, I couldn't fall asleep!!

But what an amazing, unforgettable day. I loved it so much!!