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!!

Letchworth State Park

Thanks, everyone, for your unending patience in reading through the adventures of our vacation! We have just a couple more days to cover, and I think you'll find the photos particularly stunning!

I told you that originally, this vacation was just supposed to be a long weekend to Virginia Beach to visit our friends Mark and Lynnette. One reason we added the New York component to it was because one of our church friends told us about a state park in New York that she thought we would really like. It's called Letchworth State Park, and if you've not heard of it {we hadn't either!} - you are missing out! It's rated the #1 state park in the nation, and we quickly saw why. It is STUNNING.

It's hailed as the Grand Canyon of the east, since it has similar rock formations, but it's in a forest, not a desert, so it has gorgeous rock formations AND trees. And since we were there in the fall, those trees were amazing. It also has stunning waterfalls. We asked the nice lady in the Visitor's Center which trail we should hike if we only had time to hike one trail, and she recommended the one that would take us past all three big waterfalls. It was the best day.

We especially appreciated the beauty of the day, since it was supposed to be cloudy all day with a possibility of showers. IT was a cloudy morning, but the sun came out, it wasn't too hot, and we had a truly wonderful day hiking together. I'll pretty much let the pictures do the talking from here, but can I highly recommend that if you visit, you go in the fall so you can enjoy the amazing New York trees?

I have DOZENS more pictures, but you're probably tired of looking at them, so I'll stop. :) But seriously, this is a place you should put on your must-visit list if you've not been there. And if you have been there, go back. It's so worth it.

We just got some snacks to munch on throughout the day, so by about 4:00, we were pretty ready for a REAL meal. We went back to Mt. Morris, where our hotel was, and found a local restaurant for dinner. And yes. We ate with the senior citizen crowd. LOL!!!

The food was delicious, our waitress was wonderful, and we left with full bellies and tired feet. We were back in our hotel and resting by 6 p.m., and it was just the most wonderful evening. We'd been on the go so constantly throughout the vacation that it was nice to have a few hours to just sit. Our hotel offered complimentary coffee and cookies, so we enjoyed those, we visited the pool, we watched TV, and we had a great evening together.

The next morning, we packed up and drove about an hour and a half away for our last adventure of the trip: Niagara Falls!

Linking Up!

Coffee Roasting and Other Adventures

We left Virginia Beach on Tuesday morning - about 7 - after saying a sad goodbye to Mark and Lynnette and our friends Belle and Charlie. :(

We should have known, when it took us over an hour to get out of the city {because of rush hour} that it wasn't going to be QUITE the smooth driving day we had coming out for vacation. Our first destination of the day was in Westminster, Maryland, which was about a five hour drive. In those five hours, we were delayed for rush hour, an accident, and a wrong turn in Washington DC {of all places}.

It was our first time to be in Maryland together, and this is the best I could do for a welcome sign, as the ACTUAL welcome sign was around a curve, behind some trees, and I caught it out of my peripheral vision as I was sailing past.

But we made it to Westminster, a small college town, and the purpose of our visit was to stop by Furnace Hills Coffee to see how roasting is done. I learned about Furnace Hills Coffee when I was working at WBCL. I interviewed the owner, Dave Baldwin, about the story of the place, which employs people with disabilities, including Dave's daughter, Erin. I was so intrigued by the story and by the whole idea of coffee roasting {because of course!} that I wanted to see it for myself when I realized we were going to be in the area!

{Can we pause to talk about WHY Ryan thought this was a good day to wear a Colts shirt? In Maryland? We did receive some icy treatment for that. Not from the nice coffee folks though.}

So we'd never seen coffee roasting in action before, and we were fascinated. Furnace Hills has three roasters, and they were all going while we were there. 

 It's a tiny roasting company, but they keep busy, and Dave was kind to explain the process to us - from the time the beans arrive in their burlap sacks until they're roasted and ready to go!

We learned a little about the blends, from the soldier's blend that is a big seller because Gettysburg is nearby to Erin's breakfast blend...we learned how they work and why they're so good! {And we sampled some!}

And then we had a photo taken with the whole gang working that day!

They recommended a little cafe in town for lunch, so we went there. It was delicious, but Ryan's Colts shirt didn't go over well. LOL!!

We had to get back on the road after lunch, because we still had five more hours to go!! We drove on up through Pennsylvania into New York, and man, were the trees ever pretty as we went!

{PS - Pennsylvania, could you spring for larger signs? I almost missed it!!!}

Sunsets in the mountains sure are pretty!

We arrived at our destination after dark - a hotel in Mt. Morris, New York. We were pooped from driving and ready to rest - because the next day was going to be a very big day!