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!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

In case you missed it yesterday...SURPRISE! We went on vacation this past week! In fact, we sneaked out a couple days early at the end of last week, making my picture sharing tricky for last Friday and Saturday! While everything I told you was absolutely true, here are a couple of montages that show a little bit more fully the events of a week ago Friday and Saturday:

* Friday was really filled with an all day road trip that began at 7 a.m. {and the trip to Starbucks you saw} and ended when we arrived at my best friend Lynnette and her husband Mark's house in Virginia Beach, Virginia. {They own the cute dog you saw in last week's Shuffle.} We had THE most perfect day ever for driving. Not one single construction zone. Not one single wreck. Not one single slow down. Nothing. And stunning blue skies, sunshine, and changing leaves made for such a pretty drive. We had a blast in the car, but we were happy to arrive and stretch!

* Saturday, we really did sleep in and eat BBQ and cuddle up to watch TV at night, but there were a few more exciting things throughout the day. We lounged around Mark and Lynnette's house all morning and then we headed TO THE BEACH! Lynnette took us to two different beaches and we had a great time walking through sand, walking down the boardwalk, crashing a wedding, playing with photo props, and so much more. We ended the day eating at a darling little BBQ place and then watching TV.

* Sunday, we went to church with Mark and Lynnette, and then they took us to Colonial Williamsburg. We'd never been before, and again, we had such a pretty day and LOVED being able to run around, having fun, seeing history, and spending great time with my half of our wedding party. {And I won't lie - I kind of wanted to move into some of the houses in Williamsburg! They are adorable! But I would not have wanted to live back in those colonial days!}

* Monday was our last day in Virginia, and Mark and Lynnette took us to the lighthouse at Cape Henry. {Again, in case you have forgotten, I am petrified of heights and enclosed spaces, so climbing lighthouses is a feat for me. But I did it!!} We had another GORGEOUS day - much nicer than was predicted, actually. We had a seafood dinner on the water and ended our day at Mark and Lynnette's favorite coffee shop. A great end to our time in Virginia Beach!

* We left Mark and Lynnette's house early Tuesday morning and drove almost the entire day, headed to our NEXT adventure! The morning's drive was kind of maddening - rush hour and delays and wrong turns and such, but midday, we stopped and visited Furnace Hills coffee roasting company! We'd never seen roasting in action before, and it was exciting! More about this later. We drove all afternoon, up from Virginia, through Maryland, all the way through Pennsylvania, and into New York, and we got a hotel for the night - and it had complimentary coffee and cookies. YUM!!!

* Wednesday, we were THRILLED when the weather report was wrong and our day at Letchworth State Park in New York went splendidly! I can't wait to show you more of the pictures, but we hit a stunning leaf season to drive and hike through this beautiful park that is voted the number one state park in the nation for a very good reason. We spent the entire day in the park, ate dinner before 5:00 {LOL!!!!} and then spent the evening resting our aching feet. Hiking uphill is a change of pace for these flat-land midwesterners!!

* Thursday morning we had our shortest drive of the whole trip: an hour and a half to the great sight of Niagara Falls! It was Ryan's first ever trip to the Falls, and my third. {Second that I remember. I was two months old the first time.} Though the day had been slated for cold and rain, it was warm and sunny and STUNNING. There weren't a ton of people there, so we had plenty of room to move around, take pictures, see beautiful fall leaves, and take our first trek into CANADA! Though our legs almost fell off at the end of the day from all the walking, it was a lovely day in every way.

* Friday morning, we took our time getting ready and packed up, walked back down to the Falls one more time for a goodbye look, and left New York shortly before lunch. The drive home was every bit as annoying as our drive TO vacation had been NOT annoying. We had construction delays, rush hour, and didn't get home until 10 p.m. But we enjoyed our day on the road together and decided it was the best end to our vacation! {Plus I got to stop at Sonic, so I was VERY happy for that!!}  Thankful to be home with our girlie again! 

* And because we hadn't spent enough time in a car, yesterday morning we picked up my parents and drove a couple hours south of home to have lunch with my sister at the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana. The food was so good, and it was a fun day, even if it was a long drive. And it's never a bad day when you get to watch Andy Griffith the whole time you get to eat lunch!!