The Falls
Oh boy what a day we had yesterday!!
We have been staying in Rochester, New York which is a beautiful place. Rob will tell you more about that in his post soon about the Miller family history.
We all took a break from the genealogy and went on a day trip to Niagara Falls which is a 1.5 hour drive West of Rochester. There was also a bonus to going there as I would also get to meet my second cousin who I didn’t know existed until we started planning our trip to the USA.
After getting the 3rd degree from the Canadian Border Patrol Officer as we drove over the Rainbow International Bridge, and we were in Canada!
We had then arranged to meet up with my cousin, Maureen and her husband Norm. They very graciously endured a 3.5 hour drive from Stow, Ohio (south of Cleveland) to meet up with us. The original plan was to go to their house to stay with them for a bit, but unfortunately getting to their town was impossible without a car of our own (and we are still too apprehensive to drive around ourselves in America). So, I was really glad that they were willing to drive to the Falls to meet us.
Maureen and Norm were great people and it was fantastic to hear the Scottish accent again! The only downside of them having such a long drive was that we were only able to spend an hour or so with them over lunch. But hopefully we can catch up with them again in a family reunion they are having in the South of France in 2010!!
Eating our Lunch by the Falls. Left to Right: Leeane, Maureen, Norm, Uncle Bob and Aunt Luci
Maureen and Me
Posing by the Falls
Next up was the Falls. And gee-whiz, they are incredible!! The noise, mist cloud and sheer volume of the water rushing over the cliff is just awe-inspiring. They also have a natural rainbow which you see in the middle of the waterfalls which is marvelous.
The Rainbow on the American Falls
The Horseshoe Falls - amazing!
American Falls and the Rainbow Bridge
By the mist
Lastly, we went on the very famous Maid of the Mist boat tour which stupidly takes your right into the belly of the Horseshoe Falls – in the middle of the mist cloud. It is really gusty in there and we got soaked even with the raincoats on – but we all had such a ball.
Before: Lining up to get on the boat
After: The Drowned Rats
That little boat is where we were headed
So all in all, a very memorable day for all of us – but I think particularly for me as I got to meet my cousin – really special!
Leeane