Splawn Family Travels: Niagara Falls

Today is our first attempt to drive somewhere and really see it in one day. Since Mommy and Jacob are with us, we want to squeeze as much in as we can. Niagara Falls is about 335 miles from Van Buren State Park, so we started pretty early again. Within minutes, we are in Michigan!

We also shortly passed through Detroit and I don't know if it's my imagination, but it felt like a ghost town. I'm aware of their economic issues, but it's late Monday morning and I never even tapped the brakes. You can't drive through Austin any time of day or night without slowing to a halt on I-35.

Anyway, there is a pretty cool bridge (the Ambassador) in Detroit separating the U.S. from Canada that we liked and then we hit Canadian customs which was fast and easy. You have to correctly answer some tough questions like: 1) Are you carrying cash in excess of $10,000?, 2) Are you carrying any firearms? and 3) Are these your kids?

Not sure what criminals would do in that case...I guess "Dang it, busted. All the weapons and cash are in the RV and we stole these kids along the way." The customs agent took her job seriously.

I think we're about 1300 miles or so into the trip and on day eight and it's the first time I've gotten the finger. Thanks Canadian lady. Traffic circles are tough pulling a 38 foot RV.

Another lesson learned today. Don't try to pull your giant RV through towns where tourists are everywhere. Stacey called ahead and was assured that there was a parking place that would accommodate us, but we could not find it after weaving directly through the Las Vegas style downtown near Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. We eventually decided to go to the RV park first to drop it off and then race back. We were able to get back before dark to get some pictures, but only because Stacey dropped us off to park the truck. Not much to say about the falls...they're beautiful. Again, I felt like a dope because I've always imagined them more like a national or state park where it is more of a natural area like the Grand Canyon. This is more like a carnival in Las Vegas. Hotels, casinos, restaurants, and stores are everywhere.

We ate at the Queen Victoria Place Restaurant late enough to hang around and catch the fireworks at 10:00. They also light up the falls at night with giant colored spotlights which made it nice to view.