Friends and Falls

I had such a great time visiting with Liz. Liz was my roommate when we were both doing a semester abroad in London, England. I haven't seen her since 1988 but it felt like it was yesterday! We had lots of laughs looking at her photo album. Liz hasn't changed a bit - if possible she's just gotten prettier. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever known! I enjoyed meeting her husband and two of her three kids (her daughter was away with the grandparents but was kind enough to let me use her room). What a neat family!

Liz had to leave for work about 11 and I had a little time to kill so I made my way to Starbucks to work on my blog. Did you know that if you have a registered Starbucks card, you can get two hours of internet every day for free? I decided to test it out - and sure enough. I will definitely be utilizing that benefit for the rest of my journey.

I stopped for lunch in Syracuse, NY and my friend, Katie, and her son, Nathaniel, came to meet me. They lived with me for a couple of weeks when they first came to Kansas City where Katie was working on her master's degree. It was so fun to see them again - and to see how much Nathaniel had grown up in the two years since they moved away. What a great kid!
I made it to Niagara Falls, NY and my first stop was the national park where I walked across the bridge to Goat Island where I could get a good view of the falls. It was so overwhelming! I didn't know what to expect but I was blown away. I spent about an hour before going off to find a hotel room. I managed to find one that wasn't a complete bump and only cost $45. Yea!! I knew I should save my money for the hotel on the Canada side - probably much more expensive. I unloaded and was perusing my brochures when I discovered (at 9:50) that August 4th is a holiday in Canada and there would be fireworks over Niagara at 10pm. I grabbed my keys, purse and camera and jumped in the car. Unfortunately, not being exactly sure where I was going, I ended up on the toll bridge to Canada. CRAP! They wouldn't let me turn around despite the fact that my passport was in the hotel room so I had to pay the toll, cross the bridge, go through customs, explain my predicament (or stupidity) make a u-turn, cross the bridge, go through customs, explain my predicament, answer a million questions (ok - maybe four) and then figure out where I meant to go in the first place. I did manage to see the fireworks as I was crossing the bridge but couldn't see the falls. Oh well - it was still beautiful.
I found my way to the parking lot for the observation tower and parked. If possible, I would just stay there forever in order to avoid leaving the country unexpectedly again! I spent a couple of hours enjoying the lights and taking a million pictures. It was so gorgeous!! The colorful lights on the falls changed periodically and it was mesmerizing. By the time I left, I had calmed down enough to try to find my way back to my hotel. I made it without any trouble. I can't wait to see more of the falls tomorrow!