We slept in today, which was very much needed after yesterday’s drive. When we finally woke up and took a look at the campsite, we were in awe with how beautiful it is! We didn’t see any of this last night. Our campsite has a huge willow tree right next to us that sways so gracefully in the soft breeze. On the other side of us is another big tree for plenty of shade. We won’t need to set up the awnings which is helpful. The campsite alone is really spacious! We didn’t even realize how much space we actually had because it was so dark last night when we arrived. There is a water station right next to us too which is helpful because we didn’t get the chance to fill up our water tank last night either.
- Our beautiful campsite at Four Mile Creek State Park! -
- Love this Willow Tree -
Once we were awake, we set up the rest of our camping items that we didn’t bother with last night. Kyle got breakfast started while I cleaned up inside the camper. Last night we basically came in, made the bed and put our pjs on before getting into bed, so I needed to reorganize a bit. Toby made himself at home in the playpen we brought for him while Kyle worked on breakfast.
- All set up in the PUP. The bottom left photo is the view of Lake Ontario from our kitchen window. -
There was no rush to get out the door today so we hung out at the campground until around 1:30 PM. We dropped Toby off at his first “day care” of the trip. Island Pet Lodge was where he stayed today. There were lots of dogs there for him to play with and then they have large kennels in the back for when he needs a break. After we dropped him off we headed over to Niagara Falls!
Finding the falls was easy, parking was a bit challenging. The area is really touristy all around the falls because it also is one of the border crossings from Canada. There were lots of people out today. But we found a parking structure nearby and the parking attendant waived the $20 daily fee due to Kyle being in the Navy! We stopped at the Niagara Falls Visitors center and went to the front desk to get our National Parks Passport book stamped. The girls behind the counter were in awe of the size of NPS Passport book we had. Niagara Falls isn’t a National Park but they do have a bonus stamp that you can collect. The counter girls directed us to where we needed to redeem our voucher for the Maid of the Mist boat ride. Since we already purchased tickets for the Maid of the Mist, we were able to get on the boat itself pretty quickly. The pathway to the boat has this beautiful overview of all three falls, the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls.
- View of the falls from the top and Maid of the Mist boat tour. -
Once you are across the walkway they take you into an elevator down to the boat. You collect a blue poncho as you board the Maid of the Mist. It was so windy just from the force of the falls, our ponchos were flying all over the place! The boat drives past the American and Bridal Veil falls then takes you right up to the face of Horseshoe falls. The sound of the falls alone was incredible. You could really feel the force of the water as you get closer then all of a sudden it feels like you are inside a hurricane! There is water flying all around you, we are getting drenched even with our ponchos on! This was such a great experience! The ponchos were kinda useful, but we still were soaked all down our fronts. I could literally wring out my hair when the ride was over. The amount of water was insane! After the ride we went back up to the top and found a bench in the sun to dry out a bit.
After the falls we grabbed some dinner at a gastropub in town called The Griffon Gastropub. Their food was really good, Kyle got a surf and turf burger that had lobster and crab cakes on top of a beef patty. So crazy! We found a craft brew liquor store and grabbed a build your own 6 pack of New York State beers before picking Toby up from day care and heading back to the campground for the night.
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