L&K Take America

I’m not sure I will ever feel like I’ve actually packed up, locked down, and hooked the camper to the Jeep correctly. I kind of feel like each time I hook it up, I’m playing my own game of telephone with myself. If I remember only the slight modifications I made from the prior time, that becomes the new truth of how it should be done. Kind of a scary thought. As a result, I check and re-check it a minimum of five times, second and third guess myself, then have the compulsion to get out and check it again about 5 minutes after I’ve started down the road. I’m sure I look like an absolute crazy person.

This was the routine as I pulled out of the camp in Henderson, set the GPS to Niagara and hit the road. I also innately don’t trust the GPS, so I set a second GPS on my phone. What reinforces this obsessive behavior is that the two sources are consistently 30-45 minutes different in their estimate in time to the destination on an average 4 hour trip. Seriously? How is that possible? Shouldn’t both be estimating the most efficient route? Disheartening, but my very scientific approach to resolving this is to just go with my gut feeling when they contradict each other. I’m open to other proposed solutions, so feel free to send them along. Until then, the in-the-moment tummy feeling will have to do the trick.

I headed out early in the day to ensure that I would not be setting up for the first time alone in the dark. The drive was very smooth and I traveled the 220 miles in about 3.5 hours. I arrived prior to the normal check in time and luckily they allowed me to go in early. I was able to hook everything up easily and then Luna and I walked around the site. Again, nothing fancy, but a little nicer than the previous site, but not as nice of a view. Lucky for me, they put me in the spot that directly abutted the Martin’s Fantasy Island amusement park. So I had the joy of listening to the wooden roller coaster “click-click-click” and excited shrills and screams from 7am – 9pm. Needless to say, I didn’t spend a lot of time relaxing at the campground.

That afternoon, I decided to go investigate the Falls.  Prior to doing so, I decided to try to find a restaurant for dinner that would allow canine diners. I stumbled along the site, BringFido.com which pointed me to a restaurant in Ontario. I made a reservation for 7:#0 that evening and we set out to see the Falls on the NY side first. It was only about a 10 minute drive. We made it, found great parking and ventured out into the 90+ degree weather. The falls were beautiful. Luna agreed:

Falls from the NY side.

After we walked part of the trail down to the Gorge, we then headed over toward Canada. The border was only a few miles away and we had been told that the Falls were even more beautiful from the Canadian side. Of course, I picked the WORST line for border control. I was seriously watching 4-5 cars in other lines to our 1. I thought for sure if I tried to switch lanes that I would be flagged, so I just stayed put. I had all Luna’s vaccine and registration information all ready in a little file folder. Clearly because I was prepared, they didn’t even ask for it.

About an hour later, we crossed into Canada. I was not prepared for Clifton Hill in Ontario. It was like a shrinky dinked Time Square. Craziness. After my initial shock wore off, we made it down to the Falls. I must say, the Canadians do a much better job with the waterfront areas. The gardens, streets and paths were beautiful and clean. The view of the falls was stunning from the Canadian side:

After a little stroll, we made our way to our L&K dinner reservation a few blocks away. I wimped out and didn’t stick around for the fireworks. I wasn’t up for dealing with the exiting traffic.

The next morning, we made breakfast and realized I hadn’t brought a coffee mug or tea pot to boil water. So I went up to the camp store, where I found a traditional camp enamel pot/percolator. I was hoping for matching mugs but all they had was “World’s Best Aunt/Teacher/Sister/Brother/Mother/Grandmother/Etc.” mugs so I clearly bought this one:

After coffee and breakfast, we headed out to investigate the rest of the Niagara area, drove around and saw the Niagara River area before returning the the NY side of the falls to walk Goat Island. We came back, prepared for departure the following day and went to bed early. Successful solo stop #1, but in hindsight I think one day would have been enough for this location.