Day Two in Niagara Falls

Our second day started out with a quick breakfast at the hotel, bagel with cream cheese, yogurt and some fruit, nothing too exciting but filling enough for awhile. After eating and getting ready we headed down to the falls, sadly today was a bit rainy so the falls never quite appeared to their full splendor, but they were beautiful none the less. The walk down to the falls brought us through Clifton Hills area, it has a bit of a Hollywood/Universal Studios kind of feel with rides and such, seems out of place to me in a place with so much natural beauty.

We walked along the boardwalk that lined the falls and I took numerous pictures, I did the only cache I found today which was a virtual one about Table Rock, it's amazing how much the falls have eroded over time. After walking around trying to figure out where to start we finally decided to go on the Niagara Fury attraction they have. Niagara Fury claims to give you information about the falls and how they were created. More or less it was a cartoon where a beaver goes magically back in time and quickly runs you through millions of years and then he writes a quick essay. After that little show you go into a room where there is a 180 degree movie screen where you can see the falls and get a little wet. It started out with a bit of snow to recreate the ice age, we then had water splashed at us while attempting to watch the water fall. All in all Niagara Fury was a bit of a disappointment, but the kids that were there on a class trip seemed to enjoy it greatly.

Next we decided to eat a little lunch, we had sandwiches and soup from Tim Horton's, it was decent for a quick lunch and the hot chocolate that came with the meal was quite tasty as well.

After eating we wandered up the path along the falls a bit more, we were able to see the scow in the distance that was stranded there. Hopefully I'll get around to doing the cache that is over that way, but we'll see, there is so much to do that quite a bit of the caching is probably going to be ignored. There just isn't enough time for everything.

We decided to hop on the people mover transportation that came with the pass we bought to a bunch of the attractions. We road that out to the Butterfly Conservatory, as most anyone knows I LOVE butterflies. I could have spent all day there, but they were only open for about an hour after we got there. Probably for the best so we could get in visits to other places as well. There is a botanical garden that goes around where the Butterfly Conservatory is that we are planning to go back to and explore if we have a bit of time in the next day or two. They look like they would be amazing but we didn't want to miss the bus back.

On the way back to the falls on the people mover we decided to go see the White Water Walk, we went down on the last elevator knowing that we would only have about twenty five minutes to experience the class six rapids. They are insane, I can't believe people actually want to attempt to go through those from time to time. The walk was pretty and waves were insane, I took some pictures but they really don't do justice to just how wild the rapids really are. I would have enjoyed a little more time strolling along the path and watching the fury of the water but time ran out. I do think we got to enjoy it as much as was really needed, but I enjoy dawdling when it comes to enjoying nature.

Journey Behind the Falls was our next stop, here you go down an elevator and then you can walk through a tunnel that takes you to portals behind the falls, on an overcast day like today all you could really see was white with some movement, amazing to see but nothing spectacular. After going and looking at the portals we went to the observation deck that is not to high above the water level, from there you have an amazing view up at the falls. I took quite a few pictures but sadly my camera battery died while I was there and my spare was back in the hotel. I suppose after taking some 200 plus pictures today it was to be expected that the battery just might be done.

As Richard and I were both getting a bit tired and my feet were aching we decided to take the Tram thing up the hill to our hotel, or what we thought was right by our hotel. Turns out there are two of pretty much everything in Niagara Falls, at the top of the tram is the exact some food places and hotels as across the street from our hotel. We ended up walking further to get back to our place then expected but in the process we did find that Tony Roma's was just behind our hotel and they had all you can eat ribs on Thursdays. So Richard got all you can eat ribs and I got a new brisket sandwich that they had, the ribs were far better then my dry brisket sandwich.

Then it was back to the hotel to view the photos that we took throughout the day and post a blog and get to sleep! I'm sure tomorrow will be another eventful day! We still haven't decided what exactly we want to do, it's either a bit of caching and site seeing in Canada or we head over to New York to see the American side of the falls and find a few caches on Goat Island. Decisions, decisions.

Just a crazy traveling day getting to Niagara Falls!

Day one of our vacation has been fairly unproductive when it comes to actually seeing any sites or doing anything, but we've made it to Niagara Falls and that was the major point of it all.

We left at 10pm after enjoying a Qdoba burrito at the Seatac airport and flew to Atlanta, Richard's seat on the plane was broken so he had a horrible plane ride, I'm not sure how someone managed to mangle the seat so badly but they did. We didn't bother telling the flight attendants, what if they wouldn't let him sit in that seat and the plane was full, the last thing we needed was to get stuck in Seatac. After getting to Atlanta we spent a couple hours there waiting for our connecting flight to Buffalo. I slept HORRIBLE on the plane so I felt like a zombie walking around the Atlanta airport. We found the virtual geocache that is located there and I took a nap, thankfully Richard didn't nap because I would have slept through boarding the plane to Buffalo if he hadn't woke me up. It was on to Buffalo from there where I slept on and off on the plane. Picked up our Rental car from Avis, I decided to upgrade from economy sized to midsize and got a Dodge Caliber, it's only $5 more a day, why not? I like the Calaber, but I hit my knee on the steering wheel every time I get in or out of the car. I am so going to have a bruise.

From the airport we headed for Niagara Falls, we crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada (which was far easier then I figured it would be with all the "added" security). I missed the first turn and I decided just to take the next one and head towards the river and hope we found the road I wanted to go on, thankfully we found the Niagara falls parkway (the scenic route) fairly easily and we drove along there. There are some AMAZING houses along the drive and the river is beautiful as well. I stopped to try to find a cache located by the Chippawa Battlefield of 1812, I didn't find the cache but I did enjoy the area and getting out and about after being in airports and planes for so long was good too. It would have been even more enjoyable if I wasn't completely exhausted from our travels here.

Once we got into Niagara Falls we drove along the road that is right next to the falls, I got my first glimpse of the falls (mostly the American Falls as they are easier to see from the road then the Horseshoe, especially while driving), they are amazing indeed! I can't wait to go back and actually experience the falls tomorrow! We went to check into the hotel and the room wasn't quite ready so we ate at the overpriced Denny's next door while trying to keep ourselves awake long enough to check in. We checked into the room, I took a shower to get the pollen off me from foraging in the trees while looking for the cache earlier and then collapsed into bed. I then proceeded to sleep away the rest of the day and I now find myself awake at 11pm eastern time, wondering what to do with myself since I can't sleep anymore right now.

Richard hasn't been feeling all that well for a couple days now, I am praying with some sleep he will be ready to enjoy our vacation tomorrow.

So that's day one of our vacation in a nutshell! I can't wait to see more of the falls tomorrow!

(I'll be adding photos when I get home, it is just too much work to do on the laptop).

*sigh* I gave in to Twilight

So, I normally attempt to avoid things that are all the craze, not sure why but it's the way I was made. But I was at Half Priced Books not all that long ago and found Twilight, I figured why not see how I like it. I've been having problems getting into the Eragon books and needed something new to read. To make a long story short, I read the whole Twilight saga in about a week. Why is it that they drew me in, making me want more. I even went onto Stephenie Meyer's website and read Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edwards perspective)... it's good, quite a bummer someone had to go and leak the draft, I would have loved to read the whole thing. I probably would read the whole saga in his perspective it it came out. LOL, I almost wish I was a teenage girl so I could run around screaming about how much I love the book.

So what is it about these books that draw people in? I think it's the idea of true love, but it's also a reminder that love isn't easy. And love never is easy, you have to work for it every day. Somehow Meyers makes you really care about the characters and she does it pretty darn fast. The books read pretty easy and keep you wanting more. I hear not everyone was happy with how the saga ended... but it's exactly what I wanted, so that made me happy.

So yeah, I would recommend reading the saga, it's a nice dark romance novel. I think it's worth the time if you enjoy reading, or even if you don't you might be surprised. I plan on reading them again and I rarely read the same book twice.

I watched the Twilight movie after I finished the saga, the books are certainly better, but then they normally are. After listening to Meyers explain why she was okay with the changes in the movie from the book because they seemed like things that could have happened. It made the movie much better the second time I watched it, I can't wait till New Moon comes out this Fall.

So yeah... how did I become one of those crazy Twilight fans? Ugh, I hate it when I get all into something that's so popular. And now I sound like a crazy Twilight fan or something.

Going back was something I needed

Last weekend when we went to church there was a songs we were singing that said, "I know I need something greater then me now". As I sung along with the song, I started to tear up and eventually had a tear or two running down my face, I don't think anyone noticed. But it really touched me and made me realize just how much I needed to be there worshiping the lord. I really do need the Lord in my life, something greater then me to help me through it all.

When it comes to getting into heaven... How Good is Good Enough? EastLake hands out a free gift to first time visitors, the gift is a book called, How Good is Good Enough? I sat down and read the whole thing after we got home last week, it's only 92 pages so it didn't take too long to read. The book goes over how various religions and beliefs consider how good someone is to determine whether they will go to heaven or not. Everyone always says that they hope they will make it into heaven and they hope they have been good enough to make it there. So very true... even as a Christian I have always said I hope I will go to heaven. I don't think my hope is quite the same though, I think my saying "I hope" is more of a tiny bit of doubt that there really is a heaven, what if all that we believe as Christians isn't quite right? I think as a person on the earth that is so overwhelmed with sin I have a hard time imagining that a wonderful place that is completely free of sin can really exist and I have difficulty understanding how it can work. I can't help that I have a scientific mind that needs a bit of proof for things, but something inside of me puts that aside and puts faith in the Lord. And that part of me believes that the heaven he promised is real, even if the scientific part of me doubts the logistics of it. One of the free materials that I requested to have sent to me was "Do science and faith clash?". I listened to this and Ryan said that people that believe in evolution have to have faith in evolution since there are no records documenting the stepping stones between species, I see his point completely.

True[ish] is the current series at church, part one was last week, the message was "Does God Make a Difference in the Storm?" What kind of question is that? Of course he does! It turns out it was more a reminder of how he makes a difference then a question as to whether or not he does. From the service last week: God makes a difference in the storm when I... Hear him in creation and conscience; Accept his Grace; Invest my life in him; and Trust his promises. The last of these is probably the hardest for me, Trust. I think I have a problem trusting and letting people into my life. I have a tendency to close myself off from the world and hide in my own little world. This is something I have to work on. Trusting his promises and letting go of my fear.

Other then my finding my way back to Christ not too much else of excitement is going on in my life. I'm doing physical therapy for my shoulder which is going pretty well. I'm happy that I can move it around most of the time without too much pain. It is still pretty weak so there is a ways to go before it's back to normal, but it's certainly getting better. I've also been going for walks recently, Rosco enjoys it, though I think he could walk forever. I also went for a couple walks with Phoebe, the work she puts into Young Life for high school students is inspiring and I've enjoyed catching up with her. That's about it for the what's going on with me update.

I did it... and I feel good!

This last Sunday I went to church for the first time in far to many years. For those of you that have met me in the last 10 years, you may not know that once upon a time I frequented church every Sunday. And it is possible that you don't know that I do believe in God and that someday I believe that I will go to heaven because Jesus died on the cross for my sins so that I could go. What will heaven be like or does it exist as we imagine? Who knows, but I do believe that there is something greater then what we have here on earth and deep down inside I don't doubt that.

I wanted to write more but I'm at a loss for words. So I will have another update soonish.