Apologies for the long delay. Adjusting to a new location, new conditions, and all the time demands when having a house built have taken its toll on this enterprise. Anyway, today is New York, specifically Niagara Falls. This was the first time seeing this in person for me and the girls, and the second time for Danica. It’s just as amazing as I thought it was going to be: a true American treasure. Or should I say, American and Canadian, since you can look across the river and see the Great North. Due to COVID, sadly, going over there for a visit wasn’t going to happen. Maybe in 2022 we’ll see some sense come to that particular border crossing.
I’m a product of my generation, so the first thing I thought about in anticipation of the falls was Superman II, and some dumb kid getting saved by Christopher Reeve. (Fun reminder: https://youtu.be/YSv8iNuvnpg) Yep, I was a comic book kid and my memories of childhood back that up. Back to the real thing:
We had a few hours there, and it was very hot that day. When we got close to the water, you could feel the cool wind coming off of it, which was appreciated. We spent some time on this side of the falls, snapping some photos and listening to a group of Christians singing songs very, very loudly (were they competing with the waterfall?). I’m skeptical how much of that really moves people to either become Christian or commit further to Jesus (I’m guessing essentially zero), but each to their own, I suppose.
Take it in fam.
Of course we read about the barrel riders that used to go over the falls starting about 120 years ago (well, the first person to survive it). Just like the milk crate challenge, I’m pretty sure I could do it. I have a request out to Danica. I guess it’s going to committee. I’ll keep the public informed. If you want a fun little deep dive into this odd artifact of American history, read here.
One unexpected thing was this statue of Nikola Tesla. That’s another fun deep dive into the fantastically interesting life he led. Why is he here? He and George Westinghouse built the first hydro-electric power plant here. Ground breaking. This is where one of the greatest upward shifts in human history happened. It’s hard to really wrap your head around how easy things are now due to his engineering genius.
The photo above is the Cave of the Winds, and it’s on my bucket list of things to do. Why not this time? NO DOGS ALLOWED, and leaving Tigli in the RV for hours wasn’t going to happen. Next time! It looks like it’s one of those tourist things that lives up to the hype!
Columbia Gorge Dispatch 