Our thoughts today are with the families of those brave American and Allied warriors who gave the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day, June 6, 1944 when they hit the beaches of Normandy France during Operation Overlord. This was the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. The Allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 150,000 troops on five beaches in Normandy. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.
This morning we drove about 30 minutes southwest to Niagara Falls State Park on the US side. The last time we were here we visited the Canadian side to get a great view of Horseshoe Falls. We also rode the Maid of the Mist before so we were not going to do that again this time. In planning this visit I spoke with a very nice person at the State Park and in addition to providing a great map she provided some great advice having to do with parking for the big ol' brown truck.
So with the suggestions she provided we drove to the State Park and crossed the American Rapids bridge to Goat Island and parking lot #2. That worked perfectly as it was not busy at all so plenty of room to park, and we had great access to Terrapin Point and an up close and personal view of Horseshoe Falls.
Terrapin Point from a distance
The railing right next to the water!
And the Horseshoe Falls, USA side, is right there, almost within reach!!
The Canadian side in view.
The Maid of the Mist boat ride below. They are getting soaked!
A beautiful rainbow in the mist of Horseshoe Falls!
We finished our viewing at Terrapin Point and then headed past Cave of the Winds and across the pedestrian bridge to the American Falls.
A view upstream from the Pedestrian Bridge towards the American Rapids bridge
The water is really moving!
A view of American Falls from Prospect Point. I take terrible selfies!
Near Prospect Point is parking lot #1 and the drop-off point for school and tour buses. As we made our way to Prospect Point, hundreds of school kids were headed for a view of the falls! Around the corner from Prospect Point is the entrance to the iconic Maid of the Mist boat tour. It has been operating since 1846. There is a similar one on the Canadian side. They have two 600-passenger boats scheduled to depart every 15 minutes. Tour duration is 20 minutes.
A beautiful rainbow leading to the Maid of the Mist tour boat!
The Canadian tour boat.
Hundreds in line to exchange their voucher for a boarding ticket! This is 1030 hrs on Thursday morning! Imagine what it is like on the weekend!
We finished at Prospect Point and walked back across the pedestrian bridge to parking lot #2 and our truck, and headed back to our campground. Once there, Doreen did some laundry and I started downloading and processing the pictures from Niagara Falls. Later in the afternoon we drove back down past Niagara falls to Grand Island to visit some Alliance friends Tom and Gayle Taylor who we met at St Ignace Michigan in the summer of 2021. They are staying at HTR Niagara Campground on Grand Island. Tom is the retired fire chief from Moses Lake WA and also retired from the Army, plus Tom and Gayle own an Alliance Paradigm 310RL just like we have, so we have a lot in common! It was great to see them again and get caught up on their travels and lives! I failed to get any pictures there, but here is one from 2021 at St Ignace MI.
Tonight I called my sister Karen for her birthday. We visited her back in April in southern Texas. Sounds like the temps have been blistering down there and resulting in water shortages.
Also tonight Doreen captured some neat sunset pictures over Lake Ontario:
This evening the skyline of Toronto Canada was in clear view!
Tomorrow we will wrap things up here and make preparations to depart Saturday morning and head upstate to Ft Drum army base. So I need to fuel the truck, do tanks, etc tomorrow. We may even revisit one of the nearby lighthouses, just for old time sake!
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