Falling Water

People ask me which place has been my favorite place on this trip. Mostly, I just tell them that the most recent place is my favorite place. I'm a fairly shallow person. I guess just love the place I'm with

Besides, we've seen some AMAZING places on this trip. How could I choose between the Grand Canyon, a 100-million-year-old footprint, or a shuttle launch? They're such different experiences.

We saw Niagara Falls today, and now I have a new favorite place. CKL will undoubtedly post pictures, but like so many of our other experiences, pictures just can't do it justice. So let me put it like this: we watched water rush by all day long. And it was mesmerizing.

To be fair, we did enjoy the water from several different vantage points. I might have gotten bored if there weren't quite so many ways to watch the water. We took walks along rapids, crossed bridges over the river, walked next to the river where we saw whirlpools, viewed the Falls from all of the American overlooks, and even went on the boat and a boardwalk tour.

On the the Maid of the Mist, we were sprayed with plenty of mist. We saw the American Falls from the river, passed the Bridal Veil falls, and ended up between the two ends of Horseshoe Falls. The mist from Horseshoe Falls boils up so high that it obscures the Canadian skyline from miles away. At the base of the falls, we were right in the middle of it.

On the Cave of the Winds tour, we actually got onto wooden platforms and were sprayed with water from the base of the Bridal Veil falls. The roar of the water is so loud that CKL and I could only hear each other if we put our heads together and yelled.

Thank goodness they gave us disposable rain ponchos and sandals for this tour. We got a lot more than misty. There's a reason they call one of the platforms The Hurricane. CKL rolled up his jeans but still got soaked to the thighs. I figured that I was getting wet anyway, didn't bother to roll up my jeans, and only got wet to the knees. I'm not sure if there's a lesson in that.

Tomorrow, we plan to watch the Falls from Canada. I can't wait.