State Parkin' It

After our hike, we hopped on the trolley and rode back to the main part of the Niagara Falls State Park which is the oldest state park in New York and the one with the most visitors each year. That was pretty obvious from our short time there...LOTS of people!

While we loved the view of the Falls from the Canadian side, seeing them from the American side was just as spectacular.

That green structure is an overlook; we later walked out on it after our ride on the Maid of the Mist...

If you know me at all, I LOVE rainbows, so seeing a rainbow as I looked down at the American Falls was a treat.

Another rainbow...Rainbow Bridge. :)

Here is Bridal Veil Falls, the Falls just to the right of the American Falls.  There is actually a tour to the base of them called "Cave of the Winds".  We were told it is a "must do" (and that we would get VERY wet...disposable shoes are included as part of the tour).  However, after we saw the line for it, we decided it was a "must don't".

See those yellow dots below? Those are people in ponchos at the base of the Falls!

We loved seeing the river from so many angles.

There is our restaurant from Friday night, across the river.

These birds have it made. With so many people, there was bound to be food.  They enjoyed every bite!

A view of the American Falls from near the Horseshoe Falls

Another Maid of the Mist tour

Excuse the hair...it was a bit misty

Horseshoe Falls

As we continued to explore the park, we happened upon this little fellow eating his lunch.  Okay, I really just wanted to try out the zoom on my camera. But he really was a cute little guy.

Walking along the river

Niagara Falls wanna-be's...

Looking toward Canada

With all of the rapid waters, these birds tickled me...

Another view looking toward Canada

Resting and taking it all in

 Preparing to ride Maid of the Mist

 

Sorry for the water droplets...it was a bit misty out on the water

 Another rainbow at the base of the Falls

 A together shot which would have been great if we could have kept the water off the camera lens. (I did use my older camera since we were right on the water)

 Another rainbow pic

 He's the king of the world... :)

 A view from the overlook

You have NO idea how difficult it was to get this picture.  There were TONS of tourists (besides us) on that overlook, hogging the rail.  And very few spoke English.  (And yes, we were still in NY)  So we had to do a lot of waiting just to jump in and snap a few...

We walked around just a little bit more before heading back to Canada for the evening...

All in all, it is a wonderful park. We only paid 2 bucks to ride the trolley (hop on and off at our convenience) plus a little for the Maid of the Mist ride and refreshments. Otherwise, our adventures were free for the taking.  We loved staying on the Canadian side but I am so thankful we hopped over to the New York side for a different view of the Falls!

I had to take this for my daughter. I stood with each foot in a different country. :)

More later,
Reba