Falls Trolley Folly

Leaving Pittsburgh, with two days to drive home, we had initially planned a relatively direct route  through Scranton. Woo hoo. Isn't that where The Office is set? When Googlemaps showed that it really wouldn't add much time to head north to Niagra Falls first and then shoot across the New York Thruway, we kept driving north. Yelp led us to an awesome lunch stop in Erie called Pie in the Sky where we sat in a cool booth that was almost completely enclosed. It wasn't too long before we were at Niagra Falls. I've seen the falls many times and Rachelle and I had stayed overnight on the Canadian side during our transcontinental drive back in the summer of 1995.

Maid of the Mist

I don't think that Keiko and Amaya were expecting much, but they were awed by the falls. After about 5 minutes, though, they were ready to leave.  I wanted to see the American falls, which looked to be just a few hundred yards away, but knee was really acting up so much that I could barely walk. I convinced the family to join me guided trolley tour. It looked like we'd be able to get off at the first stop (without paying) and then walk back to the car. After waiting about 20 minutes in the heat for the trolley to show up, we boarded—but then it proceeded in the opposite direction...

Horseshoe Falls

Needless to say, the family was not very happy about this turn of events. We were in a packed trolley in 90° heat, going in the wrong direction, and the narration consisted mainly of announcements of the next parking lot stop. I hate to say it, but I think Keiko had the right idea.

Keiko takes advantage of Dad's "educational experience"

Well, one stop shy of a full 30-minute circuit on the trolley, we jumped off and checked out the American falls. After multiple apologies for making them endure the trolley ride, the girls agreed to take one more photo with Dad. It all turned out OK in the end.

A matter of inches...

On the road again, we drove the last few hours of our trip to Canandaigua, NY to a KOA campground where I had stayed several times during my Camp Billings roadtrips. Looking for Buffalo wings and beer, we found a college bar called Lovin' Cup near the Rochester Institute of Technology. The place was packed. Students playing a Frisbee game in the beer garden, a live jazz trio playing inside, and a fondue appetizer ended the day in a fun way. Only one more day left on our roadtrip.  Sigh.