American Diary part 5 - Finger Lakes & Niagara

MAY 21st We left camp early and on the road by 8am North across parts of Pensylvania and back into New York state through small towns suck as Binghampton and Lisle to reach the Finger Lakes near to Ithica - home to Cornell University one of the IVY League. The scenery here is much like parts of central Europe with rolling hills covered in forest broken by rivers and towns dotted amongst the valleys along the interstate. Homes are very pretty made of timber and not unlike those in Maine. Ithaca looks to be a lovely place but we didn't visit, instead we headed to the shoreline of Lake Cayuga (one of 11 lakes formed by glaciers) to set up camp and hike up to the Taughannok Falls, a cascading waterfall as high as Niagara but much less water. It is all very pretty and quiet (summer kicks of on May 26th) so we had a barbecue on the shoreline (bit chilly) with Paul and Marijke cooking for the 2nd night. The facilities on the KOA (kamp america) sites are good generally. May 22nd Travelling across the region known at the MID ATLANTIC states we stayed in NY state to reach the famous tourist spot of NIAGARA FALLS.. At this point you are no doubt hoping for a photo.. I have plenty but cannot load them onto this PC so you'll have to wait! Niagara is a confused town with an identity crisis - half Vegas, half Lanzarote it has a natural feature which draws a crowd but little else for me. If you like the Canaries then you wil *love* this place (for the trashy amusements, nightlife and souvenirs)s. As a group we crossed into Canada for the afternoon to get the best views of the 3 falls aboard the Maid of the Mist (wearing a stupid plastic souvenir rain poncho). American Falls in the highest, then Bridal Veil falls and finally the Horseshow Falls - the most spectacular. I was glad we had crossed the border - it was well worth it, but the falls did not take my breath away as I had hoped. They are amazing but the tourist trap around it takes the majesty away and it just looks bigger than it actually is on the postcards! I then paid an extra $12 for the "Journey Behind the Falls" and another plastic poncho only to find that the 'journey' was a 'wasted' one...... If you go there, don't bother with this. Leaving Canada walking across Rainbow Bridge I then wandered around Goat Island on the USA side of the Falls and was rewarded with some incredible close up views of the water rushing over the gorge and the best viewpoint at Terrapin Point - worth the 30 minute walk. I also recommend the Observation Deck which for $1 allows you to stand out over the gorge and look down at the boats below. By 5pm we were back in the bus and off to find a grocery store before making camp at the local Niagara KOA - a nice spot with grass, a fishing pond and great showers! Supper was pasta with sausage from our German friends Chris and Nick. This camping lark is easy!