I was sad leaving our great camp with great friends, but they had to leave too since they had jobs to go to. I sure hope we'll see them again.

It was raining when we got to Niagara Falls, but after a little nap in the car, it lit up and got sunny again so we quickly went to see the world's wonder that's located on the border of Canada. The buildings in this picture are in Canada. The border is still closed so we had to stay put

Mom had decided that we should take the "Cave of the Winds" tour and that started with a 175ft (53m) elevator ride down and then a tunnel ..........so far so good, I'm not scared.

Cave of the Winds is torn down and re-built every year

Mom was given a bright yellow poncho and special sandals which she didn't use because she wanted to keep them as a souvenir. Then we walked a series of wooden walkways to the famous “Hurricane Deck”. As you stand at the railing, you are a mere 20 feet (6 meters) from the billowing torrents of Bridal Veil Falls. The rushing waters loom above you, dousing you with a generous spray as you face the thundering Falls head-on. And it is LOUD

On October 24, 1901, a 63-year-old schoolteacher named Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to successfully take the plunge in a barrel.

After her husband died in the Civil War the New York-born Taylor moved all over the U. S. before settling in Bay City, Michigan around 1898. In July 1901, while reading an article about the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, she learned of the growing popularity of two enormous waterfalls located on the border and strapped for cash and seeking fame, Taylor came up with the perfect attention-getting stunt: She would go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

 Taylor strapped herself into a leather harness inside an old wooden pickle barrel five feet high and three feet in diameter. With cushions lining the barrel to break her fall, Taylor was towed by a small boat into the middle of the fast-flowing Niagara River and cut loose.

Knocked violently from side to side by the rapids and then propelled over the edge of Horseshoe Falls, Taylor reached the shore alive, if a bit battered, around 20 minutes after her journey began. After a brief flurry of photo-ops and speaking engagements, Taylor’s fame cooled, and she was unable to make the fortune for which she had hoped. She did, however, inspire a number of copycat daredevils. Between 1901 and 1995, 15 people went over the falls; 10 of them survived. Among those who died were Jesse Sharp, who took the plunge in a kayak in 1990, and Robert Overcracker, who used a jet ski in 1995. No matter the method, going over Niagara Falls is illegal, and survivors face charges and stiff fines on either side of the border.

Power generation facilities along the River, supply more than one-quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario 

This is very very scary and we both got soaked, I hated every minute of it but Mom just smiled and told me to be brave

I didn't think this was fun at all, so Mom carried me most of the way and thankfully we didn't stay very long. 

Getting wet with freezing cold water ...........I want to go back to my new friends at the camp 

The falls are a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara gorge spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls also known as Canadian Falls, which straddles the international border of the two countries. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie within the United States. 

 the combined falls have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America that has a vertical drop of more than 50 m (160 ft). During peak daytime tourist hours, more than 168,000 m³ (six million cubic feet) of water goes over the crest of the falls every minute. Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by flow rate. Niagara Falls is famed for its beauty and is a valuable source of hydroelectric power. 

Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in America, established in 1885 as the Niagara Reservation. Over 8 million visitors explore Niagara Falls State Park annually

The birth of Niagara Falls can be traced back more than 12,000 years to the end of the last glacial period.

   Our friends from the camp told us to stay away from surrounding areas because it isn't safe, and from what we saw driving there I believe it was good advice, so we went on our way after we dried up.

Next, we stopped in a town called Jamestown still in New York state I had no clue why and I still don't know other than the fact Mom left me in the car while she went looking at something.

this is where Lucille Ball was born on August 6, 1911, in a very young age Ball knew that she loved being on stage

Lucille Ball started as a singer, model, and film star before becoming one of America's top comedic actresses with the 1950s TV show I Love Lucy co-starring on the show with her husband, Desi Arnaz. Mom watched this show a lot growing up.

Ball would appear in 72 movies during her long career, including a string of second-tier films in the 1940s that garnered her the unofficial title "The Queen of B Movies." One of the earliest ones, a movie called Dance girl Dance introduced her to a handsome Cuban bandleader named Desi Arnaz. The two appeared together in Ball's next film, Too many girls and before the year was out, the pair fell madly in love and married

here's the set where most of the episodes took place

and her car...........

 In the late 1940s Ball, who had dyed her hair red in 1942 at MGM's urging, was looking at a stagnant movie career, unable to break into the kinds of starring roles she'd always dreamed about. As a result, Arnaz pushed his wife to try broadcasting, and it wasn't long before Ball landed a lead part in the radio comedy My Favorite Husband. The program caught the attention of CBS executives, who wanted her to recreate something like it on the small screen. Ball, though, insisted it includes her real-life husband, something the network clearly wasn't interested in seeing happen. So Ball walked away, and with Desi put together an I Love Lucy like vaudeville act and took it on the road. Success soon greeted the pair. So did a contract from CBS  

As the title of the show indicated, Lucy was the star. While she could at times downplay her hard work, Ball was a perfectionist. Contrary to perception, rarely was anything ad-libbed. It was routine for the actress to spend hours rehearsing her antics and facial expressions. And her groundbreaking work in comedy paved the way for future stars such as Mary Tyler Moore, Penny Marshall, Cybill Shepherd, and even Robin Williams

On April 26, 1989, she died from a ruptured aorta following open-heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles

After this stop, we made a quick drive across Pennsylvania and into Ohio where we slept at a truck stop.

Many small towns on the way

How cool is to live in a small town where you can ride your horse to the ice cream shop

Mom finally got her car washed and vacuumed, it had bugged her forever 

these are some really big paws for me to fit into................maybe if I can get more cookies?    Moooooooooooom 

Not much happening in Ohio, we drove along the coast of Lake Eerie and it was pretty but not very accessible since most were private 

we skipped Cleveland and now we are in Michigan, The welcome center wasn't very welcoming since it was closed

talk about private? these signs are on trees in the middle of the forest? Mom said you don't see that in her puppy country.  Too bad we don't have the same rule here, so we can sleep in the woods instead of noisy truckstops

Going to sleep now, and from what I've heard there are plans for tomorrow.............it better not be any more waterfalls ok.........

All is good

Henry