Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls totally live up to the hype. If you think about waterfalls, they shouldn't be that great. It is water under the influence of gravity- like everything else. Where is the wonder in that? It's not special. Water moves toward the center of the earth like anything else in the planet's gravitational field.

And yet, waterfalls are freaking awesome.

Niagara Falls is the granddaddy of waterfalls. Look at this thing!

Horseshoe Falls

BAM! That water is moving so quickly that some of it is forced straight up! Do you see that?? No one told me it was almost like a geyser AND a waterfall in one! Now THAT is a lot of mist! For real. The famous boat that chugs its way in there really earned its name, the Maid of the Mist.

I was one of those morons.

Dwarfed by the enormity of the falls, it looks like a toy boat packed with morons heading straight to their doom. The mist is so thick it is practically a cloud sitting above the water. Look at the top right corner of that picture. It's just white! I don't know why, but I was just fascinated by that mist.

WEEEE!

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Did you know that there is not one but TWO waterfalls at Niagara Falls!! WHAT?

YES! I said it! That's TWO WATERFALLS for the price of one! We've just doubled your offer!

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS?? What a fantastic surprise! Check this out- 

The American Falls

In addition to the famous Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side (featured in the first picture), here we have the American Falls! That's right- water coming from the USA side of the river! Represent! Ya, we have nice falls too. What up. 

Seriously, it's so perfect that this looks like it could be a Bob Ross painting.

Now I am writing this two months after seeing the falls and I am still getting so amped to think about it. There is so much to see! I pre-purchased tickets to the four major attractions to cut back on wait time and I nevertheless felt rushed to see everything. This site could easily be a two day visit. Sadly, I had just one, so the pressure was on. Now, it didn't help me much that I (not surprisingly) got a late start because I had difficulty locating the rental car lot that morning. Plus, not that I am complaining (at all!), I had a date that night! Lucky me, the day before, I met a rather handsome native in Toronto who was willing to show me city, and I was really excited to see him! I didn't want to be late for my international date! And while our dinner wasn't going to happen until well after my anticipated timeline to return the rental car, it somehow caused a shift in my state of mind which had me thinking of what was to come rather than fully immersing myself in the glory of this natural wonder that was right here in front of me. In retrospect, I should have brought him along. He turned out to be a sweet guy who would have made wonderful company on this big day. Oh well. Next time. I'll have to return to Toronto and Niagara Falls and do it all again with a friend. I'm quite certain I'll see him again in the future.

But for now, I am on my own.

Regretting this.

This is me in another popular attraction on the Canadian side of the falls: Journey Behind the Falls. It's ridiculous. Someone, at some point, decided to carve tunnels under the river to see the waterfall from the inside. First of all, that's a lot of work. Secondly, that's super dangerous! You know it is just a matter of time before the water erodes away at this concrete lined tunnel. There is so much water moving so quickly that the falls have actually moved 7 MILES upstream over time because the water just keeps chipping away at the rock underneath. When you are in there listening to the thunder of the water, you really start to think about these things. And question your judgement. Luckily it turned out alright. Here's a view from inside the tunnel:

No thanks to the guy that got his finger in my picture! Gosh!

Since a still photo can't really do a waterfall justice, check out this video from inside the tunnel. While you are there, feel free to see my other videos featuring Niagara Falls!

Sorry guys, no videos from the date. ;) But here's a picture just so you can see what a cutie he is!

Canadian Cutie

Stay tuned for the next post about the troubles I run into on a Niagara jet boat tour because I am late to everything! Yay!