Niagara Falls Trip

[DaveHess]

So, I had all these aspirations of putting out a comprehensive "Trip Tik" if you will of my vacation to Niagara Falls, NY, much in the vein of the post that MWilson did on his Washington DC trip. Two things promptly halted this from happening. First, I forgot my laptop and second, I thought I was masterful enough to still do this post using a tablet. That did not work so well...... So over the next couple of days or so, I will break down the trip and provide you all with information that I think would be good to know if anyone is kicking around a trip to the Falls.

My bride and I are both planners. She however, excels at it. Day one, we departed Bismarck (I-94) at 0730 with the plan to make it to Hixton, WI and stay at the KOA there. This leg of the trip went off without a hitch and we arrived at the Hixton KOA somewhere around 1730. This is a fairly nice KOA. The site we were put on was not level and the front of my TT was way up in the air. The KOA book says not to follow your GPS in getting in to the campground, however, armed with the KOA instructions and using my GPS, Samantha (my GPS' name) took me right to the front gate. I did just updated her in January 2017. The rest of the night was uneventful.

Day Two began with chocks out at 0730 again. For this leg of the trip, we would be on I-94, I-90/I-94, I-39, and finally I-80. Again the trip went smooth until Wisconsin Dells. Traffic "thickened" up quickly starting there. Not NASCAR tight but tight until Rockford, IL where we joined I-39. I-90 split to Chicago there. Traffic thinned out nicely on I-39. We stopped at a unique two story rest area on the southbound side. Pretty cool. From there we continued south to LaSalle where we joined up to I-80 and began the trek east bound. We went this route to avoid the Chicago traffic and to save on the tolls. Avoiding Chicago did not happen. Somewhere between Joliet and Tinsley Park, I-80 became a parking lot and the (I think) 26 miles between Joliet and Gary, IN took a little under 2 hours to complete. Not a really huge problem except that out goal for the night was to stop at the Tiffin River Travel Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike and spend the night there. My fear was we'd get there and find no room. In any case, the Indiana Turnpike proved to a construction nightmare with 4 to 10 mile sections all down the eastbound side. They had those mobile signs in several locations stating the projects would be completed by July 1st. We'll see. We made it through Indiana about $30 lighter due to Tolls. We got to see a couple of arrests being made at a travel plaza. You don't see that happening every day! We finally rolled into Tiffin River Travel Plaza in Ohio at about 1900 hours. Much to my surprise, we were the second camper in there out of 10 spaces. This travel plaza is perfect for an overnight stop. Nice paved, well marked RV parking with electrical hook ups. The power was clean on my meter inside my TT. It costs $20 a night and you have to have cash and use a kiosk. It asks you if you want a receipt? Tell it yes. You need to place the receipt on your dash for the night. This parking area was very clean with several trash cans around and surprisingly quiet for being next to the turnpike. Inside the rest area building itself you have a Burger King, Sbarro, some kind of a sub shop and a Starbucks Coffee. The bathrooms were clean and there was a uniformed attendant at an information desk. Very nice lady. We bought some stuff from the convenience store and called it a night.

Day three began with chocks out at 0730. Two mocha's from Starbucks and we were on it. Coming into Cleveland, we opted for I-80 to I-271 to I-90. Very smart choice. Avoided Cleveland for the most part. The rest of the trip into the Falls was pretty vanilla. We rolled into Buffalo, NY at about 1530 and traffic was pretty decent but moving right along. We had a choice here as well. We opted for I-90 to I-290 over the Grand Island Bridge and into the Falls area finally setting down at the Lewiston KOA in Lewiston, NY. This KOA is at the bottom of the KOA food chain. Not nearly as nice as the Hixton KOA. The pool was not open as the hours stated it would be and looked dirty as we peered over the fence. The office was open long enough for us to check in. I have stayed at this KOA before and complained about the power then. It had not improved. The meter in the camper showed the power to be very close to 105 volts but still in the green on the meter. We ran our A/C but left the fridge on LP and the water heater on LP also. We unhooked the Ram and pretty much called it a day.

Just some basics from our first three days: Our fuel mileage varied from a worst of 9.3 to a best of 10.1 (Hand calculated) We do tip the scales at just under 18,000 pounds GCW and I generally set the cruise at between 65 and 69. We did deal with some heavy cross winds between Bismarck and Minneapolis and from Rockford to LaSalle. And of course the stop and go 5 mph between Tinsley Park and Gary. I run with a CB and man those truckers get upset with the "four-wheelers". Especially the idiots that race down the shoulders in the construction zones and the ones that wait until the last three feet to merge into traffic on lane closures. The reason we sat, I'm pretty sure.
The total tolls for the day was about $50 between Indiana, Ohio and New York. We had two small tolls in Rockford and the Grand Island bridge.
Stay tuned.....

 

[Wayne M.]

Thanks! Staying tuned. What's after the falls? Headed back?

 

[DavidC]

When I was there (a very long time ago). The family visited both the U.S. and Canadian side with the Canadian side being to most spectacular. No idea what it's like now.

Dave

 

[Jim W]

We were there a couple of years ago, staying at the Branches of Niagara Campground at Grand island NY. We would drive to the falls and walk over to the Canadian side. What was extremely noticeable was the attitude of the immigration and custom officers on both sides of the boarder. The Canadian officers were friendly and welcoming with no bullet proof vest on or weapons. They would just asked to see your passports and how long you were staying in Canada, then they would say have a great day. On the other hand the American officers were surly and intimidating to everyone, also every one of them were wearing their body armor with weapons on their side. Allowing only one or two people to enter the controlled area (family members only were allowed to be together). Than they asked you the standard question before allowing you to enter the US again.

I know they need to be prepared but they do not need to be surly to everyone like we are keeping them from doing their job. This is their job. This makes you feel like it is a hassle crossing the boarder into Canada and not wanting to go any more across at least to me. I am glad that I did not bring the truck or camper across the boarder, I would probably be labeled a criminal with what I carry in my truck and camper.

 

[DaveHess]

Ok. So, now to the Falls visit. The next morning after arriving at the Lewiston KOA, we started out by touring Old Fort Niagara. This is a must see if you love history. You start out in a very nice visitor center with a museum and gift shop, then wind your way into the fort. Every employee inside the fort is attired in period dress and speaks in the period. We arrived in time for the cannon shot which happens once a day at 1030. We were wandering a little aimlessly until one of the "Officers" took us on a tour with him for awhile. You'l drop about $40 for a family of four to tour the fort but well worth the three hours we spent in there. We then drove back to the Falls area. What used to be the Robert Moses Parkway is now the Niagara Scenic Parkway. I did not mention it earlier but I grew up in this area of NY. Orchard Park to be exact. Home of the Buffalo Bills!!! Any, so we travelled about 12 miles south down the Niagara Scenic Parkway to the Falls (American side). Be prepared to pay for parking. It cost us $20 to park the Ram. We walked about 300 feet and onto the Falls grounds. And then it poured rain on us. We snuck into a gift shop just before they started turning people away and bought ourselves a couple of Maid of the Mist ponchos. We then ventured back out and headed to the Maid of the Mist boats. This is a must if you are at the Falls. Cost was about $60 for the four of us. Since it was raining we darn near had the boat to ourselves! The Maid of the Mist takes on a boat ride right about into the base of the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls), sits there for approximately 5 minutes and then turns back out again. It is a must!!!!! From there (the rains had stopped), we ventured back to the Ram and drove over to Goat Island. There is a lot of construction going on on the island right now but you can still walk down and just about touch the Horseshoe Falls. For those who don't know, Goat Island is the island land mass that separates the American from the Canadian Falls. It costs me another $20 to park on Goat Island unless you are out of the parking lot in 20 minutes or less. Then it is free. By this time we were wore out and called it a day. We returned the 12 miles back to the KOA where again we found the pool to be dirty and closed...... Tomorrow I'll share the Canadian side!

 

[DaveHess]

Day Two found us heading to the Canadian side of the Falls. This truly is the side of Falls to truly take it all in! We did take the Ram over into (Rainbow Bridge. Whirlpool Bridge can be used but it is designated for commercial vehicles so expect a longer delay) Canada. There is a toll of I think it was $4.50 to cross the bridge. Apparently, you only pay on the American side, not on the Canadian side. As Jim W stated above, The Canadian Immigrations folks were very friendly and only asked a couple of questions. They did ask to see our passports but that was it and we were on our way. Just to let you all know, when you depart the Canadian Immigrations area, keep to the right and you'll see signs directing you to the Falls area. You basically enter a ramp that turns you to the right and it brings you to a traffic light. Turn right at the light and you are on your way! We parked in a parking lot almost directly North of the Horseshoe Falls. Parking was $18 for the day or until midnite. This particular parking area had two sections. A traditional parking lot type area and an RV area. We opted for the RV area as the parking spaces are bigger and longer. Same cost and maybe 500' longer walk to the Falls area. We walked down to the Falls area and took in the sights and sounds. We had done two things prior to going over to Canada. One, we exchanged $150 US money for $200 Canadian and two, made supper reservations in the Skylon Tower. The Skylon Tower is another must!!! The dining room revolves and takes 60 minutes to make one revolution. Actually it is just the seating area but you get to see the Falls for a good period of time as well as see the Toronto skyline. The Tower has three levels. One is the dining room, the next level up is a Buffet style area and third level up is an open observation deck. We did the early bird which seats you at 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM. At 4:15 we were on the elevator and on our way 775' up the side of the tower. Being early is the way to go here. We were all but guaranteed a table right next to the windows and we were not disappointed!!!! This was my Bride's first time here at the tower as well as our two boys. They were in awe and amazed! The service was excellent and the food was outstanding. We were at no time rushed to get out to make room for other people. Did I mention the food was outstanding??? Be prepared to drop that $200 Canadian up there for your meal. I knew this and was ready for it. About 90 minutes later we were on our way back down. Even the elevator ride up and down is amazing since the elevator is clear except for the floor and ceiling. We made our way back to the Ram to find it sitting all alone in the RV lot. The original plan was to stay on the Canadian side until dark because they light the Falls up at night and there are fireworks almost every night. Again, we were beat and by now it was about 1930 hours. The directions back to the Rainbow Bridge are terrible. Signs are few and far between but somehow we managed to get back on the bridge. I cannot even advise how we got to the bridge. I have no idea! We got on the bridge and headed back over to the American Immigrations folks. We had one car in front of us and then it was our turn. I pulled up and there was a young guy there who was very polite and professional and was actually very personable. He asked to me to shut the pickup down while we talked. He took our passports and asked us the usual questions. Since the boys are 11 and 9, he talked to each of them in turn simply asking their names. The 9 year old asked if he could wave to the officer and the officer told him sure! The 9 year old waved and the officer smiled and waved back. Very nice guy! That was the end of it. we headed back to the Lewiston KOA where again, you guessed it, the pool and office was closed....

 

[DaveHess]

So, we moved from the Lewiston KOA to a private campground called Colden Lakes Resort Campground in Colden, NY. We opted to avoid the Grand Island Bridge and used US 62 out of Niagara Falls. Not a bad route but you are traveling through a lot of stop lights and towns. It eventually dumped me back on I-290 east of Buffalo where we got onto I-90 West and exited on NY 400 to East Aurora and eventually the campground. Nice enough campground. They put short term campers away from their long term campers in an area next to the pool. This is where we ran into a fellow TDR member and his wife who were here from Maine. Ralph and Pearl. Very much enjoyed my conversations with them!!! The campground staff was very friendly and helpful. One small awkward note here, the campground office is actually in their home on the campground. Just felt weird to me to go talk to them and just walk into their home to do so. The desk is right by the door you enter but like one day I walked in on them having lunch. Hated to bother them, know what I mean? Anyhow the pool area was very clean and the pool is heated. They have a pool schedule which is kind of cool. 0800 to 1100 is for Seniors, 1200 to 1800 is open to anyone, and 1900 to 2100 is for adults 21 and over only. If I have any complaints, there are two. One, you're pretty crammed in here. Our site had room for both the slide and our awning which the latter was nice since it rained every day! The second is there was no bathhouse. We did have full hook-ups so we had facilities but a bathhouse is nice to shower sometimes since the shower in my Jayco is anything but spacious. Very important travel information for this campground. ONLY come into this campground using Center Street from East Aurora to Heath Road into the campground. If you come up Heath Road from Colden, the drive will work your truck very hard. We drove this route everyday without a trailer out back and the Ram worked to climb the hill. Very steep and somewhat curvy. I made a joke to my brother who lives in the area and is a diesel mechanic that my Ram will take whatever I can throw at it. He told me there was no way in hell he would pull the camper up Heath Road out of Colden. Coming from him, who loves to tell me to work my Ram or leave it in the garage, I decided to heed his warning. This segment of the trip was mostly to visit family. Coming up next will be some sites and restaurants to visit...

 

[DaveHess]

So, places to see and eat. There are two really well known food items that Buffalo is known for. Wings of course as they originated in Buffalo in 1964 and there is the lesser known, Beef on Weck. Thinly sliced roast beef on a kimmelweck roll. Slather on some course horseradish and it is a sandwich to die for. And it's pretty good at clearing your sinus'. Schwabels in West Seneca is an excellent place to get one of these sandwiches. Schwabels is a very small restaurant but well worth the wait for an outstanding Beef on Weck. Another excellent "hole in the wall" type place is George's at the bottom of Herman Hill in Boston, NY. Order the "Big George" and fries. The fries by the way are fresh cut on the premises. Then there is the Home of the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, NY. It is now New Era Field but it will always be known to me as Rich Stadium. Anyway, they do tours every other Friday and have a very nice Bills Store on premises if you are a Bills fan such as I. There is also the Serviceman's Park in downtown Buffalo by the waterfront. Didn't get to visit this site this time around but it looks very nice! We ran out of "touring daylight" in the Buffalo area due to family........ Which brings me to the return trip to North Dakota.......