Impossible To Not Fall In Love With This!

Greetings from the Niagara Falls friends! We had a pleasant trip from Vermont and arrived safe and sound to Niagara Shores, a campground set by the vast waters of Lake Ontario. We got a really nice waterfront spot with a wonderful view to the sun setting and rising every day. The facilities can use some updating, but the location was prime. We got to see a wedding happening over there during our stay, so sweet.

Can you see Toronto's Silhouette right underneath the sun?

Ready for one of our most memorable take-aways from this stop? Well, out we went Cherry picking the day right after we arrived. We thought ourselves veterans at fruit picking and went for the bucketfuls we normally go while blueberry picking in Florida. Turns out Cherries are more plentiful and much heavier, a fact unbeknownst to us, so we ended up with 35 pounds to take home! Cherries for breakfast, lunch, snacks & dinner it has been people! We learned that cherries need to be pitted before freezing..so we had a “pitted-ful party!” Ha! Silver lining? We are getting better at Cherry cobbler making! And, we have a story to tell now, so it is all good!

   

 

The third day our friend Amanda came from Toronto to visit with us for a couple of days. We hadn’t seen her in person for 5 years! She’s an art teacher to all ages from kids to adults, so she connects very well with our children. She’s very good at “playing silly” with them. We also enjoyed recalling a little of our Chinese lessons from the past, which is quite timely as we are re-starting our Chinese school and start day approaches. She’s also quite the artist. You can actually peruse over her creations in Facebook right here. 

  

We meet Amanda at the downtown of Niagara. That’s right next to the starting point of the trail taking you to the Falls. So happily we trailed on together to delight our eyes on the view of this gem of God’s creation. And we were delighted alright! 3500 tons of water PER SECOND falling down the Niagara River. It was quite a sight. This river serves as the border with Canada and its blueish hues make it more impressive. Four out of the five Great Lakes which make a fifth of the world’s fresh water supply, drain in this river before emptying into Lake Ontario. Look at this grandeur yourselves:

After our first round of exploration from the top. We got into the elevator to go down to get in the waters. We rode on the “Maid of the Midst” which is the boat that takes you within yards of the Falls. Once you get that close you can hardly see anything, but you hear and feel the loud crashing of the waters. We were somewhat holding on tightly to our raincoats, but even as we did, our kids were enjoying the refreshing feel of getting wrenched by the misty waters. What an adrenaline rushed experience! For a few minutes, the boat got rocked to a personally uncomfortable point. All I was doing was holding on to Evelyn and to our rain coats. No wonder the government harness the power of those falls to generate electricity to provide for almost half of the state of NY. 

 

Personally, being so close to the Niagara Falls was not only a fascinating, but also quite a sobering experience for me. I got to reminisce the scene from the Chronicles of Narnia where the Pevensies along with Reepicheep got to the border of Narnia. A huge mountain of water is the dividing wall to enter the Land of Aslan. It is supposed to point us to the necessary passage all of us have to take one day, a reality all of us have to reckon with, and be ready for: Death. (Hebrews 9:27). I hope to see you all on the right side of eternity friends. C.S Lewis also rightly said that we humans all are either eternal splendors or nightmares in the making. (John 3:3). If you are not sure, I invite you to learn about the good news of the gospel here. Our dear God has provided a way to escape Hell though His Son Jesus, if only we turn away from our sin and put our faith and trust in Him. (John 3:16). You can always ask me about it too. Here’s a good short explanation of it:

Once we went back to a safe distance to the falls we were able to enjoy their breathtaking views. It was also fun to wave hi to Canadian boat packed with tourists. They looked like a colony of ants on a floating leaf. So did we. They only difference was the coat colors. Our raincoats were blue, theirs were red.

We spent some time hiking down to the river after getting out of the boat. The kids spotted a beaver trailing along as we said bye to the river. From there we went to grab a bite from the “Old Fare” food quarters which was a touristic attraction featuring a road lined up with picturesque food trucks offering delicious ethnic food. We noticed the dramatic increase of Middle Eastern immigrants in the area. It may have been because of the proximity to Canada, which population has been purposely growing as a result of immigration. It was super cool seeing the diversity!

Our last day in Niagara we went to play disc-golf, one of our family favorites, at Wilson-Tuscarora State Park. We love sports we can play altogether as a family, and this one just fits the spot. We love enjoying nature, getting a little exercise and playing together. Our kids are good at it, and so competitive. I play too, but I am better at cheer-leading. Amanda loved it as well. It was a nice way to say goodbye to her,Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario.

 

  

We departed the next day towards our next destination: Ohio. Dave’s family is from that area and it always so nice to connect with them. We also love the Hocking Hills State Park over there. We are looking forward to play some disc gold in its hilly terrain! We’ll post our next entry from there. Thank you for visiting friends!