A Day of Rest and Waterfalls

    Leaving the city that never sleeps, we headed through Pennsylvania and upstate New York.  We drove for about three hours and found a campground in upstate New York just over the Pennsylvania border.  We were looking for someplace quiet and we found the perfect place.  It was a little campground tucked away in the farms of upstate New York.  They had a pond with paddle boats and canoes.  When we arrived it was actually raining, so it was the perfect time to take naps and recover from our extremely busy week.  The fourth of July followed by World Cup and finally New York was very tiring.
    After our rest, Cecelia and the girls raced on the pond with the paddle boat and canoe.  I watched them from a small pier, while cooking oysters over an open fire.  They were having so much fun, that even the afternoon rainstorm that rolled in didn't dampen their time together.  They just kept playing on the water, while getting rained on.  The place had a Walden Pond feeling to it.  I couldn't help but soak in the peaceful atmosphere spent while watching my girls.

Ready, Set, Go!!!

    The girls finished playing out on the pond and showered.  They then returned and we had dinner.  It was really raining hard, so the evening was spent watching a movie.  We went to sleep early in preparation for our next adventure.
    The following morning dawned absolutely beautiful.  The sun was shining and glistening off of the rain dripping from the trees.  It was a magical feeling with many twinkling raindrops falling from the trees, like forest nymphs flitting to and fro.  Come on, I am trying to channel my inner Walden.

No description for this

   Leaving On Golden Pond we drove a few hours through New York and crossed into Ontario, Canada through Buffalo, New York.  We then headed to Niagara Falls.  It is amazing when your expectations are blown away.  The blown away part, was that we imagined trekking through some nature to see the amazing sight, much like we have to do at Yosemite.  But, this isn't the case.  We could practically drive up to the edge of the waterfall.  Everything is very commercialized and there is even a casino that overlooks the waterfall.  Despite all of that, Niagara Falls is an absolutely amazing sight to see.  We were glad that we took the advice of a couple of friends and went to the Ontario side to view the falls.  It is much better than the US side.  You get to face the waterfalls by being in Ontario, rather than looking at them from the side.  It is hard to describe what it is like, but when you are standing next to the falls, you can feel the power of them in your feet.  Also, while feeling the earth rumble under your feet, the mist from the falls wafts up to sprinkle you with a refreshing caress.  It is a magical place with many rainbows and wildflowers.  It is easy to see why so many couples have honeymooned here.
    That evening we spent the night at a campground called The Net.  It is in the middle of the Ontario wine country.  The campground was outstanding, except for a pointer that I need to share with you.  When you stay at a campground in Canada, you will probably have to pay a dollar for your shower.  This isn't a problem if you have a Canadian dollar, which I did not have.  Oh well, I just had to shower the next day when we got to Michigan.

Wasting no time

    The next day, we had a very long drive.  We were a day behind and needed to get across Michigan.  It was a long drive, but very beautiful.  The rolling hills and farms are very unique.  Some of the craftsman architecture that we saw along the way was amazing.

So calm, I was skipping stones off the mirror like surface

    Toward the end of the day we rolled into a small town right on the edge of Lake Michigan.  The girls wanted to take a swim, so we went to the lake before trying to find a campground for the night.  Arriving at the lake, we were surprised by two things, first that that the lake was so calm and that the water is crystal clear.  The beach is also covered with a seashell white, silky smooth sand.  The girls promptly went charging into the water, soon to find out that it may have looked like the gulf coast water, but was not as warm.  Despite the cold, they stayed in for sometime.  The atmosphere was very peaceful.
    Finishing their swim, the girls jumped in the truck and dried off while we drove.  We had not made reservations for any campgrounds, but fortunately found one that turned out to be very close to our destination the next morning.