2024 Summer Trip - Buffalo New York and a Nighttime visit to Niagara Falls - 2024/07/27

It's another travel day today as we head further east and move on to our next destination for the summer. Can you tell where it is? 

It's a relatively short travel day today being just 2:30 hours away. From Ohio, we took a brief trip through the edge of Pennsylvania. 

And then crossed over into New York. 

Not a bad day for driving at all. 

Just adding one more leg to our summer travel map. 

And here's the place we're staying! It's a Boondockers Welcome site with a large field and plenty of space. 

We're parking on grass, but it's dry enough here, so no big deal. There's electricity and water hookups, so that's great! 

Seeing as how we were on grass, I opted to just leave the spare tire on instead of changing it out with the repaired tire. It's a full-size spare and our travel days have been short, so no big deal. 

Our real plans tonight don't start until after it gets dark so... why not find a nearby Chuck E Cheese and see what's going on there. 

First checking out the prize counter. What can we win with all our hard earned tickets. 

When we walked in, the whole place smelled strongly of fresh cotton candy. They were making a big batch and stuffing the bags that were for sale. 

Ian went over to the machine and watched as they made it. He remarked that it's a whole lot faster than little one that I used to have at home. He stayed watching them for so long that they offered him a sample. He came and shared it with Alli and me. It was great! 

Let's go check out the games! Is this going to be a Great Chuck E Cheese with lots of ticket potential? 

Um, no. Not at all. 5 tickets for beating the high score on 2 Minute Drill. Normally this is in the 35-50 ticket range. 

And just 5 tickets for setting a high score on basketball? 

Alli beat the high score for the ping pong ball toss, supposedly winning 100 tickets! You've got to watch out for them though because her card only got loaded with 50 tickets... We went up to the counter and got that fixed right away. Unlike the previous CEC, they had no problem adding the right amount of tickets to her card. 

How's the mini basketball game? Easy enough to set a high score on. 

This CEC is one of the biggest we've been to. Lots of games for adults and plenty of things for the little kids as well. 

I was able to put up high score on Piano Tiles. 

Then beat it again with 107 tiles! 

And for that, I got 4 tickets! Woo! 

Good thing we have tickets saved up from previous visits. The kids got some treats for our hang out later tonight. 

After CEC, we left to grab dinner from Sam's Club, then headed off to our evening event. 

What is that smoke in the distance? 

Wait, that's not smoke. It's mist! That's Niagara Falls! 

Our last visit here was back in 2021 when we first started our whole RV life. We loved it!

From before, we remembered parking near the falls was a bit tight, plus the lots cost money. The Discovery Gorge Center just a little ways away has free parking and has plenty of open space for the 22 foot truck! 

We don't mind a little bit of walking at all. Loaded up with blankets, snacks, and drinks, we all headed towards the American side of Niagara Falls. 

Cool! That's Rainbow Bridge heading over into Canada! 

Not far now... Just around the corner and...

Ugh! What is this? Where did all these people come from? 

I don't remember them the last time we came here. What time of the year were we here last? Oh, October. Yeah... I guess that makes sense. Summertime will have more people. 

One thing we remember from before were the critters that call the American side of the falls home. Specifically the skunks! It didn't take long to spot a few of the black and white critters. 

Continuing past Bridalveil Falls and over to the American side of Horseshoe Falls, the crowding situation has not improved. 

Well, we've planned for that too. 

While the majority of people are right at the water's edge, we brought a couple blankets to hang out in the grassy area further away, where the red marker is. 

One of our favorite memories of our last trip here was just sitting on the hillside at night, listening to the falls, and watching the nightly light show. We did it a few times, bringing snacks and just hanging out, watching people rush to see it and then move on. It was nice to slow down and hang out. 

Snacks come in all forms. Even a ziplock bag of cold green beans. 

Alli loves them. 

We enjoyed the different light shows they had going across the water. 

And watched the nightly firework show provided free during the summer months by the Niagara Falls Tourism Board. 

Pee-ew! Are those skunks nearby? No, that is skunk weed. Jerks! Smoking isn't allowed here in the State Parks except in certain areas, and smoking weed here, especially near kids, is a jerk thing to do.  

We ended up staying well past the fireworks until 11pm. The crowds have started to go away. 

So we went a little closer to feel the power of those thousands of gallons of water thundering down the falls. 

Well, it was a little different than our last visit here, but it was still fun to come and see!

And here's the Beast. All alone in the parking lot when we came back. 

Well, we packed a lot in today, even though it was a travel day! What will tomorrow bring!