Niagra Falls to Illinois

Niagra Falls to Illinois

 

greetings from the edge of the USA

 

 

 

First of all, our campground was ON THE SHORE OF LAKE ONTARIO! How cool is that? For someone who has never seen a Great Lake before, living with one outside their door for a few days was totally awesome!

 

It was a such a crazy feeling to know that you were standing on, essentially, the edge of the United States of America. We could look across the water from our campground and see Toronto. We had a lot of fun exploring along the shore.




We couldn't believe the size of the whole trees that were washed up on the shore as drift wood. Before this, we'd only seen entire trees on the beaches off the Maine coast...and we were on a fresh water lake... very surreal feeling. We made some cool rock sculptures and found out that we could use one rock to write on other rocks that were large and flat, kind of like personal chalk boards.



We went to see the falls, which are in the Niagra Falls State park, in the town of Niagra Falls, NY. The falls are actually named the Horseshoe, American, and Bridal Veil Falls. It's so nice to be able to see such an amazing sight, with so few other people around.




The falls were amazing and beautiful. The mist creates rainbows all day long.

 

After lunch we took an elevator ride down to the bottom of the gorge. The elevator shaft was built in the 1920's BY HAND! No power tools or dynamite were used. It was completed completely with hammers and chisels. Each spring the park erects a special staircase for visitors to use at the Cave of the Winds . We climbed these stairs, alongside the falls, back up. On the Hurricane Deck, we were standing 10 feet from the falls.

 

George and Mae 10 feet from the falls!

We were greatly impressed with the falls from the American side. We couldn't imagine what all the hype was about around viewing them from the Canadian side. 

We'd traveled so far to see the falls, we figured we had to go to Canada to see what all the fuss was about. (Not to mention, now we can claim to be international homeschoolers!)

Wow! A picture is worth a thousand words, is so true. We couldn't not believe the view! It was breathtaking, awe inspiring and majestic. The raw power and magnitude of the falls can really be appreciated from the Canadian side.

Mae got a kick out of being in the land of the maple leaf flag.

Each night the Canadians illuminate the falls with colored lights. We went back the next night to see them "under the lights." It was a very wet endeavor. We were soaked, like we'd been standing in the pouring rain, after trying to see Horseshoe Falls. Our vantage point didn't allow us to see the falls directly, but we could see the pretty mist all colored and swirling.

We thought that was good enough. Mae pushed us to cross the park and view Bridal Veil falls. She was sure that we'd be able to see the pretty colors there. As we walked, we noticed in the street lights, it appeared to be raining; but you could look farther into the sky and see a cloudless, starry sky. The contradiction was beautiful.

We could indeed watch the Bridal Veil Fall change colors! We were so glad that we followed Mae's lead. We could enjoy the colors without getting soaked with mist-a big added bonus!

We left New York and headed to Ohio, we stayed only two nights versus the three that we have been staying. There was time for some exploring of the lake and playground in the rain when we arrived. I can't believe how warm it has been. 

During our full day in Ohio we did errands, grocery shopping and catching up on some technology updates and such at the local library. We left for Indiana the next morning. It rained the whole time we were in Indiana, so we went to the movies. It's a favorite pass time for the whole family.

Our travel day to Illinois was beautiful and warm after a cold rainy stay in Indiana. We stopped for a bathroom break, and ended up finding a great little farm stand. We bought some delicious honey crisp apples and veggies. For the very first time, we got to actually pick a pumpkin off the vine! There was even a corn maze. Talk about a great rest stop.

We ended up staying for four days at our campground in Illinois. It was a great spot for us because we had a nice big spot, right next to an awesome playground. Mae played outside for 12 hours for two days in a row. The only time she came in the house was to go to the bathroom. We even ate all of our meals outside or in the play castle for two days.

I told her the first night that we got there, that in the morning I'd make her a sensory bin in the morning. She was so excited. The next morning she work up early, and the first thing she said was "Can I play with my sensory bin now?" So I made her a batch of cloud dough, that she played with all day. It's eight cups of flour and one cup of oil (baby or veggie). It has a nice soft texture and can be lightly molded.

The second play day began with three batches of kool aid playdough. It smells wonderful and has such a great bright color that's 100% food safe.

(playdough)

1 cup flour

W1/2 cup salt

1 TBSP cream of tarter

1 TBSP veggie oil

1 cup water

Mix all the dry ingredients. Then add the wet ones and cool over a medium heat until the mixture sticks together.

Mae started right off by making a bakery with her playdough and nature items.

As usual, she included her toys. Today most of her plastic animals were her assistants in the kitchen. They all demonstrated very nice team work skills. When she was done with the playdough, she went back to the playground. We didn't see her again until dinner time.

Speaking of dinner time... I have to stop and sing the praises of my electric skillet. I bought it about two months ago hoping that it would help me cook without adding heat to the house, because I can plug it in outside and cook out there. I got so much more for my money. On our trip so far, I've cooked a pot of split pea soup in it (simmered for 2 hours). I baked a batch of muffins, the bottoms burned, but I'm going to try a water bath next time with my silicone muffin cups. We've made pizzas, using a tortilla as the crust and the toppings of our choice. I also used it to make the playdough. So, not only was I able to cook outside, I was also cooking for free. Electricity is included with our nightly campground fee. So it didn't cost us any extra to cook the soup for a few hours. If I'd been using the propane to cook the soup on the stove, I'm pretty sure we would have used a lot of gas. We are always excited about a money saving idea.

Our last day camping in Illinois, we actually spent in Missouri, at the St. Louis Zoo. It's open free to the public! Some of the events cost extra once you are there. We did the math and realized that for just an extra $20 from what we were going to spend we could buy a zoo membership that's good at participating zoos and aquariums across the country. Needless to say, we bought the membership. We also have a membership to the science museums across the nation. George is going to use the lists to help him choose campgrounds, so if we have some extra time or a rainy day, we can take advantage of these local resources.
 
                  

The zoo was very well done and was a great place to spend the day learning together. Like with Niagra Falls, it was wonderful to be there when the masses were not. We had lunch while watching the sea lions, totally awesome!

 

We had the gift of time to allow Mae to explore at her own pace. She spent a lot of time petting this goat.

She was sharing her goat knowledge with another little girl. That's one of our major goals for this trip. The slow, natural absorption and assimilation of information on a deep level. We are so fortunate!