Day 17: Niagara Falls NY to Ottawa ON: A Long Drive Home

We woke up to our first rainy day of the trip! No matter - we were planning to get wet anyway.

It was breakfast inside for us today. Oatmeal again?! Breakfast of road tripping champions.

We started our final day of vacation with a splash (literally) at the Cave of the Winds on the American side of Niagara Falls. We experienced the power of the Falls firsthand, getting soaked in the process. Alistair: “My everything is wet!” We learned some new history too. It was certainly unforgettable!

Then it was time for the very long drive home. Drive, drive, drive, and drive some more. Our dinner was about three quarters of the way home in Marmora.

We were then treated to a rainbow sunset as we rounded the final bend to pull into our home, Gael Glen Farm in Carp. We travelled for 17 days, covered 5,000 km, touched the waters of four of the Great Lakes, and drove past all five of them. We are home safe and sound, reunited with the family pooch, Emily, and looking forward to planning our next epic adventure. What a journey. The past two weeks have been the best!

Day 16: Allegany State Park NY to Niagara Falls NY (via Bradford PA): Short Hikes, Lots of Driving, and a Luxurious Campground

Today began by heading back to Pennsylvania to visit the Zippo lighter and Case pocket knife museum and flagship store. The kids were enthralled by the fancy ball and track installation in the middle of the store, giving Ian lots of time to read and visit the exhibits.

Next we headed to Rock City Park in Olean NY. The sedimentary rock formations were very cool to walk through with the many cracks and crevices. The boys also appreciated the gift shop, each picking out a souvenir rock.

In the afternoon, we hiked to the eternal flame. This is a natural gas vent in the forest that stays lit year round. In the spring it is even cooler as the flame is behind a waterfall. No waterfall today but the flame was larger than I expected. Quite a neat thing to see.

Tonight we are camping at a luxury RV park near Niagara Falls. It boasts heated swimming pools, a fishing dock, mini put, and pedal cars. It is quite the place. We had an amazing last evening of the trip.

We are so sad this trip is almost over. We have one more adventure tomorrow morning and then a very long drive back to Ottawa.

Day 15: Geneva-on-the-lake OH to Allegany State Park NY (via Corry PA): Good Deals and Great Dams

 To make our way closer to home, our day consisted of a lot of driving. We took a break in Corry PA, an old railroad town, after seeing a sign for antique shops. Our browsing yielded a life jacket, some clothes for the boys, a mink and a muskrat. No kidding. The boys are collecting some strange souvenirs and Alistair was completely out of clean clothes!

Next stop was the Kinzua Dam. The dam was really impressive from down below and up top. We liked seeing all the big fish in the reservoir. When the reservoir was created, several nearby towns were flooded. I wonder what it looks like down under the reservoir now and if you can see any ruins under the water (think Waterworld)? 

Our afternoon adventure was the Ridge Rock Overlook hike. It was a moderately challenging uphill to the viewpoint and a very relaxing trip down the mountain after. There were some really interesting informational placards telling about how the area hosted the first big oil rig in the USA and how at one point in history the area was heavily deforested due to logging and oil drilling. It has since been replanted and is now a national forest.

We are camping in a state park tonight which means showers (woot! woot!) and s’mores. Another great day.