Niagara Falls

Last night’s memorable moment - taking a swim in the hotel’s 4th floor outside pool. No one there except for the lifeguard, a social studies teacher in Rochester. She and I swam laps and talked about teaching, kids and the state of the world.

This morning we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then set off. Little bit of a detour through Rochester’s less desirable areas to get to 490 West. About ten minutes along the highway we heard a drum, drum, drum from the left side of the trailer. Despite an expensive tire monitoring system, (and Robert had checked the tires this morning) we had a flat tire on the trailer. (After we pulled over, the tire monitor went off...)

Gates and Robert hopped to the rescue and changed the tire, digging through the trailer to find what they needed. A tough job in the baking sun. Despite the delay - I was happy that it happened in the daytime when we were all well rested and fed, there was plenty of room for us to pull over onto a field in order to change the tire. Plus, we had a spare and all the tools to change the tire.

About an hour later, we’re back on the road heading for a rest atop where I can use the WI-FI on the laptop to find a tire store.

Flash ahead to 9:27 PM - with the help of a local hotel front desk person, we were directed to a tire store that knew all about what we needed. It turns out that a crack in the air stem allowed all the air to come out quickly resulting in the flat.

Then it was on to Niagara Falls where we walked around the trails and visited each viewing spot for the falls. They were incredible but the heat was so impressive that I wished that the mist was blowing up and up so that it would have gotten us. The folks on the Cave Wind and Maid of the Mist tours who were getting soaked had the right idea!

I am writing this from the lobby of the Niagara Air Reserve Station - the hotel is one of the nicest I've ever stayed in - all for just $33!!!