USA 2009 - Canada

From Harrisburg state of Pennsylvania to Grand Island state of New York km. 480

Departure at 7 am, a day of transfer awaits us. We do not take the highway, long and monotonous, but cross endless fields and with considerable stretches of forests of oak, hickory, chestnut maple, ash and beech. We arrive on the eastern shore of Lake Erie, where the Niagara River begins, connecting it to Lake Ontario. In the late afternoon we arrive at the Niagara Falls KOA Kampground, where we will stay for two nights. It is a beautiful campsite, clean and well ordered, large pitches with the relevant hook-ups. Now experts, we connect the various fill and drain hoses without problems. Niagara Falls Koa Campsite – N 43 01 55 W 78 58 20.

Niagara Falls KOA Campground – N 43 01 55 W 78 58 20.

Today's appointment was set for 9.00 at the campsite office where a driver with a guide speaking Italian was supposed to come and pick us up to begin the "Ultimate Niagara Falls Experience" tour. Unfortunately he never arrived; after a vain wait of two hours and various phone calls from Pierluigi, we discover that the bus was waiting for us at the Koa campsite but in Niagara Falls in Canada; reading carefully among the documents we discovered that there was a letter from Hotelplan, the agency that booked the various tours and campsites, which clearly stated the meeting place for the trip. Unfortunately PL booked the Niagara Falls Koa campsite in America and not in Canada. In haste and a rush we moved 6 campers, including mine, and went to the meeting point, the Koa in Canada; to do this we had to endure the border crossing between the USA and Canada, but it was fairly quick.

Finally settled on the bus, the interpreter, a beautiful lady of Italian descent, informs us that we will not be able to do the whole planned tour because of the accumulated delay; we will only see the most important stops. Arrived at Niagara Falls, the coach parks near Queen Victoria Park, with meticulously kept gardens, up to arriving in front of the falls. The sound is like thunder and the sight a sweetest inspiration. Niagara Falls, straddling Canada and the USA, are considered, for their vastness and the spectacularity of their scenery, among the most famous in the world, even though in reality their drop is only 52 m. They are formed by a complex of three distinct falls, although originating from the same river, the Niagara.

On the Canadian side are the Horseshoe Falls, called this for their semicircular shape, also sometimes called Canadian Falls, separated from the American Falls, on the US side, by Goat Island. Both end up always on US soil with the smaller Bridal Veil Falls. World-famous for their beauty and their energy production. Great notoriety was given to this place by the film "Niagara" shot in 1953 with the actress Marilyn Monroe in the lead role. We begin our tour at the Table Rock Visitor Centre right next to the falls. The noise is very loud. We take a first look. Beside the building we find the entrance to go down beneath the falls, Journey Behind the Falls. They hand us a kind of yellow plastic that will serve as a raincoat and we take the lift that will descend 150 m into the rock.

Having exited the lift and walked through a tunnel, we find ourselves on a platform almost at river level, at the foot of the falls. Another tunnel runs behind the falls, interrupted every now and then by a series of small Scenic Tunnels, impressive observation points that allow you to see the wall of falling water. The view and the photo-taking are limited by considerable water spray. We are practically behind the fall called Horseshoe. The spectacle is extraordinary. We go back up and find ourselves in the souvenir shop of the Table Rock complex. Once outside we resume our route. Unforgettable is the skyline observed from Queen Victoria Park, which we encounter walking along the Niagara River (the Indian name means narrows). Nearby is also the Skylon Tower, which we will visit in the afternoon.

North of the falls we board the boat that takes us right under the leap of the Maid of the Mist. As soon as we get on board they give us a kind of plastic raincoat to put on (blue, this time) that should protect us from the spray. We skirt the falls for a spectacular (not to say intense) close encounter with the water. So close that it is hard to keep our eyes open from all the water around us. Suddenly it seems that the weather turns gloomy, like a stormy day. In fact, one finds oneself in mist and under rain while, looking back, one sees the sun reflecting on the river. A very strange sensation. We go below deck for a moment. It seems that up above it is really pouring rain. Having disembarked we decide to go up the lift the 158 m of the Skylon Tower, at the top of which the view ranges 360 degrees over the surrounding panorama.

One enjoys a fantastic view of the whole falls complex, which appears large and spectacular. In front of us the Rainbow Bridge straddles the banks of the river. After the ritual photographs we go back down and move the campers from the Koa campsite to a car park near a restaurant we had spotted for the evening. Some of the group prefer to return to the campsite in the USA; two campers detach from the company and return to the American Koa. Before dinner we take a few steps in the city with its magnificent hotels and casinos surrounded by well-kept parks and gardens. Towards evening we return to the restaurant seen earlier; mainly pizza and steaks were eaten; unfortunately the pizza was not good but the meat, according to those who ate it, was excellent; the bill was divided equally among everyone; those who ate pizza complained about having paid part of the ribs which cost much more.

A particular feature of this restaurant were the toilets, with a singular sink: single for many taps, formed by a single inclined sheet of glass. It is beginning to get dark when we return to the top of the Skylon Tower; the lights are being turned on over the falls, which will remain illuminated until midnight. It is a complex of 21 xenon floodlights, each 76 cm in diameter. 18 are located near the Tower and three are below street level in the gorge opposite the American Falls. Each of the xenon floodlights has a brightness of 250 million candlepower. All around is the splendour of the water made luminous by countless colourful lights. The spectacle offered to us and which we witness astounded is unique: it looks like a scene from a film. A marvellous sparkle. The camera seems like a machine gun.

It fires off frames one after another endlessly; unfortunately I do not have the tripod with me; many photos will come out blurred. Reading the programme of the daily visit, we note what we were unable to see: the Rainbow Bridge, up close, the bridge that joins the Canadian bank to the American one; the Whirlpool Rapids, consisting of 4 km of waves 3 to 5 m high, making this stretch of white water famous for being the most beautiful series of standing waves in all of North America, not deriving from obstacles or rocks on the riverbed but caused by the pure force (volume and speed) with which the waters are at this point forced through the narrowing of the gorge; the Whirlpool Aero Car, a kind of old cable car that runs in the air above the river for a kilometre, allowing visitors to appreciate the sudden change of direction of the river which, in this way, creates one of those terrifying

natural phenomena called mesmerizing, thus offering tourists the chance to see up close the largest and most gigantic whirlpool; the Butterfly Conservatory to admire the magical working attraction of over 2,000 tropical butterflies freely fluttering among lush greenery and exotic flowers in a rainforest with winding paths, with a small pond and a waterfall. We too return to the campsite.

From Grand Island state of New York to Ypsilanti state of Michigan km. 445

Departure at 7 am We go through the USA/Canada border for the third time and take a highway that, running along the border, will take us back to the United States, in Michigan; a beautiful road and a magnificent panorama. At customs for the re-entry into the United States, the lead group gets in behind the trucks and will lose a lot of time for the customs procedures for the vehicles ahead of them; the queue, having noticed the mistake, merges into the right lane and in a short time is in the USA; we proceed in the direction of the campsite and here we wait for the others to arrive. Detroit Greenfield Koa Campsite N 42 11 48 W 83 33 45.

Conclusion

So much effort and so much fatigue for this trip that gave us emotions difficult to describe. Every day was unique, unmissable, extraordinary, thanks also to the commitment and will of all our adventure companions. What do we remember most? Hard to say. Every place, in its own way, was wonderful. This trip will be memorable.

Our thoughts go, in order, to the impetuous charm of Niagara Falls; to the badlands of the Badlands; to the faces of the Presidents carved into the mountain; to the magnificent Devil Tower, to the moving Old Faithful and to the whole of Yellowstone Park (even though we did not see Yogi and Boo-Boo Bear), to Monument Valley, and its delicate arches and its spires; to the light filtered through Antelope Canyon; to the legendary Lake Powell with the Glen Canyon Dam; to the superb, the great, the beautiful, the breathtaking Grand Canyon; to the lights, the sounds of Las Vegas; to the very hot Badwater in Death Valley; to the very old and very big General Sherman and to the unexpected snowfall at Sequoia National Park; to the wonderful Golden Gate Bridge and the skyline of San Francisco seen from romantic Sausalito; and finally, to the great New York, its skyscrapers, Central Park, the Brookly

n Bridge, the Statue of Liberty (seen from afar). There would have been so many other things to tell that we did not include in this text. Others that we could have mentioned but that are found in all the tourist guides. Still others, like the most intimate sensations and emotions….that can never be described but that will remain prisoners forever inside us. Now it is really all over. It is time to return home, see friends again, continue our usual life, waiting for another wonderful trip to enjoy together.