Siblings Vacation

I recently went on vacation with some of my siblings - not what we wanted, we wanted Ron to come on vacation with us, too, but he couldn't get the time off from work (the assholes), so it ended up being two of my sisters and me going up to New York to see one of our brothers.
For those of you who don't know, there are eight siblings altogether - four boys and four girls - so this would be half of the siblings getting together for a weekend.  Since said brother lives in Niagara Falls, New York, this was gonna be a great get-away!  We had never been up there, and had wanted to go, but never had the chance and everything just came together this time - except for Ron coming with us - and we were so ready!

I, of course, did all the planning and plotting, which was no big deal.  That's what I do!
After the Bengals' schedule had come out and I knew that they would be in Buffalo in October instead of freezing late-season November or December, it was ON!
We planned for Friday to drive up, with lots of stops because of my back and all the "old lady" bladders, as well as one stop for a meal.  Saturday would be our Tourist Day, giving us the whole day to see Niagara Falls and all the touristy things around the area, and Sunday would be Chip and I going to the football game to see the Bengals play while Ruth and Jean would, hopefully, have some friends meet them at our hotel to pass the day.  Monday would be like Friday in reverse.
We saved all summer long.  We planned all summer long.  We anticipated all summer long!

Finally, October is here.  We had a flurry of Instant Messages between the four of us, getting all the last-minute thises and thats taken care of.  Chip reserved our hotel, because it wouldn't take long for the hotel to fill up because of the football weekend.  I bought snacks and entertainment (puzzle books) for the weekend.  I packed early; Ruth and Jean waited til practically the last day. (I must admit - I do have more clothes than they do!) and, eventually, time to go was upon us.
Early in October, I hit a deer with my car and knocked it out of commission.  So, the should-we-rent-a-car question became a definite we-are-going-to-rent-a-car, which was a bit more expense than expected, but since we had already talked about it, not entirely a surprise.

Jean came up on Thursday - getting a whole extra day of vacation! - so we could drive down and get the rental car, come home and pack it, and be ready to take off early on Friday morning.  Well, renting the car took a bit more than expected.  The first place we went to only had one car on the lot and wanted to charge me three times the rate!!  I told him, "I'm not doing this." and walked out.  We then had to drive over to Eastgate and go through the whole rigamarole all over again.  But, in the end, I left in a Hyundai Elantra and Jean followed in her truck.
We finally went to eat some lunch, then it was back home and the day went on as planned.

Friday went as it was supposed to.  We got up and got on the road, stopping to pick Ruth up.  This didn't take as long as I expected - I thought her grandchildren would be more clingy and crying - but everyone was cool, and off we went.
It was a beautiful drive!  Such gorgeous Fall colors...absolutely gorgeous.  Ruth had one of cameras and took all kinds of pictures for all of us.  As we were close to Erie, PA, we even got to see Lake Erie, too! Our route had bypassed Cleveland, so that was our only chance to see the lake.  We couldn't even tell it was the lake until Jean saw a boat moving on it!  We thought it was just the horizon/sky....silly country girls we are!
We got to New York and let Chip know that we were close, and he set a meeting place for us.  We got there, met up with him, and he led us to our hotel.  We got checked in and moved in, then went to Chip's Ponderosa (he's an assistant manager) for our supper, which took us a while because Chip had gone to get Ruth's daughter so we could see her while we were there, too.  After our meal, and after making arrangements for 'tomorrow,' we went back to the hotel and crashed.

Saturday was wonderful!!  It was a little bit colder than we expected - we had only brought jackets with us, not coats, and Saturday ended up being only in the mid-40s for the high temperature!  Ai yi yi!  We bought what is called a Discovery Pass, which gave us admission to five attractions for a very reasonable price - a savings of 36%! - and a pass to ride the trolley all day.  We saw a movie about the Falls, then went to the Falls themself since the sun was shining.

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MAGNIFICENT THE NIAGARA FALLS ARE.  Really.  There are not good enough words to describe them.  Awesome. Powerful. Mighty.  None of these words do the Falls justice....they are simply amazing.
Just walking out onto the Overlook, then onto the Observation Deck to see them - to feel and hear them - was stunning.  Then we got to go out on the Maid of the Mist, which is the boat that goes right to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls after going past the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.  It is so awe-inspiring!  The power of the water coming over each of these is amazing - again, to see, hear, and feel the mist is like nothing else!!  I took a bazillion pictures, of course.
When you go on the Maid of the Mist, they give you a blue poncho to wear.  We were all laughing that we were Smurfs - but at least we were dry Smurfs.  All but our legs, anyway.

After the boat ride was over, we went to walk the Cave of the Winds, which goes right up to Bridal Veil Falls.  Right. Up. To.
They give you yellow ponchos, so now you are a lemon!  They also give you skid-free (skid-proof?) sandals because they don't want anyone slipping while walking up there.  Trust me, you get soaked doing this - soaked!  Up to the knees and up to the elbows, especially if you keep raising your arms to take pictures, like I did.
Eventually, you get to what they call the "hurricane deck" which is where the water is coming over the Falls directly onto you - and it is r.o.u.g.h.!!  I couldn't do it - I tried, but I couldn't even take two steps, so had to skirt around the edges.
Also, while I was doing this walk, I was using my indestructible camera, not my good camera - just in case - and (guess what?) I even took pictures right on that hurricane deck!  That is one wicked little camera!
By the time I was done, none of my siblings were to be found.  (Surprise!) So, I ventured to the exit and there they all were, waiting for me and my cameras.  Ha!  After I finally got my real shoes back on, we went on the trolley and on to the next attraction.
The only thing we didn't do was the Aquarium, but we are spoiled by the one here, so we were okay with that.

We were exhausted after this exhilarating day, but we stopped for our supper at Denny's, then back to the hotel and it was an early night for us again.

On Sunday morning, Chip came to pick me up for our trip to the football game.  We both dressed as warm as we could, because not only is it supposed to be mid-40s again - now snow is in the forecast!  We left Ruth and Jean at the hotel and started out.  It was a pretty drive, skirting Buffalo and going to Orchard Park, NY to the stadium.  We parked very close to the stadium, which cost us dearly, but it was worth it according to my back.  We walked in, seeing a LOT of other Bengals fans.  As we walked into the stadium, true to the forecast, it did start to snow.  Big hard flakes that you could hear hitting you!  We found our seats - up in the nosebleeds, of course - and once we got there, we stayed there.  We were only an hour early, and the wind let us know that 'it's football weather, man!' as the wind froze our noses and the snow came and went.  I just sat there and took pictures as the stadium filled.  Once the game started, I quit taking pictures and just watched the game (and missed my recliner, my huge TV, and instant replay with close-ups) and enjoyed watching my Bengals beat the crap outta those Bills!  It was great!

Chip and I stopped at a Buffalo Wild Wings for our supper on the way home.  I texted Ruth and Jean to find out if they needed supper brought to them.  Jean - no. Ruth - yes.  We did that and went back to the hotel.  Chip came in to say his good-byes and that was that.  Another early evening for us.

Monday morning, we got up and got back on the road, getting home around 4:30 after a stop for lunch along the way.  I swear, all three of us were pushing on the floorboards of the car, trying to get us home that much faster! (It didn't work...)
We dropped Ruth and her stuff off.  Jean and I got back here, and she lost no time in getting her stuff in her truck and heading for her own home.

We had a wonderful time, and we're so glad we went, but oh! how we were so glad to be home!

If you don't already, please put Niagara Falls on your list of things you want to see one day - you will not be sorry.  It's only 7 or 8 hours away, and very much worth it.