Day 2 - Visiting Niagara Falls and On to Columbus

Mark and Shane at Niagara Falls

We started out early this morning -- around 8 a.m., which is early for us, from our hotel in Albany, NY, and headed west toward Buffalo and a bit north to Niagara Falls. February is definably off season for visiting the Falls, but it is open.

The boat ride, Maid of the Mist, was not operating, and the trolley that transport people to the different areas was not operating, but the Visitor Center was open and you could walk freely around with very few other tourists around to get in your way.

It was very cold, but not unbearably cold. My impression of the iconic falls was that I thought they would be bigger. In my mind they were much higher. It was still impressive and I'm glad we finally got to see it, but the hour we spent there viewing it and walking around was enough time for us.

From seeing the Falls we raced southwest to get to Columbus, Ohio before the snow storm hit father north. As we got closer to Columbus we encountered heavy rain, but eventually checked into the Holiday Inn in downtown. After we settled in we walked around the block in the pouring rain to find something to eat. We got a few slices of pizza and then came back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we are off to St. Louis. We hope to ride in the Arch.

The Holiday Inn in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

It is a long time to be in the car.