Steven and Betty RV Adventures

NIAGARA FALLS, NY. As we packed up to leave Erie, PA yesterday morning (Sep 24th), our hydraulic slides would not go in. These are the large slides in the front that deploy the kitchen, dining room, and living room. We tried everything that we thought worked in the past. I then called someone whom we met on our tour last month who suggested a few things, then said to try calling Tiffin, which I did. The man there said that the hydraulic leveling jacks are on the same system, so try bringing them up. Turns out the jacks were also stuck. After a few tries the jacks worked and then the slides came in. Whew! But now we were concerned that next time they would not fix themselves. Thus we are now set up in the Niagara Falls/Grand Island KOA with only the back (non-hydraulic) slides out. Pretty cramped. We shall continue this until we get to the Tiffin Rally Oct 1st where we can get them to fix the underlying problem, along with a couple other fixes needed.

In spite of all this we have gotten out yesterday afternoon and today (Sep 25th) to see Niagara Falls, though the weather has not been great, overcast yesterday and raining today. Today we went on a tour of the American side of the falls. We had signed up for both the Canadian side and American side, but when I pulled out my passport, I saw that it had expired last year. What next? So we switched to the American side only. I had gotten the passport in 2007 to visit Alberta and used it for 3 or 4 years then put it away. Only good for ten years.

Our tour included a ride on the Maid of the Mist, a boat designed to approach the falls up close. There are several of these boats running out one after another. Near the falls the weather does not matter: everything and everyone is wet. We also went around to the various overlooks and islands. It is a natural waterworks exhibition. There is no need of rain here; water is everywhere in huge supply gushing off one ledge after another. Lake Erie overflows into the huge Niagara River that roars over the falls, then proceeds to Lake Ontario.

Two main falls are alongside of each other but divided by the national boundary between America and Canada. The horseshoe falls, the ones pictured most often, is on the Canadian side and viewed most easily on Canadian soil. Without a valid passport I never got that view, but hopefully we can return and have better weather to boot. Out west we contended with smoke haze; here we had water vapor haze. In photos they look strangely similar. Some of the foggy mist around the falls exists in all weather due to the enormous power of the falls. And only a maximum of 50% of their potential goes over the edge; the remainder is diverted to the hydro-electric facility to produce electricity. Soon, with shorter days and greater electricity usage, another 25% will be diverted.