Niagara Falls and the Adirondacks

I am almost caught up with the trip. I have decided that I am also going to try to keep the blog up as we live in Boston, get to know the city, and meet new people.

Ok...Niagara Falls...

It was a little side trip that we hadn't planned on doing, but we are happy we did (especially since it was only 20 minutes outside of Buffalo, NY). We drove in and had no idea where to park, but then we saw this guy in a uniform with a gold badge on his shirt directing traffic, so we followed his instruction. We paid our 10 bucks and parked the car in this big, dusty dirt parking lot. As we start walking over to the falls, we see where we could have parked (probably for free) much closer to the falls with official signs and stuff. Yes, the stupid tourists got tricked by the uniformed guy with the gold badge! Brian was not happy.

While very tourist-y, the falls were beautiful!

We quickly left and set out for the Adirondacks. The park was really pretty. Lots of rolling hills and streams. We stopped off at a gas station on our way to the Bed and Breakfast (one of many trips to gas stations because Brian stresses out if the gas tank gets close to being only half full...one time we had to stop to get gas and only needed a gallon and a half to fill her up - heeheee!). So, we stopped by this gas station, and we walked in to go to the bathroom, and it was just like in a movie...everyone stopped and stared as we walked through. I guess they don't get many outsiders in that station...especially not an outsider who stands at 6'8".

We finally made it to Ruah Bed & Breakfast overlooking Lake George. It was a pretty cute place, but wasn't very comfy. I don't think that either of us slept more than a couple of hours both nights we were there. AND, there were stuffed animals all over the place...not the toy kind... (I'll post pics of the animals when I get my camera working again).

The next day, we decided that we wanted to go hiking. We ate like ravenous dogs the entire trip and other than the short hike in the Badlands in South Dakota, we didn't exercise one bit. Soooo, we wanted to get a little exercise in. We drove to a place called the Cook Mountain Preserve and as soon as we got out of the car, we knew that we we also had to get the deet out of the car. WOW, I have never seen so many mosquitos in all my life. It was crazy!

We seriously had to re-apply this "12 hr" insect repellant about 4 times throughout the 2.5 hour hike. We finally made it to the top. It was really different from hiking around Seattle. The trees were different and the terrain was different and it was pretty humid. When we got to the top, we realized just how out of shape we had gotten.

After a hot, mosquito and sweat filled day, we decided to go to a nice dinner that night. Upon the suggestion of the innkeeper at Ruah, we went to a place called Uptown. It was a small place that only sat about 30 people. They serve a salad, 2 main courses, 2 veggies, and a dessert each night and only stuff that is in season and fresh. It was absolutely delicious! Our server had even picked the berries that went in the cobbler that day. It was a great way to end out visit to the Adirondacks.

Next stop...BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS!!!!