Yesterday, we set off from the Burkhard’s home on our way to Virginia, taking a slight detour to the Niagara Falls. (Look up the geography 🙂 ) The weather was terrible; the remnants of tropical storm Tami were dumping their rain on us for hours on end. We reached Albany, where we started looking for a motel. Everything was full! (Now I know how Mary and Joseph must have felt when looking for a place to stay in Bethlehem.) I thought the problem must be that it is Columbus Day weekend. (Are there any Europeans who have heard of Columbus Day weekend? I hadn’t.)
After checking many motels, I discovered that the problem was really that the university at Albany had a special event for all the parents! The manager of the Quality Inn offered to phone around for us, and found us a place in Schenectady, just north of Albany, on the second call.
Today, we drove from Schenectady to the Niagara Falls, arriving just before dusk. We only visited the American side of the falls briefly – we will return tomorrow – but the falls are spectacular, as the photos show. We’d been under cloud for the entire day, with some light rain, but reached the edge of the clouds just before the falls!