Niagara Falls

While going through the pictures I decided to split our trip up into two posts covering our day up in Niagara Falls first. Our day in Canada had so many opportunities for pictures and was incredible so I thought it deserved its own post.

We had to drive a little bit from our house in Westfield before reaching the border. Border security was a little intimidating. They asked so many questions and really seemed to doubt our reason for visiting. We did enjoy comparing the two cars different 20 questions.  They did allow us through and it wasn't much further to reach the falls. Patti and Kevin wanted to take us on the same tour that they did last year when they visited Niagara so we grabbed a little lunch before heading for the tour bus.

We had a peek of the falls during lunch ....sort of a teaser.

At first it seemed like we might have the tour bus to ourselves but then more people got on. (Including one family that just couldn't figure out how to make it back to the bus on time)

Group shot on the bus!

The first stop of the tour was to the portals taking you very close to the falls. From the tunnels we were able to stand on an observation deck right at the foot of the falls. The rush of the water was insane and I was grateful for the poncho provided. Knowing how much water is coming down the falls per second is very different from seeing how much water is coming down per second.

We kept getting sprayed with water while going for a group shot. This was my favorite of all of them.

After the portals we only had a little time before we had to get back to the bus for our next stop but it was enough time to get a few pictures of the falls from the top. This picture shows the American Falls to the left and just a peek of the Horseshoe Falls.

Top of Horseshoe Falls.

We had a few short stops on the way to the Butterfly Conservatory.

Brothers!

The Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory was really cool. It is a mock rainforest and all the butterflies were free to fly all over. There were many different species from all over the world and were beautiful. It was neat having them land on you (although a few little kids chasing after them like crazies made me nervous for the butterflies)

It was hard to pick a favorite and not always easy to get a good picture if they were really active. Here are just a few that I was able to get photos of. 

There was a sign outside listing the types of butterflies and some information but I wish they had small signs throughout the conservatory itself so you could learn about them as you went along. Other than that I thought it was fantastic. I'd never seen butterflies like that before in person and it was incredible.

After the conservatory our bus took us back to the falls so we could ride on the Maid of the Mist that takes you past the American Falls and to the basin of the Horseshoe Falls. It was later in the day and therefore not very crowded so we had the front of the boat almost all to ourselves.

Approaching the Horseshoe Falls.

Getting closer. I didn't want my camera to get wet so I put it away before we got too close. You get at a point when a picture wouldn't do the falls justice though. Being in the basin was insane. There aren't the right words to describe how cool it was.

Once again we were happy for the rain ponchos. We would have been pretty wet without them.

The final stop on the tour was the Skylon Tower. The sun was beginning to set while we were up there and it only added to the beauty.

American Falls and Goat Island

Horseshoe Falls

I really loved all the different perspectives of Niagara Falls that the tour provided. Standing near the top of the falls, next to it via the tunnels, in the basin by boat, and an aerial view. Definitely amazing!