Niagara to Chicago (Friday & Saturday)

I see Kipp summarized our long day rather cleverly.  It ended with a six hour train ride bound for Niagara Falls.  Ah, the train is so calming.  We all catch up on naps and this time took in the scenery of New York State from east to west.  One of the nice things about train travel is that there’s no asphalt, no billboards, and no temptations for fast food stops.  Believe me, there’s always someone who’s hungry in this bunch.

We used our morning to rest and take full advantage of breakfast and the pool.  The afternoon was spent in the Niagara Falls State Park. It was is lovely and allows visitors to get very close to the American Falls.  It apparently wasn’t close enough for us because we were all pumped up to get in the Falls.  We did the Cave of the Winds tour which lets you go into the Bridal Veil Falls and get just as wet as you wish—as you see pictured.  Fortunately the day was warm and sunny and wet clothes kept us cool.  At 9pm the lights lit up the Falls, and then at 10 there was a fireworks display. We hustled back to the hotel just as soon as the fireworks ended and caught our cab to the train station.

We taxied to Buffalo and boarded the train at midnight and arrived here in Chicago about 10 am. We slept, more or less, and found some food at Union Station just before catching a bus to our hotel. We were very sell settled in by noon and the kids jumped in the pool for an hour or so. The real highlight of Saturday was our visit to Pacific Garden Mission. We toured the facility. They are equipped to handle aver 500 people a day and their ministry focus is to help hopeless men of the street. They do assist women and children as well, but given their location, men are naturally the focus. We were also invited to watch the production of the 3,065th radio drama program, “Unshackled.” All the kids loved it. Watching the sound effects man was especially fun. Now  it’s Sunday morning and we are about to make the decision on which church to attend. Our best to all.

Ann and Kipp. (Can you tell where Ann stopped writing and Kipp started?)

Kipp is texting someone.

They provided the rain gear.

Fireworks at Niagara Falls.