Mom and I made the 9 hour trip to Niagara Falls from Exeter on Sunday. Neither of us had ever been and, well, lets face it, I have a thing for waterfalls!
The falls were miraculous. A true example of the power of Mother nature. I think it is time for some trivia!
3,160 tons of water flows over Niagara Falls every second. This accounts for 75,750 gallons of water per second over the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 681,750 gallons per second over the Horseshoe Falls.
The water falls at 32 feet per second over the falls, hitting the base of the falls with 280 tons of force at the American and Bridal Veil Falls and 2,509 tons of force at the Horseshoe Falls.
Four of the five Great Lakes drain into the Niagara River, (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie) before emptying into Lake Ontario.
Over 12,000 years ago, Niagara Falls extended seven miles down river to what is now Lewiston, New York and Queenston, Ontario. Over the years, the brink has eroded, sometimes as much as six feet per year, to its present site
We were both overwhelmed by the number of tourists that flowed through the streets of Niagara. People from just about any country you could think of. It was almost a shame to see how tourist centered the area has become over the years; made me think of what visiting the falls must have been like 50, 75, or 100 years ago.
On our first night, we tried to take in as much of the falls as we could. It happened to be Canada day, so the Canadian side of falls was a particularly popular place to be. Each night they light up the falls with large colored lanterns. On this night, they also had fireworks over the river. We didn't stay for the fireworks, finding a place to view them was a challenge and we had our fill of pushy tourists!
