Friday, Sept 18, 2026

 Man, are we tired! Touristing is exhausting. Haha.

Oh, but we've had a great time. 

Today we slept in till we woke up on our own, showered, ate breakfast and headed to Buffalo, NY to see the Martin Complex if Frank Lloyd Wright homes there. We wandered the yards and gardens, the gift shop. No photos were allowed inside the buildings, but trust me when I say it was lovely, innovative, cool, beautifully restored and very impressive. I'm so glad we had the two hour tour. Only Mimes knees and back were aching after we were done. Our docent and tour guide was Sandy and she was a delightful and energetic elderly lady who really knew her stuff. Or rather Frank Lloyd Wright's stuff!

After we were done there, it was time for lunch so we went back to Niagara, after meandering through a few nearby streets in Buffalo, just looking at cool old houses. Chicken strips for lunch near our hotel and then a " get off our feet and rest " time. Mike napped.

Early afternoon we headed over to the Canadian side of the falls. They really ARE prettier. We wandered around after search for parking. It was $40. Yikes. Drive in. Turns out there was a music festival AND a car show/parade that affected the movement of traffic. We found $10 parking and Walked a mile or so to the "Journey Behind the Falls" experience. 

It was "meh." Not worth the amount ofo ey they charge, but it was interesting. 

An ice cream cone for Mike on our hike UP the hill to our rental car. Back to our room to relax and watch football games on TV. That's for Mike. I'll try to watch Ella play soccer-- she's a starter!!

You can see the mist from the falls rising from Horse shoe falls.

Mike noticed all the mason it took to build this home. The mortal inside the home was painted gold!

 Want to see inside? Go to this website. Above.

We took photos all over the grounds. The Martins loved gardening. Wright was all about nature and being part of it.

Peek a boo, Mikey!

Huge hydrangea plants.

The gift shop was full of beautiful, expensive items, like these trivits, bit wood and ceramic, in his designs from his creations. This home was full of art glass throughout.

From the veranda. We WERE allowed to take photos outside 

This was an odd piece of sculpture outside I forgot to ask about.

Barton house in the distance we did NOT get to see, sadly.

Cool planters. Big. Square/round. Self-watering with a knob in the basement. Pretty cool for early 1900's when most people watered with a water can or hose.

Our attentive group. Including Mike.

End of FLW pictures.

On to Canadian Falls experience.

The American falls, from the Canada side! That's a pretty big boat down there in the water! 

Horseshoe Falls, in Canada. Lots of mist rises up and up from this. But not the other big ones. Shape of falls, perhaps?

Two boats passing.

Rainbow! We have had such wonder weather this whole time!

It was far more crowded in Canada! People everywhere. From everywhere, too!

That's the "Behind the Falls " view from outside on a platform.

Here are tunnels built in the 1840's. Just for tourism. 

Some ice cream for Mikey.

And a final Rainbow shot. 

Happy 50th anniversary to us!

 Fifty years. Wow. 

From the dry deserts of Southern Utah and Nevada, to Hawaii, to Cedar City again. . .now we are celebrating in New York at Niagara Falls and beyond. It's been a great day, and a wild ride for the 50 years of marriage. 

We started with breakfast in our hotel, then walked to the Maid of the Mist, walked right on and started our day off right. 

It was SO COOL. We loved it. Every minute. We were the first ones on board and asked the guide people where the best spot was. Two different folks said, "Up Front, bottom deck," so that's where we went. So fun. 

 Yes, my hair was very wet. I looked like a drowned rat the rest of the day. 

We walked back to the hotel and got our car and headed to Palmyra. We visited the log home,

the frame house, walked through the Sacred Grove area. I avoided getting bitten by mosquitos! I didn't dare stop walking the trail. So I walked and flapped my arms around. It was so beautiful. Everything was really nice-- the tour, missionaries, the weather. Couldn't have been nicer. The farm was interesting, with a threshing barn

And a Cooper's shop.

We drove past the temple in Palmyra. We got lost trying to find the Hill Cumorah for a bit because I didn't read a map closely enough. 

The Palmyra temple and grounds were closed for maintenance.

We walked through the grove and I enjoyed the flora and fauna very much.

Golden rod

Big white fungi on a fallen tree trunk

Eastern Aster

The tree canopy was great.

The paths were not muddy in spite of rain earlier in the day.

One tree was showing it's fall colors. 

We saw a couple of squirrels and a chipmunk or two, but that's all.

We went on a tour of the Grandin Printing shop and book store. Great tour there, too!

We also went to the Hill Cumorah visitors center. One photo there. These Palmyra Church sites have many original oil paintings. 

 They had very nice displays and exhibits there. We were tired and opted not to hike 10 more minutes to the hilltop and monument, so we drove toward Niagara and our hotel and to a Longhorn Steak House. We split a rib eye steak dinner and had dessert, too Mmm, mmm good.

(And Mike REALLY enjoyed that corn!)Haha