Past Road Trip - Buffalo NY & Niagara Falls in Canada / Fall 2012
The Ride Up (Note - MapQuest links I used here no longer work, so they were removed)
The views after passing Corning, NY from I-390 headed Northeast is amazing to see. With the dry weather, this route will be awesome when the leaves change in a few weeks. The route gets really awesome when you are headed Eastbound on Rt 20A. You come across farms and you will be within a few hundred feet of some wind turbines. Absolutely incredible views! Watch for the very fast and pungent smell of cow-pies though!
Round Trip in and out of Canada
Getting into the country (and out later on) can be a drag with the banter you must do back and forth with the border patrols. The guy originally said are you travelling alone. I was going to say "Well, I don't have a room for anything except an infant in the trunk bag, would you like me to open it?" But I'm sure I'd be detained since they have a lack of humor. So I just looked behind me, looked at the agent and said, "Uh... no sir."
Alright, the route I took that morning was going over the "Peace Bridge" and heading back north on a road called "Niagara Parkway" and it is an absolute must-ride road before the winter comes in. I stopped several times about 1 mile short of the great Niagara Falls to take some pictures, then I continued up to the Botanical Gardens, the Floral Clock and hit a little town called Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Then on my way back down the same way I came, I hit the Niagara Falls area again and parked in a lot which can only be named "Niagara Supervised Parking." The cost was $7CAN for 8 hours (that beats the meters on the Niagara Parkway for $5CAN for 30 minutes!). You'd make a right on Victoria Avenue where Clifton Hill becomes Centre Street. You're on the correct side of Victoria Avenue if you see the Upside-Down House (it's an attraction) to your right side and Louis Tassaude's Wax Museum on your left. The parking facility next to an Applebee's restaurant (also on the left whose address is 5657 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada).
After another 4 hours of sight-seeing, waterfall admiring, people watching and a little amount of shopping, it was time to head back and low on gas, I decided to head to the Highway back over the Peace Bridge where I came from. The roads are 420 and the QEW, respectively from where I started from that parking facility.
The Trip Back
With a bit of a different route back home, you start on local roads that pretty much goes straight for nearly 60 miles. More farm towns and picture perfect scenery are along this route, but the first 10 miles or so are a tad bit inner-city. Good thing lots of those people don't venture out at 8am to start their day.
By the time I got back to the "scenic route" through the Poconos, I decided to take a route back home that I travel for work fairly regularly... which should be avoided form 3pm - 7pm. I only caught the tail end of the traffic, but was eager to get home at this point.
The views after passing Corning, NY from I-390 headed Northeast is amazing to see. With the dry weather, this route will be awesome when the leaves change in a few weeks. The route gets really awesome when you are headed Eastbound on Rt 20A. You come across farms and you will be within a few hundred feet of some wind turbines. Absolutely incredible views! Watch for the very fast and pungent smell of cow-pies though!
Round Trip in and out of Canada
Getting into the country (and out later on) can be a drag with the banter you must do back and forth with the border patrols. The guy originally said are you travelling alone. I was going to say "Well, I don't have a room for anything except an infant in the trunk bag, would you like me to open it?" But I'm sure I'd be detained since they have a lack of humor. So I just looked behind me, looked at the agent and said, "Uh... no sir."
Alright, the route I took that morning was going over the "Peace Bridge" and heading back north on a road called "Niagara Parkway" and it is an absolute must-ride road before the winter comes in. I stopped several times about 1 mile short of the great Niagara Falls to take some pictures, then I continued up to the Botanical Gardens, the Floral Clock and hit a little town called Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Then on my way back down the same way I came, I hit the Niagara Falls area again and parked in a lot which can only be named "Niagara Supervised Parking." The cost was $7CAN for 8 hours (that beats the meters on the Niagara Parkway for $5CAN for 30 minutes!). You'd make a right on Victoria Avenue where Clifton Hill becomes Centre Street. You're on the correct side of Victoria Avenue if you see the Upside-Down House (it's an attraction) to your right side and Louis Tassaude's Wax Museum on your left. The parking facility next to an Applebee's restaurant (also on the left whose address is 5657 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada).
After another 4 hours of sight-seeing, waterfall admiring, people watching and a little amount of shopping, it was time to head back and low on gas, I decided to head to the Highway back over the Peace Bridge where I came from. The roads are 420 and the QEW, respectively from where I started from that parking facility.
The Trip Back
With a bit of a different route back home, you start on local roads that pretty much goes straight for nearly 60 miles. More farm towns and picture perfect scenery are along this route, but the first 10 miles or so are a tad bit inner-city. Good thing lots of those people don't venture out at 8am to start their day.
By the time I got back to the "scenic route" through the Poconos, I decided to take a route back home that I travel for work fairly regularly... which should be avoided form 3pm - 7pm. I only caught the tail end of the traffic, but was eager to get home at this point.
