The Hurricane Deck

We recently went to Buffalo, NY to visit my sister and her family for my nephew's high school graduation. It was a wonderful trip, but one of our favorite things was our trip to the US side of Niagara Falls. We have been to the Canadian side many times, before the border required passports, but the American side is absolutely wonderful. We got to visit the Cave of the Winds and even were able to go on a Maid of the Mist boat ride. We got really wet, and had a ball!!!

The Cave of the Winds thrilled my 6 yr old to no end. Can you imagine, being so small and seeing something as huge and powerful as the American Falls. Not only see it, but walk along side it and feel it's power on your face. Well, that is just we did on the Cave of the Winds tour. It really isn't a tour in the real sense of the word. It is more like a self guided walk. There is a wooden walkway and deck system (that they take down each Winter and put up again in the Spring) that you walk on, and you get to admire the Power of Nature.

I was watching as my young son stared at the water, as it crashed right in front of him and sprayed him with a mist that was stronger than our shower at home. All of a sudden, standing with his back to me, he lifted his little fists into the air and pumped them like he just hit the winning run in the World Series... he then turned to me (as I snapped the photo) and pumped them again. WOW!! I don't know what he was thinking when he did it, when I asked him, he just said, "I just loved it Mom!" and ran back in to do it again.

While we were on this "Hurricane Deck," as it was called, there were some young children that ran in and out of the mist just like my son, but there were many more that choose not to. The power of the Falls were to intimidating to them, maybe?? I was proud of my boy for running in there, full throttle, assessing the risk of the unknown, then adding another experience to his list. What an awe inspiring experience for his Mom!!