16. Cambridge to Niagara Falls
Monday, July 28
We were up early Monday morning since we wanted to have time to see the Falls after crossing most of New York from east to west. We passed through Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, close to Rochester, Buffalo, and into Niagara Falls, about a six hour drive. We parked the RV at the Niagara Falls RV Campground and drove the Saturn to the Falls for a tour. The Falls were all spread out compared to Yosemite Falls with lots of mist and beautiful views of Canada on the other side.
The roar of the Falls was deafening and should have been a warning to anyone on the river to stay away from the edge of the Falls. It was a long way down. Barbara and I viewed the Falls from above while Maggie, Ellen, and Joe put on rain coats to enjoy the Cave of the Winds boat ride under the mist of the Falls. After drying off, they joined us on a short hike around the Falls and back to the Saturn and the crazy tourist traffic around there.
Back on the freeway I was confused by all the signs and cars whizzing by. I wasn't sure which lane would take us back to the RV park. Then Maggie shouted over the traffic noise, "Take that one." So I did. Suddenly we were stuck in a lane headed to Ontario, Canada and Toronto. There was no way to turn back, so I drove across the Niagara River until I reached the toll booth on the Canadian side. I told the attendant, "I got in the wrong lane. Can I make a U-turn back to New York?" When the attendant noticed that the Saturn didn't have a license plate, only a temporary license sticker on the windshield, he said, "You can't enter Canada without a license plate anyway. Make a U-turn and go back to the U.S.A. Relieved, I made a U-turn and drove back to the New York toll booth. As soon as the attendant saw our car, he said, "Where's your license plate?" You can't cross the U.S. border without a license plate." I told him, "California tapes a temporary license to the windshield on new cars. That's all I have." He was upset about all the cars behind me and yelled, "Pull over there at the Customs Office." Another officer met me there. He had just gotten the message from the toll booth. He repeated, "You can't drive in New York without a license plate. When I told him that I had towed the Saturn behind the RV across the entire state of New York, he was upset and said, "Get out of the car. I need to look at the VIN number." He saw me roll my eyes in frustration and then took his sweet time looking for the VIN. Upset with my attitude and the lack of a license plate, he barked, "You should never have gotten into New York without a license plate, but I'll let you go." Trying hard to be polite, I simply replied, "Thanks, officer. We'll be on our way out of New York in the morning. We held our breath as we drove back to the RV park and spent the night praying that the New York police would not stop us on Tuesday morning before we reached the Pennsylvania border.
Next: Niagara Falls to Niles, Michigan