We’re in Buffalo, staying with a lifelong friend of mine. Yesterday we planned to visited Niagara Falls around lunchtime. It was snowy and grey. We were running a little late because we had just discovered the supermarket Wegmans and the first healthy food options since arriving. It also stocked Barry’s tea and Marmite so Rob and I were in high spirits and feeling really positive, despite ongoing frustration with our hire car.

Major excitement over Barry’s Tea on the European isle

The problem with the lease had been sorted out by a really lovely lady at the Buffalo office, the polar opposite of the horrid man at JFK. But the car was still a little disappointing, a bit tatty and old and not as big as we had hoped (or need). Rob’s kind of squished into a tight driving position and there isn’t a lot of boot with the seating arrangement we need to fit the three kids in.

So we pulled up to pick up our friend who was coming to Niagara with us and discovered a nail in the tire and a hissing of air as it slowly deflated. By this stage we were thinking we would need to write the falls off for the day and have a boring afternoon waiting for the tire to be sorted out… But it’s funny how things work out…

We headed back to the Airport rental office and low and behold were given a brand new version of the car to drive off in. It’s still a little on the small side but it’s a far better model, and Rob is much more comfy. So we’re going to buy a roof box for it and all will be fine.

It was such a swift transition that we still had plenty of time to get to the falls and… The sun had come out and the sky was blue, it was beautiful.

At this time of year there is hardly anyone there and the ice adds an addition level of mind blowing beauty to the falls. The wind was freezing in a way which is hard to explain… the picture of Patrick’s face kind of explains better than words though.

Mummy, it’s a little chilly out here!

Me and Rob at Niagara. Spray on the camera is hard to avoid!

Lucy at Niagara