Well, the weather isn't with us.

We made it to Niagara Falls today with much anticipation and at a surprisingly reasonable hour after overnighting in Erie, PA. We had stopped enroute to say hi to some friend of Beth's in Cleveland--he was nice enough but had no snacks for me, not even a crumb on the impeccable floors.

I think it has been rainng since before Erie. It stops for a few minutes here and there, but never when we are out of the car. Between the rain and the mist from the falls, I would say we were all pretty wet within about 15 minutes of our arrival. Did I mention it wasn't even 50 degrees? But still I was mesmorized....

I got Clare to pose for a photo with me but she was none too pleased, mumbling about weather and Ireland...

That might have been the only time she looked up. Mostly her head was down, with the rain running off her hood. Note the drops on the lens.

The Canadian side of the falls had a bit of a Vegas feel to it. Many tall hotels which welcomed neither small dogs nor smokers. We heard these same hotels have altered the wind currnets, trapping the mist that obscures the falls even on sunny days. We can't vouch for the sunny day view. The US side has, as all who are watching the Ken Burns series on the National Parks, the oldest state park in America.

We decided not to wait for the rain to stop and headed east by way of the Lake Ontario shore. We stopped to see a couple light houses along the way, which seemed exciting here at the outset, but may get to be ho hum after the tenth or fifteenth....I've seen quite a few marked for the coast of Maine.

We are stopped for the night in Rochester, holed up with Starbucks (nothing says roadtrip like Starbucks) and Bill Maher, hoping to wake to

sunny skies. We have seen some good foliage in small doses which has only whetted our appetite. Tomorrow it's on to the cabin near Lake Goerge. At least it has a fireplace--they can ha

ng their wet socks.