USA – Michigan to Niagara Falls

Meandering out of Michigan

As the cherry blossoms began to fall, we relished in the wonderful time in Michigan we had with our daughter.  The state is extremely beautiful and we really enjoyed ourselves.  

We decided to save some money and stay at the Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel parking lot for a night before we headed off East.  It was an excellent choice. 

We felt obligated to visit the casino, however losing money through gambling is not in our forte. The casino was really nice inside, and the hotel looks beautiful, but we are outside people, so we went on a hike. 

We meandered up a dirt road and found a nice pond full of cattails, ducks, geese and many other little critters. 

The sun was starting to set and we found ourselves along a beautiful pine forest. We weaved among the tree trunks and as we walked in bliss, we took pictures as it looked as if the forest was on fire. 

Slowly, as we walked past the casino, we spotted this sign with the Casino’s turtle logo on it and our tattoos matched it pretty well.

When we got back to our RV, we noticed that the casino security and bus attendants were driving around the lot constantly. It really set her mind at ease and we slept like rocks that night. 

The next morning we headed south and east and eventually ended up at a campground near Flint, Michigan.  We found a campground, but they were closed and they were not accepting anybody, so we drove to another nearby campground and we were very happy we did.  

Krystal Lake Campground 

We ended up driving to Krystal Lake Campground and the staff and owners were very polite and they gave us a great pull through spot. We were so happy with the campground that we decided to make this video. 

After a wonderful campfire and sleeping peacefully, we headed out to drive to Canada the next day. 

A Taste of Canada

Our GPS completely put us in the wrong location as we were driving to our campground in Canada, but Melissa and I went with it and eventually showed up to a wonderful spot. Melissa had called ahead on our cell phone and reserved a site at Long Point Provincial Park in a pull through spot. 

The beaches here are amazing. To get to the beach, you walk a short distance up and over some sand dunes and then you were at Lake Erie in some of the most magnificent views we had seen so far. We enjoyed the evening with a nice drink in a long walk on the beach. 

Niagara Falls from the Canadian Side

The next day we got into Pepe the Prius and drove to Niagara Falls. As we drove through the city of Niagara Falls on the Canadian side we were less than impressed. The outskirts looked like something out of a bad movie in the further we got into town the more it looks like Las Vegas in the 70’s. I’m sure people with families my appreciate all the activities there it are to do in town, but as you know again, we are outdoors people and this is not an environment we thrive in.   

We found a great place to park across from the falls and it cost about $20 but we were right next to the Falls so I guess it was worth it. 

The view is amazing. As we walked closer to the falls we could hear it and see the mist rising up out of the abyss. It was still in May, so the crowds were not sick with people yet although there were a great number of people. 

As we walk north away from the falls to get a better view, we found a National Park building that had lots of tours available to the public. One of the tours allowed you to go down an elevator and see the falls from almost underneath it. To be honest, we were only interested in the restrooms since there are not many restrooms are around the area. 

We continue walking north with United States on our right side and it seemed like we had a much better view of the falls then the US side. 

Of course, we snapped off a lot of pictures and took some video like the one below and then we headed into the park which was fully in bloom with lots of flowers and trees flowering everywhere. 

The park was absolutely beautiful and aside from the falls themselves, was our favorite part of the whole experience that day.    

It was a great and beautiful day at Niagara Falls end it was a shame to leave, but we had a 2 hour drive back to our RV park and we had a long day of driving the next day.  We rate Niagara Falls as a must do on our list and now that we have seen it we have checked it off our list. 

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