If there is one thing I do in my spare time it is dream up fantastic travel plans, big trips and side trips alike, that I will likely never have the opportunity to go on. Even when we do travel I often have two or three ideas for detours or interesting things to see (over and above the awesome things we’ve already planned). Very, very rarely are we able to fit in my extra stops, mainly due to time or money or kids or any other number of reasons.

Today was one of those lucky days when my wild scheme of an idea got put into action. We woke, dressed and left our mid-NY hotel room by 7am and zipped our way to the American side of Niagara Falls. The $10 we paid to park was a good investment to the State Park and was well worth it for our hour’s stay on the river’s edge.

Everything was glazed over with ice capped snow, thanks to the spray from the falls, and the whiteness was almost blinding. We wandered the snowy paths near the water, along with a couple bus loads of tourists and some other, heavily dressed, families.

Our views weren’t as impressive as the photos of “Frozen Niagara” that are all over the internet, but it was still amazing to see the snow and ice. And still more awesome that my quirky, ‘squeeze in a little side trip’ idea actually worked out for once!