U.S.A. Road Trip: Upstate New York, Niagra Falls and Connecting in Connecticut

The United States is a vast and hugely varied country but often much of it can go unseen. In common with many visitors, in the past we had only really spent time in the main centres near the east and west coasts – places like New York, Florida, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. What about the majority of the US that lies elsewhere, primarily in the massive middle – the so called ‘flyover states’?

There are few better ways to get a proper sense of a place than an old fashioned road trip. And so it was that we decided to head out west from New York City with no plan other than the ambitious aim of getting to Seattle on the west Pacific coast. A somewhat daunting distance of 3882km as the crow flies or some 4596km by the most direct driving route. But we had visions of Route 66 on our minds and the wind in our hair – what could possibly go wrong?

As soon as we left Manhattan any notion of taking the most direct route went by the wayside with our first two objectives – to visit the fantastic Brown family (whom we first encountered in the Guatemalan rainforest) in their home habitat of Connecticut, and to see Niagra Falls. Both of which can be found to the north of New York.

This would be a few days where several times we were never really sure if we were in New York State or Connecticut. Curiously there is also a small outcrop of Connecticut around Stamford that reaches out into New York State, south towards Yonkers at the northern end of Manhattan. This, coupled with the fact that our first campsite was in New York State but right on the border with Connecticut, meant that we were in and out several times.

Majestic Niagara Falls

New York State is large – at 54,500 square miles it encompasses an area larger than the whole of England. That’s just one state, such is the scale of what we are dealing with here in the US. It stretches right up to Niagara and the border with Canada. Small wonder then that this leg of driving would turn out to be one of the longest of the whole trip.

Rafe’s knowledge of Niagara involved people going over it in barrels. Although we didn’t see any daredevils on this visit, the sheer scale and power of the falls was awe inspiring. The substantial sound of it added more drama, something we hadn’t really considered before. Tour companies, one from the US side and one from the Canadian side, operate boats that take scores of tourists closer to the base of the falls to get wet in spray. We didn’t feel the outlay to get a soaking would be paying for. Instead, we got our fix of Niagara Falls spray in our faces from a variety of viewpoints looking out over the three sections of falls – the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Falls, and got particularly damp at Goat Island, perched in between sections of the falls.

One of the first things that struck us on arriving at Niagara was the high rise cityscape on the other side of the river, in Canada. “Is that the CN Tower? I didn’t think Toronto was this close to the border” was uttered several times. But no, we were looking at Niagara Falls, Canada. The tower is the Sklyon Tower, built in 1964 and funded by the Hershey company. Toronto is pretty close by but 70km further north on the shore across Lake Ontario. We didn’t go there.

But of course we had to navigate customs and wander across the bridge to set foot in Canada, adding another country to our list. The border formalities weren’t entirely straightforward. Getting out of the US and into Canada was fine but returning meant paying a toll $1 per person in cash – cash we didn’t have. Cue ATM withdrawals at extortionate fees and buying snacks for change. We also encountered some of more grumpy customs officials we’ve met on this trip (on the US side, not the Canadian side of course because as we know it is a universal truth that all Canadians are super friendly at all times). On the Canadian side, we marvelled at the superior views of the falls and filled up on fudge and icecream from Reg’s Candy Kitchen.

Weir Farm National Historical Park

Our first National Park wasn’t really a park at all, more of an ode to the artist J. Alden Weir. His homestead, which includes extensive surrounding grounds and lakes, Weir Farm hosted many other artists throughout his lifetime and continues that tradition today. A wonderfully bucolic spot, notable for us because this was Rafe and Odessa’s first Junior Ranger badge. At many of their parks, the National Parks Service has laid on challenges for kids to complete in order to be enrolled as a Junior Ranger. Once the challenge has been verified as complete by an actual Park Ranger the children recite a pledge. That pledge is different at each park, adapted to the nature of each particular place. The pursuit of Junior Ranger badges was now set to become a theme for the entire road trip and helped provide a number of materials for the kids’ worldschooling. Here at Weir Farm the Junior Ranger challenge took us on a hunt around the grounds seeking various notable natural and manmade features of the artists life and work, alongside a series of painted bears. What a brilliant programme Junior Ranger is for igniting passion about the world with kids.

First camp and sighting of Campfire Rafe

It was inevitable that our first night under the canvas of our questionable $50 Walmart tent would be wet. But our pitch on the lakeshore at the Sal J. Prezioso Mountain Lake state park was gloriously peaceful. We didn’t see a soul except for occasional waterfowl.

Rafe’s vision of ‘proper camping’ centres around cooking over the fire and fishing with a rod. Here, with the rain hammering down and with no fishing rod, the potential for disappointment was close at hand. Against all odd he got the fire going despite the torrential downpour with no more than lungfuls of smoke and a sooty face. The pattern was now set for Rafe’s first action at any new site to be lighting a fire. Most campsites in the US have a similar set up with a firepit and attached grill. Ever resourceful, we found we could knock up some pretty interesting and varied meals with this equipment and a Walmart saucepan.

A quick trip to Ridgefield

Handily placed between New York City and our first big road trip destination of Niagara, we enjoyed popping in to visit the Browns in Ridgefield. We were treated to a visit to a biergarten, icecreams at Debrorah Ann’s sweet shop, a garden with football goals, a trampoline and a huge acer for climbing and a hugely impressive Tex Mex feast for dinner. We even got to see the Big Yellow School Bus pull up outside for a classic American experience. All proving the old adage that ‘Friends you make in the Guatemalan Rainforest are Friends for Life.’ Or something. A great time was had by all, many thanks Browns!