NF: Out and about – Day 1

This bridge goes from our hotel to the cliff-elevator (I’m not sure what it’s called but I think calling it a cliff-elevator is pretty good) right along this walk on the little bridge alone you can get some beautiful views of the falls.


The cliff-elevator:
It’s this red mettle box that you sit in and it slides you down the hill. At the bottom you walk right out to the clock town and visitor center.

Inside the visitor center:
There are many gift shops inside the visitor center. There were many picture moments, I did my best to capture as many as I could.

Can you believe that they have this here?? It’s just like from the BIG movie!

You cant tell very well from these pictures but we had a penny crushed for Amanda with the image of the falls on it. I don’t know what it is about pennies... kids love to collect them, I remember collecting a few as a kid myself, but as an adult all you can think of is you just PAID $1 to crush a penny. Lol.

View from the visitor center:
As soon as you walk outside of the visitor center your RIGHT there next to the falls! You feel the spray of the water from the mist hitting you and it feels like an invisible rain and you smell water in the air and hear the loud roar of millions of gallons of water pouring over the falls. It was awesome being so close to the action!
When you stand in front to look at a view like this, it’s almost impossible to keep your eye fixed on any one spot. You’re eyes are constantly shifting to see something else, some movement, something beautiful, something changing. But if you’re able to just slow down and keep a constant gaze on one area you begin to realize what a slow and gentle dance the water takes as it goes over the edge.

The falls overall have looked the same way they do right now as they have looked for the past I-don’t-know-how-many years. But every second millions and millions of water droplets are experiencing for the first and ONLY time in their water existence this existing sensation of falling thru the air from one body of water to another. It’s like that beautiful lyric from the Pocahontas movie “what I like most about rivers is, you cant step in the same water twice. The water is always changing always flowing”. Weather we were here or not, this would be here. Doing what it does and it continues to do what it does until the end of time. It’s a blessing to be a witness it’s majestic strength and force.

180 degree view

You can see the falls all along the sidewalk as you walk on to see other attractions there. It’s the only place in the world where it’s kind of ok, for drivers all the way in the right hand lane to just put on their hazard lights and STOP in the middle of the road even when there’s flowing traffic around them!! I guess it really is a view worth dying for. But seriously – that’s stupid.
Water is my favorite of all the elements. It’s powerful, gentle, calm, rough, slow, fast, life sustaining and sensual. It’s an element that changes from earth to sky and returns again, it’s just amazing! No wonder sailors call the sea a woman.

Here is a statue dedicated to one of the engineers who … bla…bla…bla… lets face it, I just thought it would make a good picture spot. And it did.

Almost every night of the year there is a light show on the falls. I was so excited we were going to see it. And we overhead other people say there would be fireworks tonight too! So exciting!

This is one of those spinning restaurants. If you wanted too you could just pay a ticket to ride it to the top. I didn’t want too though, I think I might have peed in my pants. I like high hotel views, but that’s just a little TOO much for me.

We got to meet 2 brother horses Bert and Ernie, they were very BIG and sweet to let us pet them.

This building in on the American side of the falls, but we could even see it from our hotel room, its so cool. It has a constant light show on the side of it. It’s like a rainbow waterfall but it runs upward. Very cool to watch at night.

This is just a fountain light show that’s in front of another hotel on our walk back to our hotel but the kids loved it so much we hung out for a while. Simple joys ya know!

For dinner we had some mighty fine takeout steak and ribs from “TONY ROMA’S” a place we use to eat-out at a lot in UT. Whenever you go tell them tony sent ya!