I have the classic tourist photo of me at Niagara Falls when I was barely walking. It's one of those posed photos in a barrel with newsprint surrounding it about going over the falls in a barrel. I have no memory of it.  The only other idea of Niagara Falls comes from the original Super Man movie where Clark Kent and Lois Lane are covering a story at Niagara Falls.  Job and I had decided on the detour to the falls since weren't that far away and it would fit nicely into our schedule.  We followed the signs to the parking area and paid our money.  Following all the other tourists we wandered over to the wide flat expanse of the river.  Flowing smoothly along.  continuing on we crossed the bridge to the islands meeting groups of tourists wearing blue and orange plastic ponchos.  At the overlooks between the falls we made the decision to take the Maid of the Mist boat tour rather than the Cave of the Winds walking tour of the falls.  Back across the bridges we purchased our tickets and got into line for the boat tour.  We took the elevator down, stepped out and stood in line for our blue poncho.  I placed my rain jacket on my camera bag and put my poncho over myself and the backpack with my camera in front.  Stepping onto the boat I asked a crew member where the best spot for phots was.  At the front of the boat on the bottom.  Yep, it sure was.  We made our way there while others climbed to the top level or waited inside.  The boat slowly pulled away as the engines kicked in pushing us to the middle of the river and towards the first set of falls called the American Falls.  Lush green vegetation covered the edges as large boulders were partially shrouded by mist at the bottom.  We slowly pass this  view.  It didn't look so big from the bottom as it did from the top although it is still a 70 to 110 foot drop.  Next we passed Bridal Veil Falls which is the smallest of the three falls which can be viewed closer when taking the Cave of the Wind tour.  Our boat slid passed Bridal Veil Falls, the roar of the water drowning out any other noise.  We watched the Canadian boat make its way into the center of Horseshoe Falls and slowly spin around exiting just as it came in.  Our turn.  The mist became more like a drenching down pour rather than mist as our boat motored to the middle, slowly spinning so we could take in the full view of the falls.  Sunglasses were useless as a steady stream of water cascaded down our faces and soaking everything not covered by the poncho and even swirling underneath soaking the edges of our shirts.  It was pure power and force.  If there were rocks at the bottom they were obscured by the water rising into the air almost going right back up to the top of the falls only to tumble down again.  The boat now had spun 180 degrees, catching the current it drifted downriver only needing power to cross the side to moor up.  Smiles covered everyone's' face as we disembarked and the new passengers eagerly boarded.  There was a short trail to climb to view the falls closer from the bottom but it didn't go all the way up.  We turned, waited for the elevator and content to have made this detour on our trip across the USA.