Niagara Falls, travel, and firearm safety

[Josh]

Drove across Ohio just this this summer at a steady 75 and I wasn’t the fastest car on the road. But another 10-20 mph isn’t really changing arrival times much. You might want to look into the traffic patterns at the time of day you plan to come and go. Some areas might have rush hour traffic, some might have weekend specific traffic, depending on area. In the northeast, traffic can suck on weekends towards summer camps/cottages and beaches on days you’d think traffic would be fine.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

we are planning for the traffic to some degree.  We will be outbound on a Sunday and returning on a Wednesday so if we time it good on departures it should be okay,

Some driving math:

At a sixty mph speed a car covers one mile in a minute.  At 90 mph a car travels 3 miles in two minutes.  Every minute that you average 45 requires 75 mph just to get back up to a mile a minute.  Covering two miles a minute is very hard to do and doesn't pass the risk/reward analysis.  The machine is plenty up to it, driver and surroundings not so much.  If we can keep a 70 average that will be good enough.  Stopping for any reason just destroys the average speed and fuel is a necessity.

I think I may have watched too much Top Gear...

 

 

[sunday]

10 minutes ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

At a sixty mph speed a car covers one mile in a minute.  At 90 mph a car travels 3 miles in two minutes.  Every minute that you average 45 requires 75 mph just to get back up to a mile a minute.  Covering two miles a minute is very hard to do and doesn't pass the risk/reward analysis.  The machine is plenty up to it, driver and surroundings not so much.  If we can keep a 70 average that will be good enough.  Stopping for any reason just destroys the average speed and fuel is a necessity.

Eminently reasonable. Stops, even to pay tolls, reduce average speed more that one could think.

[DB]

I find that as I age, my tolerance for self-imposed stress with arbitrary schedules has gone. I set out when I'm ready, stop when I feel like it(*) and arrive as determined by fate.

The only deadlines that matter for travelling are intermodal ones - ferries, planes, trains. Even hotel check-in times aren't critical, mostly

It helps if your vehicle is a nice place to be, of course.

(*) The aging thing forces this, to be brutally honest.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

I'm the same way as far as deadlines but the truth is that we have to fit 8lb of travel and experience in a 5lb bag. thus a certain level of planning and efficiency is required.  If we can't make a particular deadline then it isn't the end of the world but we've got to have a framework.

For my travel car it is a very nice place to be by my standards but I don't think it would impress most European drivers

[FALightFighter]

Also remember than I-90 between Cleveland and Buffalo is apt to be a parking lot for construction. Watch Waze, it may be better to take the a side road, even it if is 55 or even 45, than to sit in bumper-to-bumper for an hour or 90 minutes.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

side roads definitely preferable to sitting still

do they work at night? It might be best for us to be going through that stretch in the very late evening?

[sunday]

Safe travels!

[FALightFighter]

11 hours ago, Tim the Tank Nut said:

side roads definitely preferable to sitting still

do they work at night? It might be best for us to be going through that stretch in the very late evening?

I'm not sure- since we left OK in 2015, we haven't been on that stretch. It was always under construction when I was growing up and going to family in TN, and when I was in KS (09-11) and OK (12-15).

[Tim the Tank Nut]

finally have reservations!!!!!!!!!!!!

will be over budget but not a terrible amount.  We decided to go a little bigger on accommodations.  We'll have three nights on the Canadian side of things very close to the falls themselves.

Work has been stupid and could have an effect on departure but we will see.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

There and back again!

We made it.  Could've used two more days as many things didn't get seen/done.

Security situation was a complete non issue.  Not any hint of trouble anywhere we went.  It seems that Canada keeps the tourist areas very clear of riff raff.  There was one single addict that had set up camp at Clifton Hill but he was nearly comatose.

It was just shy of 600 miles one way which turned out to be my practical limit for one day's driving.  We did make time to stop at the Perry Memorial on the US side of Lake Erie.  It was well worth the stop.  I can't imagine the history of those ships; sunk and raised over and over.

Both sides of the falls were equally awesome in their own way.  The Canadian side has more to do but the New York side is more natural and much closer to the water itself.  We're both super happy with the trip.  We went way over budget and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  It was money well spent.

Thanks to all for the advice and suggestions.

[sunday]

Great! You deserved that.

[Allan W]

Glad you enjoyed it. Canada is a great place to visit and live.

[Tim the Tank Nut]

we rode through Niagara on the Lake and could see Toronto over the water.  We didn't stay there long as we were far out of our financial class.  That is a very moneyed area.

It was very interesting to see Fort Niagara right across the river from there.

The foliage was excellent.  Roads were good enough.  We hope to return at some point.  Maybe for 35th anniversary?

It'll take some time to gather funding

[Tim the Tank Nut]

and so it seems that the Rainbow Bridge that so recently hosted us has had a tragedy.  Some sort of vehicular explosion.

A first glance of the video makes me think of someone fleeing at high speed and losing control of the car.