Another Trip to Buffalo
Right before Christmas I went with Kris to visit her family outside of
Buffalo.
Along the way we stopped at
Letchworth State Park. Unfortunately because it was winter we could
not see the falls. But here are some pictures of the flood control dam and
the gorge.
While there we took the requisite trip to Niagra Falls. Unfortunately it was
dark. They had cool lights on the falls, though, but my camera could not
cope. Also even under 10 layers of clothes I was freezing even though it
was unseasonably warm and ice-free.
Here is the Horse-shoe falls from above with yellow lights on it.
Here are some of the rapids you can see from near Goat Island.
Looking down-stream from same rapids. The purple mist is rising from the
falls.
Here is the American Falls lit in white from the Canadian side.
We went to a cool Christmas-light display on the Canadian side. [There was
none on the American side this year, due to a complicated story involving
Native American land rights and casino building].
At the end of the light show we were handed a box. It had this bizarre
book/tape included that told the story of "Sparkle the Christmas Light".
Also included was Sparkle himself, self-proclaimed King of the Christmas
lights [and an actually working bulb]. Surreal. You could listen to his
song in French and English. You might not believe me so I've included
a picture.
We annoyed the customs official by dutifully reporting Sparkle when asked if
we obtained anything in Canada.
[NOTE! Canadian people in desperate search of a "Sparkle the Christmas Light"
because yours has broken! (And yes, there has been more than one of you).
I do not have Sparkle, my girlfriend's family does. I do pass along the
desperate pleas, but so far none have been convincing enough for them
to figure out where they put it].
And that's all I have pictures of. I flew back into BWI to find with
surprise it was snowing in Maryland. It never snows
in Maryland on Christmas.
Poor Buffalo
had 6+ feet of snow last year over Christmas but had practically nothing
this year.
Maryland had a surprise 6+ inch snow storm. Well... all of
Maryland except where I live.
You can drive 5 miles in any direction and find an abundance of snow.
But here the snow turned into an extremely heavy rain storm half way through,
only turning back to snow Christmas afternoon. From the air it has to look
like a brown bullseye at the top of the Chesapeake.
But I should not complain, we've had a huge number of early-season
snow storms this year.
Christmas itself was enjoyable though fairly uneventful.
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