Today was another wet one as I got near the Great Lakes. The storm that I was able to bypass was strong, but small and quick. I managed to duck into a McDonald's just in time to stay mostly dry. I decided to get on my rain gear anyways as the road was bound to throw up some wetness and the skies weren't completely clear.
Going up around Cleveland was a good idea, and Pennsylvania came and went in a flash on the lakeside. I cut over to the 5 once I got into New York to avoid the tolls. If you ride a motorcycle in an area that has a lot of tolls, you can set a way point using google maps and tell it to avoid tolls to make it an interesting ride. I plan on doing this down the east coast as long as it doesn't take me too far out of my way. I have yet to pay a toll on this trip.
I got to Niagara Falls a little after lunch and parked off the street north of the falls. Not a great part of town, but I knew I wouldn't be away from the bike for long. The falls are smaller than I thought they would be, and yes, the Canadians seem to have a better view and their town looks much nicer. If I ever come back it will be to go to Canada and also to see the falls.
I set up camp at the 4 mile creek campsite. This place has a few hundred spaces for all kinds of camping. There are no pull throughs, so practice reversing that trailer. The campsite borders Lake Ontario. You can't make out a coastline on the other side. There is no swimming here, but there is a good view of the lake in the 100 and 200 areas of the camp.
Tomorrow I head east to Vermont through New York. It should be pretty as the trees are getting thicker each day.