Right after retiring in 1996, George & Valerie Garner rented out their house in Bexhill, England, and flew to the USA. Once here, they purchased a 37 foot RV and a tow car, and set about exploring a whole new world. They kept a daily journal, and the results of those adventurous three years are their own version of Alexis deToqueville’s American journey.
Having traveled the world over, one of their most fascinating impressions came from their visit here and particularly their time spent studying the Falls. It’s been said that the more one travels the world from our native Niagara region, the more one returns home with a new appreciation of our Falls.
George and Valerie toured 43 of the lower 48 states, as well as spent two months in Mexico. During 1998 they made a four month visit to Canada and Alaska. Their web travelogue also includes accounts of a mid tour visit to South Africa and other locales.
Their travelogue is now a decade old, worthy of a revisit here, and begins with “We thought it was about time that we gave you an outline of what we have been up to.”
“We are very happy with the RV and the way it drives, so far we have driven (towing the Suzuki tow car) about 800 miles. Everything in the RV is working very well and there is plenty of living space.”
From February 1996 to November 1998 the Garners logged thousands upon thousands of miles. In the first few months of their world exploration George and Valerie wrote:
“We have so far stayed at six campsites all have been good with full facilities. We have been amazed how friendly and helpful everybody has been. We are being treated like a novelty and everybody stops to talk, asking numerous questions about us, the UK and the Royal family. It is almost getting to the point where the moment we get outside the motor home somebody appears and starts talking.”
And it was On This Day, 10 years ago,1997, that George and Valerie were on their way from Indiana to Western New York and had these (slow at first, but building) impressions of our region:
“With about a month before we need to be in West Virginia for a rally we decided to travel east to see the Niagara Falls and a little of the north eastern states. The I80/90 turnpike to Geneva, OH was being repaired in several places including the addition of about 10 new bridges crossing the road, which was about the only item of note on the 290 mile journey.
For the large part the Interstate follows Lake Erie which appeared to be fairly plain and uninteresting. We must remember however that we did not stop and spend time staring, so the area may have more to offer but in the main the coast line did not have any beach as such, nor was there anything facilities to temp a visitor.”
The journey along the I90 to Niagara Falls took us through the northern edge of Pennsylvania, into New York State and then on to the town of Niagara Falls, which lies at the eastern end of Lake Erie and close to the Canadian boarder. In fact there are two Niagara Falls cities only a few miles apart, one in Ontario, Canada and the other Niagara Falls, New York, being connected by bridge across the Niagara River. The river is really a 37 mile strait that acts as a spillway, carrying drainage from the four upper Great Lakes into Lake Ontario. Among the shortest rivers in the world at 36 miles, Niagara is also one of the wildest, reaching speeds of 30 mph.
Niagara Falls were created by the recession and melting of a mammoth ice sheet. As the ice retreated some 50,000 years ago the land rose behind it, forming such ridges as the Niagara Escarpment. The melting ice formed a vast lake in what is now Lake Erie and its surrounding lowlands; the lake overflowed about 12,000 years ago, creating Niagara Falls. The falls were originally formed 7 miles north in what is now Lewiston and are still eroding towards Lake Erie at the rate of one inch per year.
In the afternoon we visited the American side of the falls which are higher than the Canadian at 184 feet, but have a shorter, fairly straight crest of about 1,075 feet.
The Canadian, or Horseshoe Falls are 176 feet high with a deeply curving crest of about 2,200 feet. We were amazed by the vast flow of water over the falls and this was at the time of the year when water flow is below the peak. Spray was rising several hundred feet into the air and with the light wind most of us got at least a little wet.
Untouched, the combined flow of the water over the falls would be about 1.5 million gallons per second; however, one-half to three-quarters of the river is diverted for the generation of electricity before it reaches the falls.
We watched the Maid of the Mist boats full of tourists all donned in dark blue plastic coveralls floating to the front of the falls, the boats looked somewhat puny against the size of the falls. In the past it was the done thing to dive over the falls, the first stuntster was Sam Patch. He survived two dives into the waters below the falls. The first person to go over the falls in a barrel was Annie Taylor in 1901. William Fitzgerald took the plunge in 1961, who was arrested as soon as he surfaced, because stunts on the river and falls had by then been outlawed.
Friday, 22 August 1997
We crossed into Canada through the customs check on the bridge and then in pouring rain we explore the falls from the Canadian side. The falls are impressive from the American side but without any doubt the falls seen from the Canadian side are more impressive, being wider in the shape of a vast horseshoe.
After absorbing the falls from the edge in the falling rain for some time we went to have a coffee in a tastefully designed restaurant overlooking the falls, where we were able to continue watching the falls, since no matter how long one looked one could continue to enjoy the vastness. Lots of birds were circling the edge of the drop looking for insects.
One of the many tourist attractions is to take an elevator to the base of the falls and then walk through man made tunnels under the falls, so George donned his Mae West and down he went. The tunnel traverses several hundred feet through the rock parallel to the edge of the falls, the noise of the water flowing down the face gives another reminder of the power of the falls. At several points openings have been made revealing vast swirling sheets of water roaring down and yet another opportunity to get soaked. Apparently the falls can freeze in the winter to around fifty feet thick, so ice booms are constructed up stream to prevent damage down stream during the thaw. We were informed that more than 12 million people visit the Canadian side annually, and more film is sold at the falls than anywhere else in the world, we can now understand why.
In heavy rain we drove further into Canada intending to explore parts of Toronto, as it turned out we spent much of the afternoon visiting the CN Tower which is considered the tallest building and free-standing structure in the world.
It is 1815 feet to the tip of the transmitter mast, the revolving restaurant at 1150 feet is even higher than the tip of the Eiffel tower at 1049 feet.
It took the elevator only 58 breath taking second to whisk us up to the observation desk, which affords a panoramic view of Toronto.
A section of the floor of the observation deck is made of glass, it was fascinating to watch most of the women very carefully walking around the glass section and then peering over the edge, whereas children were happy to lie on the glass and look down and then there were of course the teenage men who showed their bravery by jumping up and down.
It seemed strange to be looking down onto what are normally considered sky scraping office blocks, but even the tallest is dwarfed by the CN Tower.
Saturday, 23 August 1997
Yesterday, as we were returning from Toronto the car front brakes developed the typical noise indicative of worn brake pads, so we were waiting outside the local brake repair specialist when they opened at 07.30 as we wanted to move on today. However even though we had been previously assured they had the pads in stock, it was not so and the best they could offer, after ringing the local stockists, was to order the pads on Monday and fit them when they arrived which might be Tuesday or later!
This challenge got George going who started ringing up all the Suzuki dealers within a two hundred mile radius, however it turned out most were closed (Saturday – can this be America?) or the parts department was closed, or they would need a week to obtain replacement pads as they were a special item. However a call to the local Napa Auto Parts (similar to Halfords) revealed that whilst they did not have any stock, they could obtain a set from Buffalo, a town some 60 miles to the south within three hours – what service. So after catching up on the Email during the morning we went to the Napa store where the pads were waiting and then on to the fitters who confirmed to our relief that they were the correct parts which were fitted within 15 minutes.
Sunday, 24 – Tuesday, 26 August 1997
After finishing washing the RV we traveled east 130 miles along the I90 toll road to Cayuga Lake which is one of 11 Finger Lakes, many of which are lakes about fifty miles long and about a quarter of a mile wide lying mainly north/south. Apparently American Indian folklore holds that the Finger Lakes were formed when God placed his hand print on some of the most beautiful land ever created. We drove the 100 miles or so around Cayuga Lake which had a number of wineries on the western side but found little else.”
I wonder what George and Valerie Garner are up to these days. Their website was last updated in 2001.
I’ve emailed them in England, and wait to see if there’s a response. If there is, I’ll add it to this copy. And that’s the news from On This Day from Buffalo.
Bill Zimmermann
Bill runs Seven Seas Sailing school, and is a staunch waterfront activist. He is also heavily involved with preserving, maintaining, and promoting the South Buffalo Lighthouse. When Bill first started writing for Buffalo Rising, he wrote an article a day for 365 days - each article coincided with a significant historic event that happened in Buffalo on that same day.