Niagara Falls (New York), Secaucus (New Jersey) and New York (New York)!

From where I left you in Sandusky, Ohio, we travelled through the corner of Pennsylvania and into the state of New York to visit Niagara Falls. Niagara wasn't ever top of my list of things to see, but it was ok.... it's just a big waterfall (a really big waterfall), but its nice all the same. We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist and got very wet from all the spray, but that was about it.

I know it probably sounds strange that I don't sound that impressed by one of the most famous waterfalls in the world... but honestly, I have seen a lot more impressive natural wonders on my travels and sorry Niagara, you just don't beat them.
We camped close to Niagara Falls city (the US one, not the Canadian just across the river) that night, our last night in tents, and we got caught in a lightening storm. The rain poured down, the tents got wet, and lightening lit up the sky every few minutes... but actually no one minded that much (except Juli who now has to put up all the tents to dry!).

The next morning everyone was pretty sad packing away the tents and loading up the trailer for the very last time. We stopped off for brunch at a restaurant called Cracker Barrel as we couldn't go out for a final meal that night. Cracker Barrel sells southern style home cooking food, and the breakfasts are quite amazing. I can definitively tell you that you shouldn't try grits. It looks like wallpaper paste, has the texture of grit and tastes of nothing. I can't work out why it's so popular!

The bowl on the left is sawmill gravy (apparently), the scone looking thing in the middle is a buttermilk biscuit and on the right is the bowl of grits.
Here we are, outside the Cracker Barrel enjoying the rocking chairs for a moment or two:

And there we go, after brunch we crossed back into Pennsylvania for a little bit, then into New Jersey finally before arriving back at the Harmon Meadows Holiday Inn, Secaucus, where the whole Trek adventure started 64 days and 13744 miles ago.
That evening, those of us staying at the Holiday Inn went out for a meal, then all fought our bags to get all our belongings packed away for the next day.
Sunday brought an early morning and a bus ride into NYC, I dropped my bags at the hostel with Katie, then we met the others at Ground Zero before heading to view the Statue of Liberty at Battery Park, Wall St, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building and Central Park. I have no photos of that day as my camera batteries died, but its probably a good thing as we all looked miserable all day! I'm going to miss my Trek friends very much, its a long time to be with the same people 24/7 then suddenly lose them!

And now, here I am, back in the hostel in Brooklyn, giving myself a quiet day off before I hit the city again. I miss you all lots and I'm really looking forward to seeing you again, but in the meantime, I can blog more frequently again :)

love,
xxxxxx