Griffin Speaks
A TRIP TO NIAGARA FALLS AND CANADA
I am writing this article on August 15, 2003. In less than twenty-four hours my family and I will be on a flight to Niagara Falls, New York. My parents are a little apprehensive about joining us on the trip, because of the "blackout" yesterday. My kids are ready to go!
A major power blackout covered the whole Northeast Region at approximately 4:11 p.m. Eastern Time. It is the largest blackout in American history. It rivals the blackout of 1965. People in the Northeast and Canada are sweating like pigs!
There were reports that the blackout was caused by lightening striking a power plant on the U.S. side in the Niagara Falls region, setting off outages that covered approximately 9,300 square miles. Officials in Niagara dispute this claim. At this hour they really don't know what happened.
Fifty million people are affected by this huge blackout. I personally know nine. Lights or no lights I am going on my summer vacation! It is our family custom to take a vacation at the beginning of the summer and one at the end of the summer. Our trip to Nags Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina a few months ago was wonderful. I am hoping that this vacation to Niagara Falls and Canada will be just as wonderful.
It was around five years ago when I first visited the Falls and Canada. My best friend C. Howie Hodges and his lovely wife, Elizabeth Jackson Hodges gave me a tour. They will join us on Saturday in Howie's ancestral hometown of Buffalo, New York for the second tour. We have a birthday celebration scheduled for Alexis. She will turn ten on Sunday. She wants to celebrate on the Canadian side of the Falls.
The Falls straddle the Canadian-United States International Border in the Province of Ontario and the State of New York. The Falls attract approximately 12 million visitors each year. It is the most fascinating thing that I have ever seen!
The Niagara River is about 12,000 years old. The river plunges over a cliff of dolostone and shale. Niagara Falls is the second largest falls in the world next to Victoria Falls in southern Africa. The water, which cascades over the falls, comes from the four upper freshwater Great Lakes: Michigan, Huron, Superior and Erie.
Engineers have not been able to completely control the flow of water over the falls. I don't care about that, but I sure hope they can turn the lights back on in time for my vacation.
Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his earlier columns
by logging on to www.greggriffin.com
Greg Griffin is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at www.greggriffin.com
