Nivonim’s Niagara Falls Adventure!

Rosh Nivonim Smond (Sarah Monderer) sends this update on their three-day trip to Niagara Falls:

Nivonim had an amazing time on our intersession trip! We loaded the buses Monday after breakfast and headed to our first stop – Thatcher State Park. Once there, we had a picnic lunch and embarked on our hike! The chanichim loved the incredible rock formations and the view from the overlook. From there we headed to the synagogue in Syracuse where the volunteers had prepped a delicious mac and cheese dinner. Peulat erev was Nivo-eyes, a competition to see which trio could correctly identify the most Nivonimers just by a photo of their eyes. The results were eye-opening (pun intended)! 

Day two was the much-anticipated trip to Niagara Falls! We began with an interactive room and movie learning about the history of the falls, then headed to the Cave of the Winds. We donned our yellow ponchos and headed into Bridal Veil Falls – literally! We felt a mist at first, then a sprinkle, and then for those who braved the Hurricane Deck – the full force of thousands of gallons of rushing water! Chanichim were drenched and smiling ear to ear. It was phenomenal. From there we had another picnic lunch and then we stumbled upon a wedding happening at one of the scenic viewpoints! Chanichim watched respectfully from a distance until the mother of the bride asked everyone in the purple shirts to come on down and take a photo with the bride and groom for the wedding album! (See below!) It was so exciting (especially to myself, who also happened to be in a stranger’s wedding photo on her Nivonim trip years ago)! After the wedding festivity, we headed to the Maid of the Mist boat ride. Garbed in our blue ponchos, we rode directly into Horsehoe Falls! Once again, I’d never seen such smiling and soaked kids! Afterwards we rode the elevator to the observation deck to take one last look at the site’s beauty before heading back to the shul. That night we broke out our machazemer to the kids: it will be Despicable Me! Then we watched the movie!

On Wednesday we packed everything up and traveled to Grafton Lakes State Park! We had a beautiful beach day there, filled with swimming, volleyball, Spikeball, frisbee, resting, and reading! It was a phenomenal end to an already great trip. Even though our chanichim were sad to leave the lake, upon arrival in Palmer, one camper said to me: “it’s so good to be home.” My sentiments exactly.