Ludlow to Niagara Falls Journey Day 2

Now a day behind we needed to get some miles under our belts today so after breakfast at the Comfort Inn we hit the road. Ludlow was full of light coloured washboard houses but we didn’t stop to photograph as we knew we must get on.
Through to Albany, the traffic density on the I90 Toll is still familiar to the UK, something like the M6 between Manchester and Birmingham but at a quieter time. We were thrown by the tolls in Massachusetts (MA) because they don’t follow the ticket but at 25c then 80c for large distances we weren’t bothered. We make good time, now getting used to the 65mph cruise control for everyone.
The land on this section is rolling hills covered in deciduous forest. I am tempted to say it’s all very European but it could be that I am learning that much is the same all over the planet earth.
Once across state lines into New York State (NY), the tolls start to make sense and we eventually paid $8 for a couple of hundred miles as we left at Rochester to take the coast road along Lake Ontario.
Dinner had been at Burger King at services on the motorway and we had chosen salads with chicken as we feel permanently full with just sitting in the Jeep. They were massive and now we’re stuffed again.
NW of Rochester the Parkway was evidently built to be a coastal link around to the falls but was never finished. We followed a lovely sweeping carriageway with little traffic through fertile land to Hamlin State Park were we pulled off into the park (like a UK National Trust site) and parked next to Lake Ontario. This whole area obviously gets a lot of rain as everywhere so far has acres of lush green grass and here it sweeps down to the shore of the lake which disappears to the horizon like a sea. It is odd as it feels that the air should be salty but this is fresh water. The sun is beginning to lower and we have a pleasant amble along the shore before returning to the Jeep. On the way out we see two beavers by the bushes but both were too quick for the camera to come out.
Heading west again we past fields of fruit and maize, the area is clearly run down, probably due to the I90 further south taking all traffic but it is gorgeous. People lazily lounging on the steps of the houses. In one field, a farmer is turning his hay with and ancient piece of machinery drawn by two horses.
Olcott, a pleasant little seaside town was the signal to turn south along the largely decrepit other end of the Parkway to Niagara where we arrived about 8:30. As we were now very tired (more that 400 miles today) we decided to suffer the cost and try to get a room in Niagara itself and after a few attempts got a room at Days Inn ($180 not inc breakfast) which was close enough for us to walk to the falls. We dropped bags and headed down to the falls which are lit up at night. We were surprised to find access to view point free at night and enjoyed watching the falls cycle through varied colours with the bright lights of Toronto over on the Canadian side. At 10:00 pm fireworks burst over the river from the Canadian side after which we drifted back happily to the room.
This timing of arrival was pure chance but a delight. Though we did miss anywhere to buy food by the time we headed back so ended up finishing the remains of that pizza!

Statistics: Miles today: 413 miles; Miles so far: 564; Fuel added so far: 18 gals; States: Massachusetts, New York; Time Zone: Eastern (UK-5)