Niagara Falls, Ontario bound today! We made it through the Canadian border today with just a few questions and a little disappointed to see that they don’t stamp passports anymore. Hungry because we skipped breakfast and irritated because I kept getting lost, I turned the driving over to Cam. It wasn’t too long and we made it to the Falls.
After parking, the first thing we noticed was the sound of waterfalls. First on the agenda was to find food. We ate and then headed to see the Falls. It’s amazing to see that much water cascading down continuously. At first, I only noticed the Falls on the American side. It wasn’t until we bought tickets to ride The Maid on the Mist that I saw the Falls on the Canadian side.
With everyone wearing the blue ponchos, the boat looked like a bunch of minions (from Despicable Me) off for a cruise. The boat ride goes out by the falls and then turns around. The minute it starts moving we are covered in mist. By the time it gets toward the end, it’s like standing in a drenching rain. While roaring and raining, and we see a massive amount of white water and it is awe-inspiring in its velocity. It’s hard to keep my eyes open because of all the ‘rain’ falling from the Falls. The boat finishes its turn and we start the journey back and the rain returns to mist. When that happens, it seems like everyone on the boat lets out giggle or sighs. It’s about a twenty-minute ride, but it seems like only a few minutes because of its beauty. It made me reflect on God’s mighty power.
Next, we walked some of the Falls path and took in its beauty. Cam had to tell me to stop
taking pictures every ten feet. : ) Seemed like there were people from all over; listening to all the different accents and languages, as we walked along. We ended with the Skywheel ride. We rode five rotations and after the first initial rise, I relaxed and enjoyed the views.
Niagara Falls is a very touristy area, so I booked us in St. Catherines about 20 km (me using metric; I’m so going to use this story when I introduce metric to my Math students). Gas here is $1.36 a Liter (so that’s about $5 a gallon!) Eh!
We checked in and Mary gave us a super quaint upstairs with a river view. “The early arrivals get the best views and I always fill the second floor first, so that people arriving at night don’t have to climb stairs.” Mary’s words and I think she’s a smart owner! She was wonderfully friendly.
We napped, found something close to eat since it was getting dark. Boston Pizza Sports Bar worked for us. At the end the waiter wanted to play name the place we were from. He guessed Arkansas. Pretty close, I was impressed.
When we returned to the motel, I noticed that there was the same group of people who were outside their rooms when we left had moved to a picnic table in the grass. They had greeted us with a wave and a ‘Eh’ each time we’d seen them. After getting ice, I went to say hello and talk to them.
True Canadians with thick accents ranging in age between sixty to seventies there were two couples. They scooted over and handed me a bottle of alcohol. I’m not sure if it was gin or vodka. Then they realized they didn’t have an extra cup or any Pepsi left in their cans. I said, ‘don’t worry about it,’ but one of the men sent his wife in for an extra paper cup and a new Pepsi. They laughed and said ‘at least you brought ice, ours is melted.’ I poured a little vodka (I think) into the cup. I usually don’t drink alcohol, so I’m not familiar with it. ‘Put more in there. You’ve been driving, eh.’ I did, and added Pepsi and spent about 15 minutes talking and laughing. One of the men didn’t know where Texas is just like I have no clue where Penbrook is. They shared stories of how they met and what they did for a living which was working as domestics in a large house. I laughed a lot!
Mosquitos were eating me up, so I left my merry acquaintances and joined Cam in the room. Tomorrow we were off to explore Canada more.
Life Continues 