August Trip — Destination 1: Niagara Falls, Ontario Pt. 4 Niagara Falls

The American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls are impressive.  All of that surging water!  All of that power!  On our tour, we visited the Falls, took the Journey Behind the Falls, went to the Niagara Flower Clock, the whirlpool, had lunch at a restaurant, and rode The Maid of the Mist.  There were only 22 people in our group and we had a very knowledgeable driver/tour guide.  Niagara Falls is one of those wonders that everyone should see at least once.

Water leading up to the Falls

 

View from a tunnel behind Horseshoe Falls

 

View of the side of the Falls from the observation deck in Journey Behind the Falls

 

Whirlpool on the Niagara River downstream from the Falls

 

The Floral Clock

 

View from The Maid of the Mist

View of the American Falls from The Maid of the Mist

August Trip — Destination 1: Niagara Falls, Ontario Pt. 3 Niagara Parkway

On the same day that Johnnie and I visited Welland Locks, we drove the southern portion of the Niagara Parkway from Niagara Falls to Fort Erie.  The Niagara Falls area was very crowded, but we got a good view of the Falls.  We were just going for a ride and a quick view since we were taking the tour in the morning that included the portion of the Niagara Parkway within the city of Niagara Falls, so we did not bring our camera.  Mistake. 

At this end of the Parkway, the Niagara River gets wide and looks like a lazy river, no apparent evidence of the Falls that lie downstream.  We could see across to the USA side and there was little activity on the river.  The ride on this end of the Parkway is worth it just to see the houses.  The houses range from small, old homes to mansions.  No matter the size, they all have the Niagara River as their front view. 

On our last day in Niagara Falls, we drove the upper end of the Parkway starting in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Friends had recommended Niagara-on-the-Lake as a place that we would enjoy.  There are wineries in the area with tours and tasting.  Neither Johnnie nor I drink, so this was not appealing to us.  The town itself was quaint with lots of shops.  I am not a shopper and nothing really caught my eye to make us stop.  There are lots of restaurants but the place was crowded.   It reminded me of Haddonfield, NJ.  So, very nice to drive through and so was the rest of the Parkway to Niagara Falls.

Parallel to the Niagara Parkway in most places is the Niagara Recreation Trail.  It is 35 miles in its entirety and nicely maintained.  We walked a very small portion of it.  It would have been great for our bikes, but again the weather was uncertain so we had not brought the bikes with us.  Another thing to do on a return trip. Pictures from the Niagara Falls section of the Trail and Parkway will be in the next post.

August Road Trip — Destination 1: Niagara Falls, Ontario Pt. 2 –Welland Locks

[I am actually back in New Jersey and back to work.  Our overall trip was great but most of our time in Canada was with heavily overcast skies and/or rain, so I could not get a steady Internet connection that would allow me to post while I was away.]

Our first destination in Niagara Falls was the Welland Locks to Lock 3 in St. Catherines to see ships go through the lock.  This may sound strange as our first destination, but we had seats on the tour of Niagara Falls for the next day.  When I am planning a trip I make a list of possible sites to visit in the area and we just make choices each day.  I also purposely make a list of more sites than we can possibly visit in one trip so that we have a variety of choices and can make decisions based on the weather, usually the heat, but this time the rain. 

It was fascinating to watch a ship entire the lock from the Lake Ontario end of the lock which is the lower end and to be raised by a combination of water and ropes to the higher level at the Lake Erie end.  Lake Onatario is 326 feet lower than Lake Erie and the ships travel through a series of 8 locks to be raised or lowered, depending on the direction. 

A ship entiring the lock

About halfway through the raising process

Fully raised and going through the lock

The ship traveling to the next lock

Just a note to anyone who goes to the Welland Locks Viewing Complex.  There is St. Catherines Museum and there is an admission fee.  The viewing complex is free.  Even though you enter the museum building to get to the viewing deck, you do not have to pay.  You just follow the signs.  Another piece of information is that there is a bike path that runs the entire length of the lock system.  You could watch the ships come through the locks from the path which is at water level.  If we had had more time, or better weather, we would have ridden at least part of the path.  Did I mention that it rained for at least part of the day for at least 13 of the 15 days that we were in Canada?  So, we have a list of things that we can do on a future trip.

August Road Trip: Destination 1 – Niagara Falls, Ontario Pt. 1 The Trip to Niagara Falls

♫On the road again♫ 

 

Johnnie and I left NJ late Saturday night, just to say that we had started our vacation.  We stopped for a few hours at the rest area on the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike (I-476) before Allentown.  Then Sunday we journeyed to Niagara Falls.  We took a rather scenic route:  I-476 to I-80 West to I-180 to Rte. 15 North into NY.  I now know that there is more to Williamsport, PA than baseball fields.  Once in NY, we continued on Rte. 15 to I-86 to I-390 to I-90 (NY Thruway) to Buffalo to I-290 to I-190 to Niagara Falls, NY to Rte. 62 and across the Rainbow Bridge to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. 

 

This is our first trip to Canada and our first August trip north rather than west.  I think we missed some of our familiar scenery at first because we compared everything we saw to other locations that we had previously seen – “This reminds me of Idaho.”  “This reminds me of Missouri.”  “This reminds me of Nebraska.”  Six days into our journey we are doing less of this and just appreciating the Canadian landscape for what it is.

 

We have never taken a vehicle into a foreign country and friends of Johnnie’s had warned him that the crossing into Canada would be time consuming, nearly two hours.  They warned him of being fully inspected by the Border Agents, and having them look into every compartment and drawer.  Thank goodness, that was not our experience.  We were second in line behind a tour bus.  The Border Agent asked to see our identification which was our passports, asked us a few questions – if we owned the vehicles (our RV and our Jeep), besides personal belongings if we carrying anything else, and how long were we staying in Canada, and then sent us on our way.  Total time:  10 minutes. 

 

We caught glimpses of the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls as we crossed the bridge.  We quickly found our campground, Niagara Falls KOA on Lundy’s Lane, and settled in.  After dinner we took a drive down Lundy’s Lane in search of a store that sold trash bags and HypoTears, one of the few items that were left at home.  Every major fast food chain was available:  McDonald’s Burger King, Arby’s, Wendy’s, and Popeye’s Chicken.  Other choices were available:  Tim Horton’s, China Buffet, a Snack Shack featuring Canadian and Colombian food, a Jamaican restaurant, a Mediterranean café, and a few others.  Hotels and motels were also prevalent as were campgrounds.  There is a place to stay and a place to eat for everybody!  We did not know at the time that Lundy’s Lane is one of the main tourist’s districts. 

 

We did find a drugstore that was open.  What we didn’t see were any grocery stores or a Walmart or anything like that.  Again, at the time, we did not know that Lundy’s Lane is a tourism district.  We did eventually find grocery stores and Walmarts by driving down some of the side streets away from Lundy’s Lane, notably Dorchester Road.

 

My initial reaction to the Niagara Falls KOA was not a good one.  It was crawling with kids.  They were everywhere.  They didn’t look when crossing roads nor did the adults or teens who were accompanying them.  They would come flying around corners on their bicycles with no regard for possible on-coming traffic.  We obviously do not travel with children.  But, I forgot that we arrived on a Sunday, a weekend during the peak season.  Monday, people began clearing out.  By Wednesday, the KOA was half-empty.  Thursday when we were leaving, it was beginning to fill up again.  The Niagara Falls KOA is a large campground with lots of activities, if you need them.  We took advantage of a tour of the Falls that was arranged through them.  (More about this in another post.)  So we would stay at this KOA again, we just would not come in August.  September after kids have gone back to school would be a better time for us.

 

 

 

Antidote for the Contraries

Still homebound.  Now I have the “contraries”.  The “contraries” are when you get into a bad mood for what seems to be no apprent reason and nothing anyone says or does is right.  It’s like getting sand in your clothing or a pebble in your shoe — no matter which way you move, you are irritated.  I have come to recognize the “contraries” and warn my husband when I get them.  He laughs, but gives me lots of space.  Being on the receiving end of someone who has the conrtraries usually starts with an argument and escalates to who knows what!! 

I recognize the contraries now and have come to accept them.  I will get out of them eventually but I know to think through everything I say and do because my first intention is usually hostile or wrong.  I have also learned to identify what has brought the contraries on and sometimes just knowing that helps get me through them.

This bout of contraries is because I am still homebound.  Not only am I still homebound, but it seems like everyone around me is going on vacation.  My parents are on vacation at the Jersey shore for a week.  My daughter and grandson are on vacation for two weeks.  They are going to be on the Oregon coast.  The kids in my neighborhood will be on summer vacation starting next week.  The teachers at work will be on summer vacation starting next Friday.  (I am an administrator, so I will continue to work throughout the summer.)  And my August vacation is still 50 days away.  Yes, I am counting!

I have discovered that an antidote for this particular bout of the contraries is discovering new places to visit and planning possible trips.  Johnnie and I have talked about visitng Niagara Falls and then going into Canada.  I started by investigating the KOA campgrounds near Niagara Falls.  There are two in New York, but since we haven’t been to Canada, I started looking at the KOAs near Niagara Falls in Canada.  17 out of 18 KOAs in the province of Ontario are close to Niagara Falls.  The KOA that calls itself Niagara Falls KOA actually has shuttles to the Falls on a regular basis (every half hour or so).  It also has a recreation trail for walking, hiking, cycling that runs 56 kilometers along the Niagara River.  I never thought about Niagara Falls having a river; it just seemed like an entity in itself.  Johnnie and i travel with our bicycles so the recreation trail is a definite attraction for us.  Thinking in kilometers is new, but I think that it is about 35 miles of trail.  That’s great!

We could also visit Toronto which friends have told us about.  Since we will tow our dinghy, a Jeep, we can visit places nearby without changing our location or needing to worry about the suitability of roads and parking for our 40-foot motorhome. 

Our normal 18-day vacation typically covers 5,000+ miles.  What would a similar trip in Canada look like?

So I looked for KOAs in the province of Quebec.  There are 3, 2 outside of Montreal and 1 in Quebec. We could visit Montreal which also has been recommended by friends.

Deciding to run parallel to the Canada-US border, I wondered about New Brunswick.  There are no KOAs in New Brunswick, so I looked for National Parks, one of my favorite places to visit.  In looking at pictures, I found one where people are cycling on a paved trail.  Kouchibouguac National Park.  It looks like our kind of place.  I am excited about the possibility of staying here for a few days enjoying my favorite activities:  cycling, bird watching, hiking, photography, possibly canoeing. 

Wait!  Isn’t the Bay of Fundy with its incredible tides in this area, too?  We could visit there, then come back into Maine and visit Acadia National Park.  My travel juices are flowing and at least for the rest of the day, the contraries have subsided.  When they return, I can just look for more places to visit.  This is what I love about RVing and looking at the US and now the US and Canada as my backyard.  Any place is possible!