A visit to Canada

We prepared the van and madly searched for the passports and other important documents necessary for us to not only drive into Canada, but importantly, drive back to the US.  Once we were organized
we hit the freeway for the bridge to Canada.

The border crossing went fairly smoothly.  We always worry about this and had heard a few horror stories about searches and xrays at the borders...we aren't carrying a few simple bags across...we have the whole van full of stuff and food.  One of the border guards even suggested a scenic drive along Lake Superior's North shore.

The weather wasn't terrific for our scenic drive, and only deteriorated.  We liked the moose crossing warning signs, however, didn't seen any moose.

On the north shore of Lake Superior looking at all the nice smooth stones.

 

 

This is such a disappointing photo!  The weather really did not cooperate for our first four days in Canada, and rather than fill pages with dismal, overcast photos, we've included only this one here.  Around Lake Superior, the mountains come down to the shores and it is stunning...maybe another day.

We had a window of opportunity to visit our friends in Toronto.  They like to travel and visit new places as much as we do, so we managed to time our visit between their trips away.  Cathy and Jim showed us excellent hospitality and we enjoyed visiting a few of the ethnic neighborhoods in Toronto.  It was even sunny for a few days.

Next we drove around the west end of Lake Ontario to Niagara Falls.  Of course the Falls are spectacular, but the canal system nearby is interesting and we spent a few days in the area exploring.  We walked a few miles along the Welland Canals on some of the nice multi use trails around St Catherines.  At Lock 7 we stopped for a hot chocolate and some lunch at a tourist information shop, and it started pouring with rain.  Lucky for us, a local baker was visiting the shop and he gave us a lift down to where we'd parked the van.  The humans, in their usual offensive way, say there is nothing worse than wet bear smell in the van.

Surprisingly, it was sunny and warm the days we set aside for Niagara Falls.  The town of Niagara Falls is really touristy, yuk, but even that stuff cannot take away from the beauty of the falls.  The current of the river above the falls races along at 48 knots.  There have been people that have survived a trip over the falls, accidental or otherwise, and a few died going that way too.

Once again I was left in the van while Chris and Phil got up close and personal with the water.  I guess it was the wet bear thing again.  They went on the Maid of the Mist, a tour to the base of the Falls, which has been running since the mid 1800's.  The stylish plastic ponchos are provided to all the passengers, and it is misty the entire time down at river level.  As the boat gets close to the horseshoe falls (pictured above), it gets really wet.

 Phil and Chris, and not Buster, also went to a nice restaurant for dinner at the Skylon, overlooking the Falls.  Great view and great food, and again, so very fortunate to have such marvelous weather to enjoy our time here.

I was so upset not to be included in the tour or dinner, I snuck out and had a swim.  Plenty of stunned little fish at the bottom of the falls to eat.  Now I'm in trouble again...I am just a terrible little bear.