Friday, July 27, 2012

Canada bound!


Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

We headed out to tour the Canadian side of the Falls.  We all piled in Gin and Syl’s car and headed North.  Dan, Brandon, Amanda and I were going to walk across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada but when we got to the exit only lane and there was really no easy, safe way to exit the car so we ended up riding to Canada.  When we got to the border, the immigration officer had…well let’s just say he must have been having a bad day and it was portrayed in his personality (or lack thereof!).  It took us about 15 minutes and a whole bunch of questions to get thru immigration.    In all of my travels, this was the most red tape to get into a country (and this includes China!!).   Argghhh!    We found a place to park and headed out to the Falls.
View from walking underneath Rainbow Bridge
I had always heard that the views were better from the Canadian side of the Falls and what I heard was proved right.

Breath-taking!

Maid of the Mist in the background; birds upfront! 

The mist was quite heavy!
We walked along the Falls taking time to enjoy the scenery and snap a few pictures.
The four amigos!

The "kids"!

Beauty!
The flowers were in full bloom and gorgeous!



As we walked closer to the end of the walkway, the views were even more amazing.





Brandon had been to the Falls before with my sister, Barbara.  He remembered a few things and acted as our impromptu tour guide.  It was the first visit for the rest of us and it was neat to see everyone’s reactions.



We were able to see quite a few rainbows on the Canadian side of the Falls, too.


We had made plans to stay in Canada to watch the illumination of the Falls and the fireworks.  We had some time to spare before nightfall so Brandon, Amanda, and I went to explore some more.  We ended up acting quite goofy!
RCMPs!

Ever see a moose with sunglasses!?!

Biggest Hershey Kiss ever!
We headed back to where Dan, Gin and Syl were to watch illumination.
They were laughing when we left and are still laughing! 
Illumination was pretty but I thought that the colors would be much more vivid and pronounced.
Illumination

Night time at the Falls

After illumination but before fireworks, Dan, Brandon, Amanda and I decided we were going to walk back to the US.

But before we got on the bridge to cross, we needed to stop and use the facilities.  Dan comes out of the men’s room and is laughing.  He tells Brandon he needs to take my camera and go in the men’s room and take a picture.  Hahaha - this was a weird request!!  Brandon was a bit skeptical but went in with my camera.  This is what is in the men’s room….
Moose in the bathroom!
We all chuckled and then headed to the pedestrian bridge.
Brandon and Amanda in the dark!
We got to the US/Canadian border....

and had to take a few snapshots.

Standing in two countries at one time!

I can cross this off of my bucket list!

A smooch in two countries!!

Monkey see; monkey do!
We had timed it so we could watch the fireworks in two countries at the same time!

It was a perfect way to end a fantastic day!  Gin and Syl picked us up on the other side of the border.  We were all so tired the ride back to the campground was rather quiet!

Another good day on the road!

1 comment:

Barbara said...

Thanks for the shout out. Looks like a fabulous time was had by all. You have superseded me as the family photographer. Your pictures are spectacular!