Magnificent Niagara Falls

I did not realize Niagara is very near Toronto. At the other side of Niagara Lake is Buffalo, New York.

So many people. I have a feeling that the place does not sleep because of the many tourists that go around.

The falls are magnificent. We took the boat “Maid of the Mist” to get a closer look at the falls. All passengers were required to wear a raincoat to keep us from getting wet from the spray. But we got wet just the same.

I think the Horseshoe falls on the Canadian side is more beautiful and magnificent than that of the Buffalo side.

Niagara falls was a beautiful experience. Nature indeed has a way of leaving a mark in one’s heart and emotions.

We went to the botanical garden and visited an Indian museum. We also had a field day shopping around. The souvenirs were cheaper here as we found out later during our travel to other provinces in the east.

Toronto, here we come

We left Sault Ste. Marie at almost 8 am. It was drizzling. Afterwards, we experienced a lot of rain along the way. We stopped for lunch in a picnic ground somewhere in the district of Victoria Harbor.

We reached Toronto at around 5 pm. The traffic was heavy, probably because it was peak time.

We missed the turn in the highway. I was holding the map and giving directions but I had difficulty reading the signs from afar. When I saw the signs it was too late to change lane so we had to proceed and turn to another street. However, it was easy to locate Yvonne’s house, once we had entered the city. Yvonne is a friend of my sister. They were together in Netherlands many years ago.

My sister had a happy reunion with her friends in the evening.

The following day we went to Paramount Studios – Canada’s version of Disneyland.

There were many rides and attractions. The kids had a field day. All of us tried the Thunder ride. It was frightening, but a good tension reliever, since we were able to scream our hearts out. But I was worried about Mother, she was so pale. Good she did not pass out nor had a heart attack.

By afternoon, we were all tired going around and so happy to be back at Yvonne’s place. We had a nice barbecue at her backyard for dinner.

Camping at Nipigon , Ontario

We started late yesterday. It was already 7 am when we were able to leave the house even though we wanted to leave earlier than that. Our group consisted of my cousin Eddie, his wife Dette and two sons in his truck, and my sister Nitz, Mother, nephew Julian and I in my sister’s car.

Anyway, after many hours of driving, we stopped at Nipigon at 6 pm for the night. That’s 7 pm Ontario time. But of course, we had few short stops along the way to stretch our tired bodies and relieved ourselves.

We pitched camp in one of the many campsites in Nipigon. My first attempt in pitching tent; I realized I was not so bad at it after all.

It was hilarious. We kept talking about being attack by bears. The site we chose was a small clearing surrounded by pine trees. Nearby was a narrow trail leading to a forest. My imagination was running wild. I told my sister about the story I read of campers being attack by bears. But she assured me that that cannot be possible in the campsite since the place was well guarded.

I enjoyed the adventure but I cannot sleep, even though I was tired. It was my first chance to sleep in a tent. I looked at my companions and they seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Finally, I slowly drifted off only to be awakened feeling extremely cold. The temperature suddenly dropped. It became very cold inside the tent. Eventually, I decided to go out and slept in the car. It did not help me much either. In the morning, I felt like freezing.

We started our day at 7:55. After breakfast and shower, we hit the road right away with the intention of reaching Sault Ste. Marie in the afternoon.

We did a few stops along the way to stretch our tired legs. The weather was very hot but it was compensated by the beautiful scenery of Lake Superior and green fir trees alongside the highway.

We stayed at Dette’s cousin for the night at Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced So-say-Marie).