The drive to Canada was rather uneventful. Not a bad thing... As fate would have it, my friend Angelo initially called just before I hit the Canadian border or we would have missed each other completely - as I later learned, my phone doesn't work in Canada.
Gas prices in CA are worse than in the US. When I crossed the border fuel was "only" $1.30/L, but when I left fuel was $1.40/L, which is about $5.30/gallon. It took $60 to fill up my tank!! :( Of course, US credit cards cannot be used at the pump, so the first time I filled up, I gave the card to the woman inside the gas station and then she told me I could go out and pump. I thought she had already charged my card and didn't go back in to pay. Instead, I realized I had to find a pay phone to contact my buddy for directions, since I wouldn't be able to wait for his call back. At least the pay phone was near the gas station, so they were able to find me to "remind" me to pay. Oops!
Apparently, Angelo's office is on the way to Niagara Falls, and because he gave such good directions, I didn't need to call him 10 times on the way like I normally do. :)
The first thing I noticed while driving to his office is that he has a street named after him. He didn't seem as thrilled by that as I was. LOL The building has his name on it as well, and it has his family crest with a dancing lion on it. I could probably go back a thousand years (maybe Dad already has?) and not find a Deprey family crest. That's got to be pretty neat to know your family history. (I wonder if his ancestors went through Ellis Island!)
Before he took it over, Angelo's family business/land used to have a cattle ranch and slaughterhouse. He still has a farm with cows (no horses), but has expanded just a little, and he now has around 50 businesses!!! (I seem very small and simple in comparison as I'm just trying to get one little business off the ground. LOL) Through work, he does get to travel to a lot of really cool places all over the world, and has met Presidents and lots of celebrities. Angelo had a big grin in all of the pictures he showed me, which mirrors his energetic personality. :)
In his office building at the top of the stairs is a painting of Sylvester Stallone. (Yes, even though I don't have a TV and don't watch many movies, I still knew who that was.) Angelo met him and he actually posed for the picture. In the picture below you'll see Angelo next to the painting. (I figure after all the pictures with me in them, we could use one with a good-looking guy.) I asked Angelo if there was anything he didn't have his hand in, and laughing, he said "gold mining". Angelo, if you ever want to get started in that field...give me a call. Digging for gold sounds like it would be a lot of fun! :)
Naturally, like all fun adventurous souls, he also has fun and fast toys in his garage. LOL For a non-American, he has an impressive collection of Shelby's and Fords! :)
After saying goodbye, I took off for Niagara Falls. For my US friends and family who don't travel much...I should probably point out a few things. Although Canada looks very similar to America, on the way I noticed other differences that I had to adjust to. For instance, everything in Canada is in kilometers rather than miles, which meant km/hr rather than miles/hr. My little Ford does have km/hr, but it's red and hard to see, especially while driving. Most of the time I just had to guesstimate. I see a speed limit that says "100 km/hr", I now know that's about 60 mi/hr, so I can comfortably go 75 mi/hr... It does NOT mean I can go 100 mi/hr. That would be exceeding 50 km/hr over the speed limit, resulting in suspended license, $10,000 fine, and confiscation of my car. No, I did not test this... :)
In Canada (Ontario and Quebec) many people speak French, so all of the signs, menus, and so on, are in both English and French. I spoke English most of the time, but I did have the opportunity to speak French as well. Also, Canadians have a funny accent - especially those from farther up north. They say "bag" and "flag" like us Wisconsinites, but they say "eh" or "ey"(apparently they like the sound of the long "A"). :) It's also very cute how they say words like "out", "about", and "house". It's sort of between the way we say "ou" and "oo".
Back to the trip... Before I got to Niagara Falls, the Focus started shaking any time I was between 60-70 mph, which I thought meant I needed realignment. Thinking I'm fine to wait until I get back to the US, I just tried to avoid driving between 60-70 mph (in MJ terms, this meant going no slower than 70 mph on the expressway).
I stopped in St. Catharine's for the night, which is just a few miles away from Niagara Falls and had dinner at Montana's (ironic to be in Canada eating at a restaurant named after a US state). They also have a city called "Wyoming", and that's over by Oil City. A topic for another day... Montana's was a great restaurant!!! They give you crayons to color with and a deck of cards. I colored of course while waiting for my food. I tried antojitos, which are a unique appetizer served with sour cream. Tastes great!!!
The next morning it was all about the falls! I parked by Table Rock. Horseshoe Falls is the name of the famous falls due to its shape. I did the Journey Beneath the Falls, but it wasn't worth it. You go 13 stories down, so you are behind the falls, but when you look out, all you can see is the white mist. There are a number of ways you can enjoy the falls. I recommend starting at Table Rock. You can see the water fall over the top of falls as if you were in a boat ready to go over. There is SO much mist that it's difficult to see the falls!
Tesla to me is an electric car too quiet to enjoy. However, way before the car was even a thought in someone's mind, Tesla is the name of the person who developed the world's first hydroelectric power system, which was used at Niagara Falls.
Fun trivia for all of you out there... Did you know that 2800 cubic meters of water (600,000 gallons) go over the falls every SECOND traveling about 40 mph?!?! It's almost 170 feet tall and 2600 feet around the brink. Wow! That's over a mile (doesn't look that long).
Maid of the Mist was closed (out of season), but looks like fun for those of you planning a trip in the summertime. From Table Rock, you can walk along the water's edge to the bridge and beyond. You can see the tourists on the US side across the water looking down at the falls.
The mist rose far above the falls.
The smaller waterfall was called the American Falls - appropriate as it's on the American / NY side!
I then went up the Skylon to get a bird's eye view of the falls. Got some GREAT shots of the Niagara River and gorge.
I saw a statue of King George, VI, and kept walking towards the bridge to see different views of the falls, and city.
A little bit farther down was the White Water Walk, which is an elevator ride to the bottom of the gorge, where you walk along the white water rapids coming from the bottom of the falls. This was (as you can by now imagine) CLOSED for the season. So, I took a few pictures from above and then went next door to look at the 1000 Buddhas.
After the 1000 Buddhas, I drove down Niagara Parkway and stopped at a decorative gift shop. I learned that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. That's a lot of sap!! While there, I picked up some Bear Droppings (chocolate covered nuts) and Salt Water Taffy - the treats I couldn't find in Cape Cod. These will be presents for the nieces and nephews when I return to WI.
From there, I went to the whirlpool. This is down toward the turning point in the gorge, where the water has a swirling, whirlpool effect. I took the Aero car ride, which is a little car traveling along a cable high up over the gorge from one side to the other. Looking straight down (and being scared of heights) was an unsettling, but amazing experience! I thoroughly enjoyed the view. My hands were still very cold even though the sun made an appearance, so I was a little worried that I would drop the camera into the gorge while taking pictures. Luckily, that didn't happen.
I have about 100 photos that didn't transfer over to my computer. :( Bummer. This is what I didn't capture successfully on film. (I found a few photos from the Internet to supplement my missing ones.)
The Niagara Glen overlooks the whirlpool and gorge. You can hike down to the water from the top, which is not recommended in cowboy boats as it's very rocky with lots of small stones and roots sticking out of the ground. There are a number of hikes you can follow, some that will take you all the way around! I chose to hike to the river and back up - about a 45 minute hike and something families can do with older kids.
From there, I followed the Niagara Parkway to Queenston, where I stopped by Brock's Monument, which is dedicated to Major Gen. Sir Isaac Brock. This is where the Battle of Queenston Heights took place during the War of 1812.
The parkway continued over a bridge and past the big Sir Adam Beck Power Plant. Most of the water that would fall over the Falls is now diverted for generating power. I wish I had the chance to see what it would be like with all the water naturally flowing over the falls, but since it's the areas largest source of electricity and power, I shouldn't complain too much... Using the water for power and reducing the amount of water that goes over the falls has drastically reduced the pace that the falls recedes, which is another bonus.
Just past the power plant was the floral clock. This is an actual clock, but instead of 12 numbers it has 12 letters spelling out Niagara Parks, with flowers making up everything but the 2 moving hands.
At the end of Niagara Parkway was star-shaped Fort George. This was also closed for the season, but the actual Fort can still be walked on as it's not locked up, so I took a look... It was built in 1796 and used a lot during the War of 1812. It was destroyed and rebuilt, and then destroyed again. The only thing that remained was the powder magazine, but they rebuilt it again for tourists. The buildings serve a variety of purposes. For instance, the Navy Hall was the mess hall for soldiers. Fort Niagara is across the water (in America), and combined artillery fire from both forts was powerful for protecting Niagara.
After visiting Fort George, I took a drive through Niagara's wine country and stopped at a number of wineries for some wine tasting, including Joseph's Estate, Inniskillin, Peller Estates, Hinterbrook Estate, and Reif Estate. (Most of my wine photos were lost, so these came from the Internet.)
I had never heard of ice wine, and of course had to buy a bottle (in addition to a few others)! Ice wine is a grape that you leave on the vine through the cold winter months to intensify the flavors. Temperatures have to be at least -8 Celsius for a period of time, and cannot be frozen artificially. (This was not a good year for ice wine as it was a very mild winter.)
The frozen ice wine grapes are then picked, usually in the middle of the night when it's coldest and they are pressed in the cold. The water in the grape stays frozen, so you only get a few drops of concentrated liquid from each grape. That grape nectar is then fermented for several months where it turns into ice wine! Ice wine tastes very sweet and fruity, and is good with strong cheese, chocolate, and desserts. It's too sweet for me, which is why I only bought a small amount, but good with food that compliment it. Inniskillin is the world leader, and is the first winery I visited. :)
I left Niagara Falls and headed toward Toronto. It wasn't too late, so I decided to stop near Hamilton and see the African Lion Safari. Unfortunately, it was closed until May. :(
So I stopped to eat dinner at a bar with 9 large flat screen TVs showing multiple games/shows at the same time, and found a motel nearby that was just renovated to look like a creamsicle (though I have to say it was the nicest Motel 6 I ever stayed at)!
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