Hello Canada

I promised it wouldn't be two months before I posted again. And I am keeping to that, if just barely. The past weeks have been busy with preparations for 2 craft shows and preparations for what has become an extended trip to the midwest.

I am going to swing the pendulum from stale news to breaking news by posting these pictures on the day they were taken--and do so from the wireless connection at our hotel in Espanola, Ontario.

We like visiting Minnesota and Wisconsin, but driving through Ohio, Ind, and Ill is pretty bland. I had always been intrigued by the northern route through Canada, so this time we decided to try it. Hey--it's been 7 years since we made it to these parts, the economy is going to pot, and and who knows what life will look like in 6 months. Why not eat drink and be merry! What was going to be a trip out for Thanksgiving is actually going to be 3 weeks from start to finish.

Sudbury, ON is halfway between Daniel's place and ours (13 hours), and Niagara Falls is halfway from our place to Sudbury, so that was our itinerary today. We made it to Niagara Falls in 6 1/2 hours with a 1/2 hour stop (before 10:30), which gave us several hours there before heading futher north. We got to the hotel about 8:40 this evening.

Here's a few quick pix to show our day. Tomorrow we plan to take all day to get to the upper peninsula of Michigan before heading into Minnesota the following day. Pardon the quality--I took a lot from behind the wheel as we zipped on down the road at 100 km/hr.

This is one of the first sights as you near the falls. Under the red line I have drawn is a huge column of spray that lets you know something strange is going on ahead. No sounds, no sights, just a column of spray.

Looking at the falls from America. The column of spray is seen above Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side.

Thanks to Lydia, we both got to get into the picture for once.

Philip can now say he has done Niagara Falls.

Not your typical "toll booth." Gives you a weird feeling crossing into another country, even if it is just Canada.

I found it quite disorienting at first to drive outside the US. Do they follow the same traffic laws? Am I going to get stopped by customs? Suddenly I'm the only one without a Canadian license plate.

The American side viewed from Canada. We didn't have time to stop (long walk & $14 parking), even though the Canadian view is much better.

I thought $1.01 was good for gas until I realized they sell it by the litre.Another unusual sight.
Wide open spaces.