back from vacation
I spent the week in Ontario visiting my brother and sister-in-law. They're doing well; it was good to spend some time with them again. A few notes:
I took the train; the trip up was delayed by switch problems, so I got there somewhat late. Coming back, there were again minor delays; I just barely made the commuter train home that I wanted, getting home shortly before midnight. (If I'd missed that one, the next one was more than an hour later. Oof!)
We went to a local production of Spamalot on Wednesday, which was lots of fun. I had expected more of the movie to make it in, but the bits that were there were good, as was the singing and dancing. And the acting was high-quality.
The other big adventure was going down to Niagara Falls on Thursday, about a two-hour drive. My sister-in-law decided to stay home with the dog, so it was just the two of us. The falls are indeed spectacular; I was reduced to saying "Wow" a lot.
J suggested that we take the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the foot of both sets of falls. Expensive, but worth the money. As we approached the boat, they were handing out cheap ponchos and warning that we'd get wet anyway. Which we did. We stopped by the American Falls first. Those are slightly less impressive (although if they were the only ones, people would still come from all over to gawk) -- not as wide, and they don't fall straight down the full distance, the lower quarter to third running over huge boulders at the bottom. Our faces got a bit damp from the mist/spray being thrown out, but not bad. Then we proceeded to the Horseshoe Falls, which are entirely on the Canadian side. Wow! The boat didn't go that far in, but far enough that we had water on both sides as well as in front. The mist there was quite thick--my brother said thicker than he'd seen it previously--and our faces got soaked. 'Mist' is such an inadequate word for that; we were pelted with huge drops, like being caught in a heavy rain, complete with sideways gusts. Impressive!
The boat dock on the Canadian side (boats leave from both sides) is more or less opposite the American Falls, close to where we first came down. After that ride, we walked the half mile or so down the promenade to the Horseshoe Falls, ending up very close to the near end of those falls. I'm still not convinced that the Horseshoe Falls have a center portion; the mist in the middle was too thick to see the center from any angle. Then, of course, we had to walk back. That part nearly killed me. But it was a fun day.
And a good trip overall.
I took the train; the trip up was delayed by switch problems, so I got there somewhat late. Coming back, there were again minor delays; I just barely made the commuter train home that I wanted, getting home shortly before midnight. (If I'd missed that one, the next one was more than an hour later. Oof!)
We went to a local production of Spamalot on Wednesday, which was lots of fun. I had expected more of the movie to make it in, but the bits that were there were good, as was the singing and dancing. And the acting was high-quality.
The other big adventure was going down to Niagara Falls on Thursday, about a two-hour drive. My sister-in-law decided to stay home with the dog, so it was just the two of us. The falls are indeed spectacular; I was reduced to saying "Wow" a lot.
J suggested that we take the Maid of the Mist boat ride to the foot of both sets of falls. Expensive, but worth the money. As we approached the boat, they were handing out cheap ponchos and warning that we'd get wet anyway. Which we did. We stopped by the American Falls first. Those are slightly less impressive (although if they were the only ones, people would still come from all over to gawk) -- not as wide, and they don't fall straight down the full distance, the lower quarter to third running over huge boulders at the bottom. Our faces got a bit damp from the mist/spray being thrown out, but not bad. Then we proceeded to the Horseshoe Falls, which are entirely on the Canadian side. Wow! The boat didn't go that far in, but far enough that we had water on both sides as well as in front. The mist there was quite thick--my brother said thicker than he'd seen it previously--and our faces got soaked. 'Mist' is such an inadequate word for that; we were pelted with huge drops, like being caught in a heavy rain, complete with sideways gusts. Impressive!
The boat dock on the Canadian side (boats leave from both sides) is more or less opposite the American Falls, close to where we first came down. After that ride, we walked the half mile or so down the promenade to the Horseshoe Falls, ending up very close to the near end of those falls. I'm still not convinced that the Horseshoe Falls have a center portion; the mist in the middle was too thick to see the center from any angle. Then, of course, we had to walk back. That part nearly killed me. But it was a fun day.
And a good trip overall.