FRIDAY, JUNE 15 and SATURDAY,
JUNE 16, 2012
After we loaded everyone back in the van, we drove
over the Rainbow Bridge to Canada.
The lines were not very long at all.
The lady that checked our paperwork was very nice.
The first streets reminded us of the touristy parts of Orlando with T-shirt shops, motels, restaurants, gift shops, etc. We stopped at a few hotels and boy were the prices high. They told us the prices had been raised in some places by almost 100% because of the Wallenda event. We finally found a comparatively cheap motel only about two or three blocks from the falls. When we got in the room, we realized that it was leftover from the 70s. It seemed fairly clean. It was only a place to sleep. We turned the TV on and found out that they were expecting at least 100,000 people to go down to the falls on the Canadian side to watch Wallenda walk over the falls. They were going to have a TV special from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. before the walk was to begin. So much for it not being a big deal. The walk was also going to be televised live.
We decided to walk to the Niagara Walkway next to the gorge to see what was going on. We walked the two or so blocks through some pretty populated parts of town. The Skylon Tower is one of the unusual sights. It contains a couple of restaurants and observation decks. This part was downhill so I was doing OK.
The walkway was a wide pedestrian sidewalk made of pavers. There were grassy areas, a fountain, a casino and other buildings all enclosed by a fence with an interesting top. We also took a picture of the falls through the woods from the walkway.
We decided to go back to the motel and watch the walk on television. The crowds were gathering steadily. We did not want to rub shoulders with so many people. After he walked over the falls from the USA to Canada, the rest of the family went down to the walkway again to watch the Friday fireworks (that did not happen). I on the other-hand stayed in the room to soak my feet. Gary and Allison took night pictures of the fountain (It had colored lights at night.), buildings in town, the falls and even a raccoon. You might have to turn your screen brightness up to see the raccoon easier.
They even got a picture of Nik Wallenda from really far away. He is the brownish-haired guy in the red windbreaker with black slashes on the shoulders talking to the other guy in the solid red jacket. His wife is the dark haired lady in the tan dress that looks like she's hitting her husband with the umbrella.
We got up the next morning, ate breakfast and checked out of the motel. The sign that had $79 as a price yesterday says $49 today since the walk is over.
We walked down to the grassy area near the gorge where there were so many people yesterday so we could take pictures of all of the falls from the Canadian side.
First the American Falls,
next Bridal Veil Falls,
and lastly the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side.
We all took pictures in front of the Horseshoe Falls right by the fence with the self-explanatory sign.
We hiked back up the hill to the van. I was afraid that Gary was going to have to get behind me and push. Of course, the kids still had enough energy to run at times. See how far down it was.
We walked around the Niagara Walkway for the last time. On the way back in the grass we saw two chipmunks and a black squirrel. They were right there with people all around.
We started back to the US after enjoying our time in Canada. At the border Gage was playing a game and the officer asked if he was taking pictures in a gruff voice. Gage showed him the game to prove what he was doing. The traffic going to Canada was awful. They were backed up a long way. We were glad we were going home.
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