We left Montreal today and headed towards Toronto. We stopped in at Brockville and did a boat tour of the thousand islands from which we saw the world's shortest bridge across international waters and the magnificent Boldt Castle on Heart Island as well as other islands and homes doting the waters here. Boldt Castle was to be a love present for George Boldt's (owner of Waldorf Astoria hotels) wife, Louise. George Boldt had the island shaped like a heart and commenced work on an 11 building oasis in 1900. Louise died suddenly and mysteriously in January 1904 and George halted the construction and never returned. Now the castle is a standing tribute to one man's love. It was a fairly overcast day but that didn't stop us from seeing the beauty of this area. From here we continued south on the 401 to Brighton where we spent the night.
Old stone building in graveyard in Brockville.
The twins enjoying the view.
Juanna waiting to board the boat.
The Thousand Islands are a boaters paradise here is an old wooden boat.
This is the world's shortest bridge across international waters the island (with the house) on the left is in Canadian waters and the island on the right is in the United States.
The clock tower at the Boldt castle.
The Boldt Castle.
Another opulent home in the Thousand Islands.
This one is called the mother-in-laws home - she gets dropped off every spring and picked up again in the fall.
Not all the homes are opulent and grand - as you can see by this photo.
Wednesday, October 6
We woke up today to a beautiful sunny day so we decided to go down to Niagara Falls instead of staying in the city, Toronto. We had a very fun drive on the 401 today. We were marveling at all the lanes of traffic when we heard a strange scrapping noise, looked out the passenger mirror and here Kent's lift was fully extended and lowered and scraping on the pavement as we drove down the road with 6 lanes of traffic in each direction. We discovered that the remote for the lift had not been placed back in its holder and had fallen off the counter and had got jammed between the wall and the grab bar pushing the down button at the same time. We got the lift in and continued down the freeway with hearts pumping at an accelerated rate and sweat pouring off Kent and myself. Other than that the drive was uneventful but amazing to see the road infrastructure and the amount of cars traveling on what is Canada's busiest highway. We made it down to Niagara Falls and wow, was it a beautiful day and perfect day for seeing the falls. The sky was cloudless, the temperature was warm and the mist from the falls was blowing the right way so the view of the falls was spectacular. These falls are really a beauty worth seeing in our beautiful country. We enjoyed a light lunch outside by the falls and then went on the Behind the Falls Tour. Which entails going down an elevator and down a tunnel which takes you behind the falls where you can hear thunder of the falls and see the water from the backside. There is also a low viewing spot from there were you can see the falls from down low and get very wet from the mist of the falls. They do provide you with a yellow poncho upon entering the elevator so you don't come back drenched. We never went on the Maid of the Mist but we did enjoy a walk down the riverside and up into the town. The main street of Niagara Falls, Clifton Hills, makes me think of across between Disneyland and Las Vegas with everything being over the top. There are all sorts of attractions up this street from restaurants, candy shops, haunted houses, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, a ferris wheel, and all sorts of things to try to draw you in and lighten your wallet. Lots of the businesses along the street have very animated and elaborate fronts with lots of noise or music to try and entice you in. We enjoyed our stroll up the street and then went to a Chinese restaurant for a bite of supper before heading to the KOA for the night. This KOA was a great place with lots of amenities for the children and even an indoor pool that was still open. We are finding that all the campground pools shut down after the September long weekend.
Looking from the top of the falls.
Looking to the bridge to the U.S.A.
The whole gang.
The US falls.
Dad
Our Family.
Mom and Dad
In the tunnels behind the falls.
Maid of the Mist in front of the horseshoe falls.
Dad and Daisy
Horseshoe Falls.
Clifton Hills
Photo session time for the girls.
Thursday, October 7
The girls were up earlier then usual this morning and had grandpa down at the pool while mom and I did a few loads of laundry. We were wanting to head off to Niagara on the Lake but we had one stop to make first - Kent needed a doctor because he has been fighting an infection for the last week and the medication he brought with him is not working. So off the medical clinic we go with mom, the girls, and I wasting the time walking around and enjoying the warm air, Kent planned this well and there are no places for us to shop near the clinic. Once we have the new meds in hand we head up to Niagara on the Lake. This was a highlight, wow, what a beautiful town. Mom called this the Banff of Eastern Canada and that is a good summation of this beautiful little town. The homes are all old, beautiful character homes and the yards are carefully maintained. Down town the floral displays trimming the main street are unbelievable. With flower beds overflowing and hanging baskets bursting with blooms and the parks are maintain with great care and attention making every part of the town beautiful. There is a lot of history in this region with many battles between the Americans and the British occurring here and later became the location that many of the slaves fled to when following the 'North Star' on there journey on the 'Underground Railway'. Niagara on the Lake is also the homestead of Laura Secord. Not only is the town it self beautiful and full of history the shops are great. We wondered the main street stopping in bakeries, art galleries, home gift boutiques, and unique clothing boutiques with clothes with both European and local labels making the shopping fun. Kent wasn't feeling well so he spent most of our time here resting in the motor home. Grandpa took the girls and Daisy for a walk down to the water front on Lake Ontario where they were able to see all the way across to Toronto and could see the CN Tower. When the shops closed and everyone had worked up an appetite we headed down the road and had a great dinner at a restaurant with cloth tablecloths and great food. We took the road along the Niagara River back down to Niagara Falls where we viewed the falls illuminated before heading back to the KOA for the night.
Grandpa and Juanna enjoying some ice cream street side in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Street scenes of Niagara-on-the-Lake, look how beautiful it is and this is October!
The girls walked down to Lake Ontario with Grandpa and this is what they saw.
This picture was taken from Niagara-on-the-Lake looking across Lake Ontario to Toronto.
Friday, October 8
Today we headed up to St. Catharines on some of the back roads and stopped at the Welland Canals Centre & St. Catharines Museum located at lock 3 of the Welland Canals. I must say once again this is definitely a stop worth making. We went into the museum where we watched a short 15 minute documentary on the canals before heading outside where we had the opportunity to watch one boat going up and one boat coming down. This was most interesting and was a real treat to see how it all works. We spent most of the the afternoon here enjoying the warm weather and watching this engineering marvel. There our 8 locks in the Welland Canal and they lift (or lower) the boats the same height as the Niagara Falls (170 feet) to get the boats between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. From here we headed into Toronto where Kent had found us a hotel for the next few nights. The hotel was close to the airport and Mom and Dad were able to catch a shuttle to their flight it was sad saying good-bye to Mom and Dad but we were very glad they were able to come and spend a few days with us. We enjoyed some time in the pool and we got some more laundry done.
Today we headed up to St. Catharines on some of the back roads and stopped at the Welland Canals Centre & St. Catharines Museum located at lock 3 of the Welland Canals. I must say once again this is definitely a stop worth making. We went into the museum where we watched a short 15 minute documentary on the canals before heading outside where we had the opportunity to watch one boat going up and one boat coming down. This was most interesting and was a real treat to see how it all works. We spent most of the the afternoon here enjoying the warm weather and watching this engineering marvel. There our 8 locks in the Welland Canal and they lift (or lower) the boats the same height as the Niagara Falls (170 feet) to get the boats between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. From here we headed into Toronto where Kent had found us a hotel for the next few nights. The hotel was close to the airport and Mom and Dad were able to catch a shuttle to their flight it was sad saying good-bye to Mom and Dad but we were very glad they were able to come and spend a few days with us. We enjoyed some time in the pool and we got some more laundry done.
A large barge coming under the 401 and lift bridge to enter lock #3.
Entering the lock to be lifted to the next level.
Leaving the lock up to the new level and look in the background you will see another boat coming in under the lift bridge.
Look where this big barge was carrying (how appropriate with Dad watching) and where it was from.
Now this boat gets lowered.
Saying good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa - how sad.
The Toronto skyline from our hotel room.
Saturday, October 9
Today we headed into the big city (Toronto is Canada's largest city). We took the city bus from outside the hotel to the subway station, the only problem being it was not the subway station we planned to go to and this station was not wheelchair accessible (only stairs). We instead took one of the cabs lined up outside the station and started our Toronto city tour at the CN Tower. We took the 58 second glass elevator ride up 346 m (1136 ft) to the look out tour where we had a beautiful clear view of the city below. We went down a level and stood on the glass floor 342m (1122ft) above the city. Don't worry the glass floor is very strong - said to be 5 times stronger than the required weight bearing standard for commercial floors. We did not do the Edge Walk (much to Katrina's dismay) but at $175 per person it seemed a very expensive way to scare yourself silly. Upon exiting the CN Tower we walked down to the Air Canada Arena and up to Front Street past the Royal York hotel and on to the Hockey Hall of Fame. If you like hockey and get a chance to go here be prepared it is very large and you could spend a couple of days in there reading and seeing all there is to see. From here we walked up Yonge Street (the longest street in the world) stopping in a couple stores and watching the activity on the streets until we reached Bloor Street where we went down to the subway and caught a train going out to the Kipling Station. After two quick bus rides we made it back to our hotel for the night. We had a fun day being in a big city and experiencing the big city life.
CN Tower
Way up there you can see people doing the EdgeWalk.
Beautiful clear day with a great view of Toronto.
Looking down to the airport on Toronto Island.
Brave girls standing on the glass floor.
Dad ventured out on the glass floor.
Even mom was brave enough to venture out on to the glass floor.
Looking down, down, down, to the road below.
Royal York Hotel
Juanna and Kent out front of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The girls with the hockey players.
Juanna with the stanley cup.
Kent and Juanna with the stanley cup.
Yonge Street
Police on horseback.
Old part of Yonge Street.
Sunday, October 10
Today we had a beautiful Sunday morning meeting only a brief 10 min drive from the hotel we where staying at. The elders of the meeting where not home (it is Thanksgiving weekend and they had gone to see family) but Carson Wallace and Gordon Eady two brother workers where there and made room for us in the meeting. After sweet fellowship together we had the brothers come and join us out front in the motor home for lunch and lovely visiting time. Gordon lived in Edmonton briefly and having known Rob and Anita made for a special connection and Carson had just been at Hector convention and had met Mom and Dad there (he was sad he missed them in Toronto) so our time together with the boys was wonderful. We left Toronto and drove to London, Ontario where we spent the night.
I will post this for now because I am having a hard time uploading my photos out here on the farm and I will post the photos as soon as I can get a quicker upload time.
Okay I have posted all the photos now so if you are reading this you are up to date with the photo gallery.
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