At Thunder in the Valley James(Dino's son in law) asked if we were doing much riding up here in our summer home of Indiana PA. Sure we are, as much as I can on the weekends. I had a break between classes for the holiday weekend, so July 2nd we loaded up the bike and took off North.
The directions seemed simple enough to get me and my wife and our 98 Tourer up to Niagara Falls. We ran out of town to Hwy 422, hit I-something North until we almost could see Lake Erie, then caught I-90 North/East over the NY state line and then straight on until Buffalo. I-90 to I-190, Peace Bridge and Canada! Seemed easy enough.
So off we went. We left while the traffic was still light, but after sun up. They were calling for 60 % chance of rain. We figured that we were going to get wet, but that the temperatures would at least make up for the rain.
Sure enough, somewhere on I-90, after a brekfast at McDonalds, it began to rain. The reain was mostly a drizzle. The fog never became bothersome. The road became slick, but the visibility remained doable, so I let the Valk run.
We had to ask questions at the Toll booth. I'm still not used to those. We don't really have those in NC. So far, most of the toll booth operators have been patient with us. Its hard to know how to budget for those things because I haven't figured out yet the rhyme or reason to why/how they decide what to charge.
In Buffalo, minding the traffic, I missed I-190 but realized I was following signs toward Niagara Falls, so I figured I must be going more or less the right direction.
Instead of taking the straight path into Canada, we got off on a Seaway Trail that ran beside of the Erie Canal and meandered. It went through a few small towns on the right, and water on the left. Still following signs that said to Niagara Falls, so I figured we were still right.
We came into a State Park (still following the seaway trail mostly) and entered Niagra from up river.
We had just gotten to the Niagra Falls area in NY and were riding around town trying to figure out where to park and what to see. We pulled up at a stop sign looking for somewhere to park, and spotted two valks. It isn't odd that I spot Valks (I hardly miss noticing when one goes by) but it was odd that it was two valks that I knew!
Strider and Hard6 and the Magical Mystery Tour had swung toward Niagra too.
I chased them down.
Here I am mooching off some parking! Three Valks fit fine in a parking spot. Thanks for that Strider, I appreciated saving a few bucks.
We checked out a little water together and had a pleasant walk.
Strider seemed amused that we were crossing the Rainbow Bridge. I don't suppose he found any former pet dogs waiting for him to cross.
Here is Strider trying to enter Canada, but first being sent off to the side for further questioning.
This would be Hard6 waiting patiently for Strider to get let loose on Canada.
After they let Strider in, we waved as we peeled off on our own adventure. It was nice sharing an unplanned afternoon with some other VRCC folks. But we were off to our own adventure again!
We cruised around Canadian Niagara water front, and then tried a Tim Horton's for a late late lunch. The Tim Horton's that we found (was out of Maple Donuts) and only took MasterCard. I was only carrying Visa, so we got directions in the parking lot from a guy in a van and went to the hotel. The gentleman behind the desk recommended some places for lunch. So, for an even later lunch (about 4:00 in the afternoon or later) we wound up eating in a touristy section of town.
We took a few photos in front of Ripleys Believe or not.
This part of town (had to pay to park there too) was full of attractions that you'd find at any tourist beach in the USA. We skipped the haunted houses, wax museums, and misc other stuff. But after the late late lunch I couldn't resist visiting Brick City.
I do love Legos.
Afterwards we checked out the Gardens and the falls from the Canadian view a little more.
We hung out until the hour grew dark so that we could see the falls at night.
They start lighting about 9:00 but you really don't get to see it well until nearly 10:00 this time of year.
It is really hard to capture on a cheap digital camera, but my wife did her best.
Then back to the hotel to cap off the day.
I tried to catch some Canadian TV. I did catch a little of the Canadian Broadcast Channel, showing news around M. Jackson's death, and I found Simpsons reruns and cop shows based in NY. Nothing too distinctly Canadian besides the Asian and Indian channels.
So that was our July 2nd, 2009.
