The Cubicle is empty!!!

8-06-06  

Needless to say Maria and I slept in today after the long day yesterday.  We got up around 7 am and got out of the door by 10 am.  Yeah, we hit the snooze a few times.   Before we checked out.  I made reservation for our stay tonight in Utica, NY.  The Best Western hotel.  

We again headed for the Falls to take the boat tour into the Horseshoe Falls itself.  I was excited like a little kid in a candy store for the first time.  Another adventure.   

We bought our tickets and lined up to get to the elevator to go down to river level.  The elevator ride didn’t take long and soon we were handed a blue plastic raincoat.  After a 10 min. wait we boarded and set sail for the falls.  One thing of note.  The “captain” mentioned safety and location of the lifeboats and/or life jackets about 3/4 of the way into the boat ride!  Glad to know he really cared about the passengers.  I thought it was just another money making operation.  There are 4 boats total from the American and Canadian side.  Each boat takes about 20 min to complete a tour.  Staggering number of people go on these tours.  It seems like the boats are always full of tourists.  

Anyway, the tour started with the view of the American Falls.  Then proceeded to the Horseshoe Fall.  This is the time when you really get soaked.  Unfortunately my raincoat was riped open by the neck area as I tried to tie my hood shut so my hair would not get wet.  Well it didn’t until the wind blew it back, but the whole front of my shirt was soaked.  The boat was actually pretty close to the waterfall.  That was pretty exciting to feel the roar of the water come crushing down and I could hardly see anything because of the brightness and water in my eyes.  But manage to sneak a peek here and there to get the feel of the power of the falls.  It was an awesome feeling being that close to the falls. 

I hopefully wish that I will do this again sometime in the future.   It’s a beautiful day and after sitting a bit on the park to dry up, Maria and I headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for some lunch.   

After lunch, we crossed back into the US thru the Rainbow Bridge and into Niagara Falls, NY.  

Our trip across NY, passing thru Rochester and Syracuse was uneventful.  Took the I-90 thruway (tollway).  Except for one moment when ………………………..   I was cruising nonchalantly at about, say really past the speed limit.  Passing slower cars here and there admiring the view.  After passing two cars on a crest, all of a sudden a sheriffs car was right next to me and I looked and it took a few seconds to register and wham! I thought OH S—, big time ticket.  BUT, this sheriff car, after slowing down to look at me, just took off and was gone in a flash.  I mean in a flash.  He must have been easily going 100mph.  I did notice he had a few “passengers” in the back seat and it looked like he had pressing matters at hand.    After drying my seat, j/k!!!   After taking that all in and waiting for Maria to stop laughing about the whole thing.  We just kept going along.  I did slow down once we were 20 miles from Utica.  Just to get our direction right.  

We got into Utica around 5 ish.  Got settled in.  Didn’t want to push it today since this is Sunday.  A day of rest.  We just made a few phone calls, plan for tomorrow, and reserved our room in Barre, VT.   

Went out to a nice Italian steakhouse and treated ourselves a bit.  We will be relaxing tonight and getting more sleep.  Hopefully Maria will recover from her cold soon.   We will be in Vermont from Mon thru Thur morning.  Then our plan is to head home via Toronto.

8-05-06

Our trip actuall started yesterday when Maria and I got to Milwaukee around 9pm.  Deanna and Donny greeted us but were ready to go to sleep as Deanna will be working the next day.  Maria and I also got to sleep early as our alarm was set for 3:30 am!!!

The alarm went off and I got up with no problem as my adrenalaine (sp) was really going.  Barely got any sleep at all last night.  Maria is sick as she has a cold.  Not a good start for her.

We got to the ferry terminal at 5am and checked-in and got in line for boarding.  The boarding went well and the ferry took off on time at 6am.  The sunrise over Lake Michigan was fantastic and the view of the city skyline appearing in front of you from the nightfall is really fun to watch.  I was on top-deck and snapped a few pics.  Then joined Maria below deck to get our plans organized and get a whatever sleep and rest we can get.

We did managed to get some sleep and also some bagels with coffee and tea for breakfast.  The ride was calm for the most part and you can feel a little bit of rocking of the boat.  The lake was calm and it made for a pleasant journey across Lake Michigan.

We arrived in Muskegon, Michigan at 9:30 am ET.  The ferry ride took exactly 2:30 hrs.  The unloading went fairly quickly.  With Maria navigating we found our highway right away and we’re off to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

The drive across Michigan was non-eventfull as we took the by-pass route in all the big cities like Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint.  We stopped to gas and eat lunch before we hit Flint.  We ate at an Arby’s fast food. 

We then headed for Port Huron to cross the border into Canada.  This will be my first time setting foot in Canadian soil, but I believe it will be Maria’s third time.  The canadian border guard was friendly and chatty as he stamped our passports.  Now it’s official that I’ve been in Canada, eh!

The drive across Ontario from Point Edward to Niagara Falls was also uneventfull.  Their highway system is similar to ours.  Although they should set the speed limit faster as the highway was marked only with 60 kmh speed limit!  Needless to say, I followed a few fast rabbits to see the Falls.

We stopped once in Strathroy to gas up.  This should take us all the way to Niagara Falls.  We also stopped in Brantford Tourist Center to book for a hotel in Niagara Falls.  The reason we stopped here is that getting late in the afternoon and with no reservation, we wanted to know for sure where we are staying that night.  If none were available in Niagara Falls, we would look for a room in Hamilton which is the next big city. 

We were able to secure a room at the HoJo (Howard Johnsons).  We also went to a grocery store to get Maria some medicine for her cold, some water and snacks.  We also got some canadian money from the ATM.

We got to Niagara Falls around 5:30 ish after some heavy duty traffic stoppage just north of the city at St. Catherines.  Massive construction going on.  Probably to upgrade the border crossings. 

After checking in we went to see what we went there for.  The Falls themselves.  The Falls are incredible.  Pictures you’ve seen does not do it any justice.  The size and the volume of water going over the rock ledge is just massive and awesome!  oh, about a quarter of a mile from the falls, i thought it was about to rain when Maria informed me that it was just the mist from the falls.  It just depends on which way the winds are blowing that day as to what part of town is getting wet.  We stayed there ’till about 9:30 to see the falls at night all lighted up.  There are about 10 big, powerfull spotlights that shine on the American Falls and the Horseshoe Falls with different colors to make it look impressive.  I suppose they needed a gimmick for nightfall to keep the people from leaving.  I was an awesome sight none the less at night with the spotlights.

This is Maria’s third visit here.  No, not with a new husband each time as some of you are probably thinking.  In the immortal words from Tony — You sicko! 

Anyway, after seeing the “lightshow”, we got something to eat, then headed back to our hotel to rest up from our 18 hr day. 

Niagara Falls, a truly national treasure that one should see in their lifetime!  Better hurry up before it really becomes commercialized, if it’s not already.