Mark's Notebook

O Canada

Our checkout time is early in the morning, so here are just the highlights from the past few days.

I'm also working on updating the maps but there is just not enough time to work on it.

Friday, June 23

Today we visited Niagara Falls. We took a tour that visits both the Canada side and the US side. The Canada side is much more built up with tourist stops and restaurants. Tour highlights included:

Skylon Tower - a 500 foot tower on the Canada side, giving a view of both parts of the falls.

Goat Island - an island in the middle of the falls, where you can walk out to the very edge of the American Falls and Bridalveil Fall.

Promenade - that's just a name I made up for the shoreline along the Canada side, where you can walk for quite a ways.

Maid of the Mist - a boat ride that takes you out right under the Horseshoe Falls.

The falls are split by Goat Island into the straight falls on the "American" side, and the Horseshoe Falls on the "Canada" side. In addition, the straight falls are split by smaller rocks into the American Falls and the Bridalveil Fall. The Horseshoe falls are wider and more impressive, sending up a spray that is visible for miles away and feels like rain when you walk near the falls. It is not possible to walk behind any of the falls, despite the misnamed attractions that seem to promise that.

We had lunch at the Misty Dog Grill, just across from the Rainbow Bridge over into Canada. It was recommended by the tour operator. They have burgers made from beef, buffalo, kobe beef, lamb, and venison. They take a long time but they are worth it. The sweet potato fries were not cooked enough to make them crispy.

In the evening we headed into Toronto. It took us five hours to wade through the Friday night traffic to the north side of town where we stayed.

Saturday, June 24

Today we took the subway into downtown Toronto. We started at the Royal Ontario Museum, which has six million artifacts from all over the world. First off, we took a guided tour through the first floor, which includes two wings. The first wing was First Peoples, which is what Canada calls the native Indians and Eskimo peoples. The second wing included artwork from Japan, China, and Korea. We were really more interested in the First Peoples exhibits, because you can't find that stuff anywhere else. But it was all fascinating. After the tour was over, we wandered through the third floor by ourselves. It had exhibits devoted to Bronze Age Greece, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Cyprus. But my favorite was the exhibit devoted to the history of European art. It discussed Romanesque and Gothic architecture, and Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, and Deco art.

Then we bought a picnic lunch at the Richtree Market near the waterfront, and we took a ferry to the Toronto Island. Mary wasn't feeling well so we didn't walk around the island, but we did enjoy a nice lunch in peace and quiet.

After lunch, we took the ferry back and walked around the corner to the CN Tower, billed as the tallest building in the world at over 1800 feet. Some dispute that because it is a tower and not an office building. But even after having visited the St. Louis Arch, the Washington Monument, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building, we have to admit that the view here was mighty impressive.

Sunday, June 25

This morning we visited Thornhill Vineyard Church on the north side of Toronto. This was a very friendly church. They introduced us to all and they clapped for us ... and for other newcomers also. We talked to the Pastor, Dale, and also to another gentleman, Jim. We felt at home here even though we didn't know many of their worship songs. They did give us good advice on what to visit ... particularly their suggestion to visit Algonquin Provincial Park if we wanted to see moose.

After church, we headed the three hours north to Algonquin Provincial Park. The park is quite large, but most of it is accessible only via canoe or hiking. There is one road along the southern edge of the park. The road is about 55 km long (about 35-40 miles) from the west gate to the east gate. We got there around 5:00 pm and we figured that might be a good time to see moose. At the visitor center we were told that moose are seen here every day, but there were no posted sightings yet for that day. We drove through the park slowly, scanning every marshy area for the elusive animals. We took about 1 hour 15 mintues to traverse the park, but no luck. At the east gate visitor center we inquired again. We were told that there had been a sighting only about 15 km back earlier that day. We were also told that the opportunity is better nearest dusk. We decided to nap for an hour and head out around 7:30. Sure enough, at the 40 km marker we found a "wildlife jam" (a traffic jam caused by cars stopping to see wildlife). There was a mama moose and one cub. They were in a marshy area behind some trees. The mama was dark in color, while the cub was more a "caramel" color (as Mary the color expert described it).

We were so glad God answered our prayers to see a moose. We did take some pictures but the focus wasn't working right so the pics are probably not the best.

We drove farther north to North Bay for the night. The bugs were out like an Egyptian plague and when we got to North Bay we almost couldn't see out the windshield.

(Next morning, we almost couldn't see the white truck or its chrome underneath the dense blanket of bugs.)

Monday, June 26

We started about five or six hours from the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie, which takes you over Lake Superior into Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was a pretty boring drive. We did note that the terrain changed gradually from evergreens to grass plains to rolling hills and back to grass plains again. We did stop at the library in North Bay to check email, and we also went shopping at a local drug store. When we got to the Michigan border, we went shopping again at the Duty Free Store. The border crossing itself was pretty painless but the border guard seemed pretty gruff.

Once back on US soil, we headed west until we've ended up here in Newberry. Since we've taken a more northerly route, we've given up on visiting Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Our next stop will probably be Duluth ... I think there is a fresh water museum there. After that comes Fargo, the largest city in North Dakota, which isn't saying much. (It's actually a nice little university town.) After that, maybe Roosevelt National Park, then Glacier NP in Montana. Mary wants to see the Grand Tetons again, because we didn't get to see much two years ago (too rushed) and we know there are moose there. Finally, we'll end up in Washington State to visit Mary's dad. Almost home!

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008