dare2go

Great Lakes & Niagara Falls


Continuation from < Page 1 < !

Crossing into Canada involves driving over The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge which is almost 3 miles long, 145 feet above ground at its highest point and has only one lane in each direction. It was another opportunity to take my fear of heights out and give it an airing! But it does give an amazing view of the Soo Locks which connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron. We then followed the 17, which roughly follows the shore of Lake Huron, as far as Thessalon and spent the night in a very quiet campground on the shore of Brownlee Lake. There were 2 parts to the campground and we had one part completely to ourselves! Almost, but not quite, 'closed for the season'!
I sometimes cannot believe how quickly the weather changes in these parts. On Tuesday we had clear skies most of the day, even though it started out very cold, and on Wednesday morning we woke to pouring rain which continued through the whole day. We had planned to drive to Burlington via Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, which involves a ferry trip back to the mainland. When we woke to rain we started to reconsider, and when I called to check that the ferry wasn't 'closed for the season' and discovered it would cost us over $100, we decided that we would drive around Georgian Bay, which is at the top end of Lake Huron, to reach Toronto instead. We picked Parry Sound as a place to aim for that day and spent a mostly dismal day, battling wind and rain on the highway. The autumn colours were still there and still brilliant, despite the rain, but it just wasn't conducive to stopping and looking.
We arrived in Parry Sound at about 4.00 pm and started looking for a campground. We had no success finding a tourist information office and finally after driving around and finding nothing we were looking for, we stopped at a motel and asked. The girl gave me directions to a campground and we found it easily, only to be told they were 'closed for the season' and 'we're expecting snow any day'! It was only October 11... We went looking for a few more campgrounds in the vicinity with the same result - everything is 'closed for the season'. We ended up spending the night in the car park of a beach on the lake - wasn't exactly busy the weather being what it was.
The rain had eased somewhat on Thursday morning, although there were some rather heavy showers in between the sun trying to come out. The road we were driving had now become a freeway and we were aware that we were reaching the outskirts of a major city. We drove off at Barrie in search of internet access to find out exactly how to find our way to the home of our 'shirt-tail relatives' in Burlington, and shortly after rejoining the freeway we were well into the city traffic. The drive along the outskirts of Toronto was nerve-wracking - some of the freeways have at least 6 lanes in either direction, as well as side roads with 3 lanes. That is a lot of traffic to contend with! We were very relieved to arrive in the comparatively quiet streets of Burlington.
On Friday morning we woke to the news that Buffalo, New York, just a short distance south had experienced a major snow storm, cutting electricity supply and closing schools and businesses. That would be roughly the next direction for us to drive. And the prediction we had heard in Parry Sound came true also - there was some snow over most of the area we had been driving in the previous 2 days. We felt quite good that we were in a warm, dry house and that it wasn't snowing outside!

Saturday, 21 October 2006, Lewiston, NY
It was a great pleasure for us to spend some time in a house - and it is a rather large and comfortable house at that. Our relatives by marriage made us feel completely at home and we took the opportunity to rest and relax some. We did get out and about a little and had a look at the lakeshore of Lake Ontario, but mostly we spent our time catching up with some much needed rest and dealing with truck and personal issues. Juergen got his foot checked out that has been giving him some trouble on and off for a while - it's not much use going to all these beautiful national parks if you can't at least do the short walks without pain! He also got his eyes checked and now has some much needed glasses for driving so that he can also see bears crossing the road up ahead - LOL! We both visited a local chiropractor for a bit of a tune-up and I had to spend a small fortune to restock my daily medication supply. Medication in Canada is about a third of the price of the USA and still three times as much as it is at home.
Today we finally left and took in the sights of the mighty Niagara Falls. Unfortunately the weather was overcast and threatened with rain. We decided to take the 'Maid of the Mist' trip - a boat trip which goes past the American Falls and right into the middle of the Horseshoe that is the Canadian Falls. The water is churning like a giant washing machine and, without the long blue raincoats they provide, you would be soaked in a minute. But then you look up and are almost surrounded by waterfall. Amazing! Overwhelming!! Neither of us had expected it to be such a fun experience. Just as the boat was leaving the falls, the sun broke through - the only time for the whole day! We were also lucky because this trip is due to 'close for the season' on the 24th!
We were so impressed by the view of The Falls on the Canadian side that we decided to just drive over the Rainbow Bridge into the USA and keep driving. The interesting thing about this whole experience is that the cities of Niagara Falls on both sides of the Niagara River are very touristy and look somewhat sleazy - and a lot of what we drove through initially after crossing the border into the USA was deserted - empty shops boarded up. And yet, down by the falls, the gardens are beautiful and the views are stunning. Even though it is not classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it's another of those things that we have heard about in our early days at school and this one didn't disappoint at all.
Unfortunately we missed one of the five lakes (Lake Erie) in our Great Lakes journey, but we saw a massive amount of water which came from there! We are constantly realising that you can't see everything - there is just not enough room in one lifetime!