O Canada

The alarm went off at 5:00 sharp, just like I'd asked it to. Boy oh boy that alarm is annoying, and why can't I sleep like this when I DON'T have to get up? I rub my eyes, try to shake the fog out of my head, roll over and stare up at the ceiling for a bit. This bed is SO warm and comfortable, do I really have to get up right now? It would be so easy to just close my eyes and pretend I don't have to......

I start back awake and grab my phone. 5:41. Damn! I sit up and swing my feet out onto the floor. The plan for today is to drive straight from our hotel in Livonia (Detroit, basically) to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, spend the day there and then head to Toronto. The Falls are about five hours away, Toronto a little over an hour from there. I get the wife awake and we get ourselves together and head out into the dark, wet pre-dawn Michigan morning to begin the journey. It's still completely dark outside and the frigid rain that has been drizzling down for the last two days is still making its presence known. We get in, head to the gas station, fill up, grab a coffee for me and a tea for her, a couple of waters for the road and we're off. We get through Detroit and to the border crossing in just under thirty minutes. The crossing itself takes no more than a minute or two. We are officially on the road, in Canada. Who'd a thunk it?

All my friends know how much I detest Daylight Saving Time because I whine like a little girl at, and in the general vicinity of, anyone foolish enough to stop moving near me at the two times a year when this little stroke of evil genius is enacted. Thanks to this mindless stratagem of misery and pain, I find myself driving across the prairie at the southern end of Ontario in the rain, in total darkness. We mark the time as we cross the border at 6:34 and head east. It's a straight shot across the southern end of Ontario to the little gap between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, where thousands of years ago giant glaciers moving through the area massaged the landscape into what we now call Niagara Falls.

As I'm driving, it's still dark at 7:00. It's still dark at 7:30. At 8:00 it's still dark. At 8:30 the sky is starting to turn gray and I can actually relax a little as I drive through this landscape devoid of man-made light, and as if that didn't make things difficult enough, there are none of those little raised reflective devices marking the lanes. The lanes are merely painted on the asphalt, so the sheet of water on the road renders them invisible. The dark, the rain and the invisible lanes are making the first part of today's adventure a little more stressful than it needs to be, if you ask me. We press on in the dim, but growing, gray of dawn.

American Falls on the left, Bridal Veil Falls (small) on the right.

After five hours on the road and the obligatory stop at McDonald's for a quick Egg McMuffin, we pull into the parking lot at Niagara Falls. On your way through the park into the parking area you cruise past the viewing area and catch a glimpse of the American side of the falls. Wow! Much bigger than I was expecting. The falls average right around 170-feet tall, and about 4-million cubic feet of water go over the falls (American and Canadian combined) every MINUTE! It's damned impressive.

We park and get out, and not only is it still raining but the temperature is hovering just under 40-degrees fahrenheit. It seems that cold and wet are going to be the constants during my trip. The first stop is the visitor's center so we can grab a couple of ponchos to keep the rain that is falling and the mist that is rising from the bottom of the falls from soaking us completely. We get some general directions from the lady in the shop and head out the back door to see up close and personal what honeymooners and daredevils in barrels have been enjoying for the last hundred and fifty years or so.

Panorama of entire Niagara Falls. That is American Falls in the distance.

Niagara Falls is comprised of three separate waterfalls, from east to west they are American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Horseshoe Falls. When you walk out of the visitor's center on the Canadian side you are right next to Horseshoe Falls. When you stand there, six feet or so above the lip of the falls and see the mass of water surging over the edge and into thin air you can feel the power. It's a little disorienting to stand there and watch from that close. 

Horseshoe Falls from the edge

If the weather had been a little more favorable we would have stayed longer, but the viewing from inside the visitor's center isn't that great and the viewing from outside on this day was miserably uncomfortable. The crowds were small and no one was really hanging out for long. People would come out, stand at the wall, ooh and aah for a few minutes and then flee the scene. We walked from the Horseshoe Falls down to the American Falls, snapping pictures and enjoying the views and then, after spending about an hour outside (and getting soaked), we decide to head inside for lunch. There is a nice little restaurant inside with great views of the falls and decent, not too expensive food. I figured with the captive audience the prices were going to be high, but it was very reasonable and the food was good. Afterwards, we walked back out so I could snap a couple more pictures and headed for the car.

Horseshoe Falls

On our way out, we asked one of the gift shop folks what was the best route to take to get to Toronto. One thing you'll find if you're ever driving through Canada is that their signage is very different from ours and more than a little confusing. The lady told us we should drive through a little town called Niagara on the Lake on our way out. She said it was a little out of the way, but that it would take us through a couple of local parks and that it was very scenic. If we stayed on that road it would take us right out to the highway that goes to Toronto. We took her at her word and headed that way. If you ever find yourself on the way out of Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, this is the route you want to take whether you're going to Toronto after or not. The drive was absolutely stunning and you also got a good look at the way of life here. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

Even in the bad weather the turning leaves were beautiful

As you drive away from Niagara Falls on your way to the little town of Niagara by the Lake, you follow the Erie River and pass through the park that contains the falls called Niagara Parks. It is an impeccably maintained park with running and bike trails criss-crossing throughout and many nice views of the river below. It is worth the time to meander through at a leisurely pace and see what is there. If the weather had been nicer we agreed that we would have stopped and spent some time walking around and taking it in. Definitely worthwhile. After we drove through the park and the town, we headed out for Toronto. In just over a little over an hour and a half we were checked in to our hotel and preparing for a night out.

Erie River downstream from the falls

Floral Clock located in Niagara Parks

Toronto held a few surprises for us. This is one of the few trips I've ever taken with virtually no research done before departure. The opportunity to come to Michigan and Canada wasn't confirmed until about a week before I left, so I just jumped in and figured I'd let the chips fall where they fell. I always heard Toronto was cool, but that was all I knew. After spending about twenty-four hours there, all I can say is, I can't wait to go back.

That night we headed out for a late dinner about 8:30. By now it had stopped raining, but with clearing skies it got a little colder. After a quick stop for some gloves we got busy walking the streets. The plan was a total no-plan. We were just gonna walk until we saw something that struck our fancy or we got so hungry that we wouldn't be picky. It worked out fine.

Saturday night in Toronto, out and about

Toronto is Canada's largest city and the provincial capital of Ontario. More than 2.5-million people live here and it is amazingly diverse. For no reason I can explain rationally, I was totally taken by surprise at the number of obviously non-native Canadians there. The night life is lively and the downtown area is full of crowded bars and eating establishments. Lots of good times to be had here.

We were tired after being on the road since before dawn and spending the majority of the day outside in the near-freezing weather. After a long stroll, we decided we were in the mood for Italian and walked into one of the many malls here that holds dozens of bars and restaurants and not much else. I've never seen anything like it, but it sure was convenient. We had no idea what restaurants would be inside, but the first thing we saw was an Italian Trattoria, and after a quick perusal of the menu we decide it would do just fine.

The dinner was excellent as was the service. Our server Nick had spent eight years in San Diego working at Legoland as a performer, so we had an instant rapport. We had a very relaxed, leisurely dinner before heading back to the hotel. Without even realizing it, we had walked into a building that was so big that it emptied out on to a couple of different streets. Luckily, one of the exits led us out onto the sidewalk right outside our hotel. After a very short stroll back to our room, we indulged ourselves with a little room service dessert and called it a night.

More Saturday night in Toronto

The next morning we woke up to sunlight streaming into our room. I looked outside and saw crystal clear blue skies and a few puffy clouds. It looked glorious. We got ready and decided since it was such a nice day out we'd walk the few blocks to a breakfast spot Nick had recommended to us the night before. It was called Fran's. We asked the concierge if she knew where the place was and she said she did, gave us directions and sent us on our way. What she told us was different than what Nick had told us, but we figured it was so nice out we'd just figure it out as we walked.

After traveling about twenty feet outside the hotel we came to the sudden and shocking realization that it was ungodly cold out here. No, you don't understand, it was REALLY cold! Like, we used to ski Brianhead in Utah every year, and it was THAT kind of cold. Brianhead is ten-thousand feet above sea lever, just so you know. This morning in lake-side Toronto it was life threateningly cold. We got about half a block and decided to ask someone on the street if they knew where Fran's was. We got a third answer. Okay, keep walking before you die. Ask another person, get another answer. Now we've got three possible locations. And you have to understand, every person we asked was dead certain. They weren't waffling with their answers. It was like, "Oh yeah, you go three blocks down to Shuter Street, take a left and it's right there on the right. Can't miss it." Next guy points in the complete opposite direction and says, "Go up two blocks to Central and it'll be right across the street. I work right across the street from there." Okay, we decide to just get indoors as quickly as possible and hope we can get a breakfast out of the deal. Survival was starting to become a real concern. We were standing at the corner the concierge had told us to turn at. We turned, crossed the street and there was Fran's. We had been within 300-feet of the place the whole time we were taking our impromptu poll on where the man-on-the-street in downtown Toronto thought Fran's might be. By the time we got inside the shivering was just beginning. Just for the record, it was 28-degrees out. Look it up.

Upon hearing our story, the waitress and one of the other regulars laughed and said oh yeah, that happens all the time. Turns out they have multiple locations and people show up to meet their friends at the wrong one all the time.

"Hahahaha can I get a cup of hot coffee, stat please?" It wasn't that funny.

We ate our (very good) breakfast, went back to the hotel, checked out and started wending our way back to the greater Detroit area. A little over four hours later we were back in Livonia watching the Chargers choke a game away to the team from Washington. Some things never change.

I could finally take a picture of the trees with sunlight. So beautiful.

Detroit is out there somewhere.

Detroit. Hey, it's hard to take pictures out of a moving car!

Your truly. Thanks for visiting.

That was our weekend. I hope you liked catching up with us. We're having a blast and our weekend in Canada was fantastic. We talked all the way back about how we can't wait to get back when we have time to do it up and hang out. 

Thanks for following along, hope you had a good read. I've got one more day here in the great state of Michigan, and hopefully the weather will be good enough for me to get out and dig in a little bit. See you around. 

Until next time...