More car troubles

I slept in till 10 cause I was in a real comfy bed!! Fran came into my room though to work on my computer. By the time I woke up Kathy was already gone, she had headed to Ottawa. So we packed and talked and talked and packed and when we were finally ready we hoped in and said goodbye to Jim. We wanted to check out the Lift Locks, so Jim gave us directions to those. We got a little lost, but found it soon after. The Lift Locks are kind of like giant bath tubs that move boats up and down. We saw 2 boats that went thorough it then went to the Peterborough Museum. There I got a bookmark I will turn into a magnet and a magnet of the museum and the cutest little woodpecker toy! Then we went to go to Kingston. We had to make one bathroom stop at Tim Hortons, but then the car wouldn’t start after that. We tried for a while then Bill called the garage and they arrived after a long time and all he did was jump start or whatever you call the thing with the cables and it worked! So we drove to the old Asselstine house without stopping then continued, not stopping not wanting the car to stall and arrived in 1000 island parkway in Gananoque. They have llamas here! I made a small fire with the wood we had and had dinner. Tomorrow we are going to Upper Canada Village and will get to Montreal!!

Lift Lock

 The Peterborough Museum
Samantha

 The Asselstien House

1000 Island Parkway
Samantha

Kathy and Jim’s

Son we left late. You know why not, we were in a hotel. We packed up slowly and left to go to Peterborough. We stopped at Starbucks and for groceries. We drove but it was hard to switch drivers since it was in the expressway. But we ended up going off and into Toronto area for lunch at some boardwalk thing. The car was a lot warmer then the picnic table, so after I ate and I Ieft for the washroom then the car. There is this circus school going on so there were kids on rings and doing the stick tricks and juggling. We left after the car was packed. We stayed the night at Kathy and Jim Dancey’s house. Wilma Johnston and her friend Bill were there as well. Later Judy and Bob Poulton came for dinner. They ordered pizza and Kathy made some salads. After we just sat around outside talking. At some point everyone had to leave so we said goodbye to Wilma and Bill left. Then Judy and Bob left but not before pictures! Fran went out for a swim and we went downstairs to watch the Olympics synchro swimming. Everyone parted ways and I stayed up later working on my blog. Almost up to date. This all happened on August 7th, and today we are August 8th.

 Lunch in Toronto
Bill and Samantha

 Dinner at the Danceys
Fran, Wilma, Bill and Bob

 Fran, Judy and Bob

 Judy, Samantha, Fran, Wilma, Bill and Bill

Judy, Samantha, Fran and Bob

Niagara Falls

We had breakfast in the room then walked back down to the falls to get our vouchers turned into tickets. Our first stop of four was at Niagara’s Fury, a 4D movie. You walk in and they give you these plastic raincoats. You walk into this room and there is this cartoon of a beaver explaining how the falls were created, then you walk into this room and it squirts water at you and fake snow, so you get a little wet. I didn’t expect to get wet. Then we went to go and had lunch in the sun, waiting for our next activity to start at 2. It was Journey Behind the Falls. They take you down stairs to where you can get a picture then these elevators bring you down to these tunnels, and again they give you a little yellow plastic raincoat this time. It wasn’t that exciting because it is mostly in the tunnels. There is an outside part which gives you a close up look at it, then 2 little observation holes and all you see is water. After that we had some time before our next schedules activity so we got in line for The Maid of the Mist. That line was long, but the boat took a lot of people so it went fast. There they also give you these little rain coats and you get wet! They get you to take pictures here as well then lead you to the boat. We were one of the first in line so we were at the top front of the boat. When it was done, my face and front of my hair was very wet, but I tied the strings so my clothes didn’t get wet. When it was don’t we went to the People Mover stop, to get to the White Water Walk. That was boring, it was just a boardwalk down by the rapids. After we just went and got on the People Mover to go to the end of the line then back to the Queen Victoria Place. We walked back up to the hotel to get a break and have a nap cause I was pooped. Then we went to AlMacs where it was another buffet but this time the ice water wasn’t free and the food wasn’t as interesting. We stopped at Macs for milk then walked back to the hotel, and I watched Seabiscuit again, but form the beginning this time. Then bed time.  

 Waiting for Niagara's Fury
Samantha and Fran

 The 4D movie
Samantha and Fran

 Horseshoe Falls
Samantha

 Journey Behind the Falls
Bill and Samantha

 Horseshoe Falls

 On the Maid of the Mist
Samantha and Fran

 On Maid of the Mist
Fran

The White Water Walk
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Some down and ups

I got another wake up call, but took a little longer this time. Lorna decided to make us nice breakfast, so we all had pancakes, eggs, fruit and bacon. When we were done we had too head out, so we all went outside, had a short little chat then said goodbye to Lorna, since Bob was already gone. We were going to Niagara Falls. It’s not that long of a drive, but it started to drizzle. And by the time we got to the Information Center, it was raining hard. Bill started looking for hotels, and I started looking for restaurants. The hotel we decided on was the King’s Inn. It was still raining so we shacked up and watched tv, but all ended up falling asleep. We woke up and it had magically become sunny, so we walked down to the falls. We walked to the queen Victoria Place, and down to where The Maid of the Mist line up is. We got postcards and little gifts and decided to get a magnet, after I actually go on whatever. We walked back to find where dinner was, because by the time we got down too the Falls it was already late. So we walked over to the International Buffet, where they have free ice water, but it wasn't very international. Then I looked in the gift shop while Fran and Bill sat at the table writing postcards and waiting for the fireworks. When they started we set up at the wall and watched. They were coming from the American falls. They weren't that long, but we walked over to the edge of the Fall where you see the water go over. After a while we hear a girl scream. Apparently someone went over the falls, but no one had any information on it, though they did find a coat. There were a few witness but not many, and they never found the little girl. We stayed to see what happened, but ended up leaving. We walked back to the hotel and watched The Blindside and Seabiscuit. Then went to bed because we had a lot to do the next morning.

 Horseshoe Falls

 American Falls

At the Falls
Samantha

 Fran and Bill

 The American Falls

The nigh time fireworks

After a long day

When we got back, Louise was there. She is Francis Chochla daughter. She brought along her Russian student whose name escaped me, and her friend. We had sushi and dumplings to start then for the main course we had burgers and salad. After dinner we just sat around and conversed, then Ben showed up. He is Bob and Lorna’s neighbor and a heart surgeon. He invited us to his house for dessert, so after more chatting we packed into 2 cars and headed to his house. He lived kind of far away, and has nice big property. He has chickens and a dog. We went inside and sat around eating dessert and drinking, water and other stuff. Finally it was time to go home, so we said our goodbyes, packed back into the 2 cars and headed to the Shapton’s. Louise and her student and friend left, we headed inside and just sat around and talked. Then everyone went their separate ways.

 Lorna, Bob and Fran

 Bob, Bill and Lorna

Fran, Lorna and Samantha

CN Tower

I got a wakeup call cause we needed to leave kind of early. So I had breakfast then got all of our stuff together, hopped in the van then headed out. We got to Yorkdale, parked in a mall parking lot, then walked to the subway station. We got a ticket for all-day. It was really hot and humid in the station, but as soon as we got in the subway car it was a lot cooler. It was a little bit of a ride, and I have decided that I don’t like them because they stop too much. But we got to Union station then walked o the other Union station and followed the signs to the Skywalk. There was construction going on so we had to take a bit of a detour. We ended up taking the long way, and outside so I was dying, but we made it. We got tickets go to the observation deck, glass floor and the skypod. We started looking at the gift shop but didn’t get anything yet. Then Fran wanted her coffee so she got that, I got a drink and Bill wanted water for his bottle, so he found these 2 taps. One had regular water and the other gave you fuzzy water. He thought that was cool. When she was done her coffee, we headed up to the elevators. We got into the wrong line. This line was to take pictures, but Fran was like what the heck? Little did she know she would regret it once she saw the photo. Then after the photo, the line up to the elevator area was right next to it. You have to go into this machine that shoots air on you in little puffs, then someone checks your bag. After you walk to the elevator line finally. It takes 58 seconds to get up to the top. On the observation deck there were these digital binoculars which I ended up using. From there I saw the Legislative building and some college. They also have tv which show live feed of the people doing the Edge Walk. It is just walking on the outside top of the observation deck. Then we went upstairs to see the glass floor. It can hold 14 hippopotamus. It is a small area but still cool. You see down and the people look like ants.
We went back down to the observation deck and got in line for the Skypod. We were in line for an hour and in the Skypod area for about 10-15 minutes. It wasn’t something we hadn’t already seen down lower. We got back down and got in another line, a shorter line to go back down. When we got down there, that is when we got our stuff form the gift shop. Magnets and postcards of course. Then we walked outside to find a coffee shop, and we found a souvenir shop. I got a magnet of Toronto this time, and Fran, well she got more postcards. Then we walked over to Second Cup, where I updated my blog to “A better day” on Fran’s tablet. Then we headed for Union Station, but not before looking at the Royal York Hotel. On our way back we got into the topic of marriage and giving your daughter away. Fran thinks that’s dumb daughters aren’t a piece of property. Then we got on the subway and headed to the parking lot, where we got gas, then went back to Bob and Lorna’s house.

 The CN Tower
Fran

 Glass floor

 Glass floor

 Wouldn't want it to break

 The Edge Walk

Skypod
Bill, Samantha

Sudbury North

We tried to get an early start, but I don’t like waking up early. We all had oatmeal, and when we were finally ready to go, Bill had to drop off a converter at the office, but no one was there so we had to wait. The person finally arrived, so we headed off to Science North. Fran and Bill hoped to get there at 9 but we got there at 9:30, and they hoped to leave by 11. That didn’t happen. We started by watching a 4D movie about forest fires. The seats moved, water was spurted at you and there was smoke. When that was done, we started on a floor where you could go “shopping”. When you earn points and then can get things like shells, rocks, pine cones, nature things. The next floor up had live animals. There was a beaver with a tail that was too small, they think due to frost bite. There were amphibians and snakes and flying squirrels and bats and porcupines and even a skunk. It was cool.
Then nest floor had DNA things and space stuff and computer stuff. Bill tried to teach me the recessive and dominant genes, and in the cyber thing they had a smart board that I played angry birds on and a DJ thing. It was really cool. But then we had to go cause it was getting late, like not late at night but in the fact that we still had some places to go. We stopped at the cafeteria for some lunch then went to the gift shop then headed off. Oh and part of the museum is made of rock that they blasted away. When we left we made a quick detour at the giant nickel.
We were listening to the Vinyl cafe during our long drive to Calendon. I spent most of the trip sleeping, and we thought of stooping at Mid-land for this thing, but we didn’t have time. When I woke up we were stopping in Barrie for ice cream, Bill wanted it. After I went back to the car to change - It was hot! - while Fran and Bill got corn and blueberries for dinner. Then we did more driving till we got to Bob and Lorna Shapton’s. Later we went for a walk and watched the Olympics.

 A millipede
Samantha
  

 What a moose
Bill

 Lunch at the museum
Fran and Samantha

The giant nickle

Fran and Samantha