July 10, 2019 - Niagara Falls and London, Ontario

July 10, 2019

This morning, we packed up and braced ourselves for big traffic and heavy crowds. Neither Lynn nor I are big fans of hordes of people and we tend to avoid crowded areas and big cities wherever possible but sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and this was one of them. We know Niagara Falls is a major tourist trap that, according to many, is highly over-rated but we were here and neither of us had seen it so we decided we would just buck up, muscle our way in there and check it off the list. 

We followed Lake Ontario to Youngstown, a quaint little town on the banks of the Niagara River and just down from Fort Niagara, one of the sites of the famous War of 1812. Across the river sits Fort George on the Canadian side, and housed the Brits. Lots of history here, in this region, and so many of the towns have preserved a lot of the heritage buildings so there is a lot to see...

(On the far right in the distance is Fort Niagara on the US side. On the far right is Fort George on the Canadian side.) 

(Sailing School in Youngstown, NY. Across the river is Fort George in Ontario.)

Finally, we came down to Niagara and we stopped off to look at the hydro dam, Devil’s Hole Rapids and the Whirlpool Rapids before heading to the Falls themselves.

Given that we were anticipating a bit of a teeth-gritting experience, I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised! Yes - it’s touristy. For sure. No question. But that doesn’t take away from the beauty and intense power of these falls and, in the end, both of us were very impressed and glad we came.

(Looking across to Canada from  Goat Island on the US side.) 

There are a number of ways to see the falls from both the Canadian and American side. We decided to run down to Goat Island (on the American side) where you can literally stand right next to the edge of the famous Horseshoe Falls (about 20 feet away) at Terrapin Point. The mist is so thick that you almost immediately get drenched which was fine because it was 35 degrees by the time w e arrived. We were grateful for the reprieve from the heat. From here, you can also get a very good look at the Bridal Falls which come down between Goat Island and the Rainbow Bridge which links Canada and the US.

Some people say the view from the Canada side is better but it was also a whole lot more crowded over there so we were quite happy with our vantage point. As we stood and took in the immensity and pounding roar of these magnificent falls, we pondered the event, two days prior, when a young man decided to go over the falls and somehow managed to survive. Authorities found him sitting on some rocks down below and he sustained only minor injuries. Looking over the falls, it truly seemed miraculous that he made it. 

From here, we rode over the Rainbow Bridge and back into Canada which went without a hitch but, by this time, it was about 37 degrees and, with the Humidex, it felt like about 45. And we had to sit out in the sun in the lineups to go through customs. Which took forever. And by forever, I DO mean forever. I had the same luck in this line up as I usually do in the grocery store - inevitably, I have the rare talent for sniffing out the slowest line ups on the planet and today, I was on point. GAH!!! By the time we got through, I was on Cranky Level 10 which didn’t bode well for the the next 3 hours of intense traffic in Southern Ontario, trying to get our melting selves over to London to meet our good friend Verne, who happened to be there at Western University for a conference. We hoofed it along the QEW and then the 403, both major trucking routes which really suck for motorcyclists. Transport trucks are so huge and go ridiculously fast, creating thundering turbulence in their wake and we get buffeted around like butterflies in a hurricane. Plus it was super busy and super hot and I was already super cranky so the whole thing added up to a fairly annoying afternoon. The one bonus is that they have these huge truck/traveller stops at about 30 km intervals along the freeway with lots of eating and shopping options so we were able to get off a couple of times just to get a break. I discovered they also have banks of massage chairs!! Best $3 I’ve spent the entire trip! 

By the time we hit London, we were in the heart of rush hour traffic and there was also a fair amount of road work going on so we ended up embedded in stop and start traffic for the last 5 kms into the city. And the pavement was like a broiler. Sweet Mother of God. I was so overheated by the time we got to Western, I was almost frantic. Finally, we came to the address of Ontario Hall, the student residence we were meeting Verne at and also staying in and, in the way only the Universe can find humour in, it turns out the street address entrance is blocked off to traffic. Who builds a GD residence with an address you can’t access (because, of course, everyone and their dog, including us, is going to USE that GD address in the GPS to find the GD place!!) What a gong show. Anyway - we finally found our way in after circling the block a few times, getting separated from one another, refinding each other and then finding Verne. By then, I’m pretty sure my core body temperature was somewhere around 56 degrees C. BRUTAL.

Verne hustled us into the Residence, got us checked in and settled and I stood in a cold shower for 20 minutes. For some reason, Lynn isn’t affected by intense heat in the same way I am. Anyway - I managed to cool off and get myself together for dinner. Verne took us to The Ceep (a London landmark pub from his University days back in the 70s) and then he took us for a tour of the city which he still knows well from having lived here for 8 years. We had a great visit and it was fun to meet up with him (he’s from Vancouver) there. We spent a comfortable night in Residence although Lynn’s last words to me, as we were drifting off to sleep, were... “remember when we did that tour of Alcatraz in San Francisco? This place reminds me of that...” ha ha ha...