Niagara Falls

Today was our driving day to Syracuse, NY.  Since we had time, we stopped by Niagara Falls which turned out to be a very wet visit.   The wind was blowing from the Horseshoe Falls directly to the Canadian side so all the mist was raining down on us!  We  both got soaked through our semi waterproof jackets and could not get very good pictures of the falls.  But that's how it goes some days...

We also saw the American Falls from a distance and Mary got this picture of the Horseshoe Falls, on the right, from Rainbow Bridge as we crossed into New York.  You can see the heavy mist very clearly in her picture. We were amazed there was no charge for crossing the bridge!

The rest of our drive to Syracuse was uneventful.  I am thankful to Google Maps for their "avoid tolls" option which led us across some pretty state highways and save some $$$ while still getting us to our hotel by 3pm. 

Tomorrow is lunch with John Denver fan and active traveler, Gail, before heading to Poughkeepsie.  

Heading to New York

 

Today we started an 8 day trip to visit the Hudson River Valley.  We took the northern route by crossing the Ambassador Bridge into Ontario, Canada, on our way to Welland, ONT.   We made a couple of stops at Canadian rest areas which were very nice and well maintained.

Once checked in at our hotel, we headed to the Lock 7 overlook on the Welland Canal.  This canal links Lake Ontario with Lake Erie, bypassing Niagara Falls.  There are 8 locks on the canal which raise/lower ships the 326 feet difference in the levels of those two lakes. When we got to Lock 7, a large freighter had just entered the lock, headed toward Lake Ontario.  Check out the two pictures on the right to see the how far the ship was lowered by this one lock  (Click on enlarge).

After watching the ship pass through this lock, since we were in Canada we just had to eat at a Tim Hortons after watching all their ads on the Canadian TV channel we enjoy at home.   It was pretty good and we got doughnuts for dessert!  

Tomorrow we plan to stop at Niagara Falls on our way to Syracuse, NY.

Cruise Day 7 - Victoria

We arrived in Victoria, Canada shortly after 8 pm, with two other cruise ships, the Majestic Princess and the NCL Encore, already here.  The dock is quite a ways from downtown and there is one small gift shop right at the port so, of course, it was mobbed with everyone buying last minute souvenirs. I think the line took up the entire store as it wrapped around. 

At lunch time, the bakery staff put on a large display. featuring over a dozen cakes.  This pictures shows maybe 1/3rd of the cakes.   It was an impressive display - and very popular.   The cookies and cream cake we selected was delicious.  

For supper we both enjoyed sweet and sour shrimp. As with many foods, the way they look is often quite different from your expectations.

After rainy and cloudy days all week, today was clear and Mary finally got a sunset picture! It also warmed up enough so that we could enjoy sitting on our balcony as we pulled into Victoria. 

If you did not read it earlier, we both enjoyed a virtual behind the scenes ship tour this morning called "City on the Sea".  At the end, nearly the entire crew came out to be acknowledged. 

So that's it for our last port visit.  We leave here at midnight and sail a very short distance to Seattle where tomorrow we will disembark and fly home.