Day 11
Forecast is 50's and windy so it is a two jacket day. If this is June weather, I can’t imagine what winter weather is like up here. Ten minute drive to the Rouge Hill train station and an express to downtown took only 20 minutes. Short subway ride to visit Casa Loma, a single family 200,000 square foot castle completed in 1914 after 3 years and 300 men. Built by Sir Henry Pellatt who resided in it only 10 years before financial trouble forced him to abandon it. Lost to the city for unpaid taxes, it was saved from demolition by Kiwanis and has now been magnificently restored. Spent the morning there and then went to St. Lawrence Market for lunch. Buster’s Sea Cove lobster roll for Rosemary and a huge pile of delicious mussels in spicy tomato broth for me for the equivalent of about $10 US. Next was a trip to the distillery district which is a nice shopping and dining area but regrettably, no present distillery. The area is contained in the buildings of a long ago distillery. Rosemary got her latte to warm up with and then we headed to Chinatown and the Kensington Market area. Dinner was Korean with our faves, dolsot bibimbap and bulgogi. The seat on the train home felt so good, Rosemary’s fit app indicated about 4-1/2 hours of steady walking today. Will sleep well tonight.
Day 10
After a fairly quiet night at Walmart, we took the car to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The view is much better on the Canadian side. Walked the Queen Victoria Park and then drove north on the Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a drive Churchill called the “prettiest afternoon drive” and I agree with that description. Along the way stopped at several wineries for some tastings. Back to the coach for a late lunch and decided to head to Toronto, less than 100 miles away. Hit the road about 3:15 and target was a Walmart in Toronto located fairly near downtown as the campgrounds were all about a 30 minutes from town. The border crossing was like rapid fire questions mostly asking about prohibited firearms and other weapons, including mace! So much for defending oneself. Fortunately we were not asked about knives of which we have numerous in our kitchen. After we crossed the border, we cruised along at the speed limit of 100! KMH not mph, rats. We need to make a conversion chart as we were using our best guess at what 40, 50, 60 & 80 kmh were in mph. Neither my coach or car speedometers have km. We hit Toronto just in time for rush hour. Next obstacle was converting clearances from meters as we entered town and several low clearances of 4 and a fraction meters. At 13 feet, we figured 4 meters was what we needed until that is, when we made a turn and came upon a 3.8 meter clearance. With Rosemary cringing in her seat I went very, very slowly and made it without any scraping of antennae. Finally, the Walmart appeared and the parking lot was so small we could not even enter it. Plan B is going to a campground but no cell reception. We get the book out and get an address and now try to get out of town. I will never complain about Tampa traffic again. Bumper to bumper for most of an hour. Fortunately, the Glen Rouge Campground had plenty of vacancies and we check in after our 100 mile trip took over 3 hours. When I went out to hook up I froze my behind off as the temp was a cold 50 degrees with a fairly strong wind. Come to think of it, we have not used the a/c since we left Pittsburgh. Heater will be on tonight.
Day 9
260 mile trip to the Niagara Falls Walmart where we checked in about 3:30. Headed to the falls on the American side. Walked Goat Island and the Three Sisters while wearing shorts and a t-shirt which was insufficient as it was cool and breezy. Viewed the falls and climbed the observation deck. Visited Whirlpool State Park and Devil’s Hole State Park north along the Niagara Parkway. Back to the coach for dinner and then another trip to the falls to view them lit up at night, this time in long pants and a jacket.
Days 5-8
Arrived at Fox Den Acres Campground early Thursday afternoon after 190 mile drive. Great visit with the kids and grandkids. Adam loved the Playmobile motorhome we gave him and Ari enjoyed his gift as well. Did a few repairs and some yard work at Daniel’s house in preparation for Adam’s fifth birthday party on Sunday. The party was in their house with 30 kids and about 20 adults. A “Mad Scientist” gave a good show including a dry ice bubble bath shower on the kids which resulted in deafening squeals of delight. Afterwards, I really felt like a grandparent. Raising kids is definitely for the young! Daniel and gang are definitely moving to Manhattan and soon, June 28. So we will be adding a stop in NYC in September on our way back south after Canada. That stop will include our first granddaughter due early August.
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