Jen on the Edge

Today, the residents of Jenworld learned that it’s best to take a second or even a third look at something, especially if that something is Niagara Falls.  Before we left, we decided to walk around Goat Island, which is in the middle of the Niagara River.  From there, we were able to get VERY close to the falls, as in, within just a few feet of drop-off point.  The views were even more uh-may-zing than yesterday.

Here are the girls at me near Horseshoe Falls (Canadian side):

Then we walked across the island and across a little bridge to Luna Island, which helped create the American Falls and wee little Bridal Veil Falls.  Elegant didn’t like being on Luna Island, fearing that it would crumble under our very feet.  When I explained that the island had been there for thousands of years, she looked at me like I was utterly insane and said, “So then we should REALLY get off this island now.”  As Pete put it, because the island has been securely in place for so long, we’re obviously due for a major geological calamity.

We made our way back to terra firma and drove across the bridge to Canada.

[Feel free to stop and sing “Oh Canada!” here if you’d like.  We would have, except that we don’t know the lyrics.  Or the tune.  Not that that has stopped the girls from a great many annoying attempts.]

The Canadian side of the falls is W-A-Y better for two reasons:

1. Everything is nice and cleaned up for the tourists over there, as opposed to the American side, which is unbelievably shabby and run down.  You would not believe the number of boarded up buildings within one block of a major tourist attraction.
2. From a distance, the American side of the falls is relatively undeveloped and therefore easy on the eyes, as opposed to the Canadian side, which is all of bad American consumerism in one concentrated area.  High rise hotels, the Hard Rock Café, a TGIFridays, and much more are what one sees when gazing on the Canadian side of the falls.  I don’t know if I should apologize to Canada for the blight of bad American cuisine or if I should smack Canada for allowing such garbage foul up their culture.

Luckily, the area right along the river and falls is all lovely parks and open spaces.  We parked the car and went for a stroll.  The falls, as seen from the Canadian side are absolutely breathtaking and worth staring at for a long time.   

After that, we headed to the train station for the next part of our adventure.  We spent two more-or-less relaxing hours on the train:

Graceful started working on Harry Potter #6 today, so this what she looked like for the entire journey. 

So now we’re in Toronto and already having a great time.  Our hotel is right in the middle of everything and is, as far as the girls are concerned, the fanciest, nicest, “most coolest” hotel EVAH.  We’re all at the roof-top pool right now and I’m watching Pete and the girls splash around and (cross your fingers) burn off a lot of energy.  I’d really like for tonight to be the night that bedtime goes easily.  The girls have had to share a bed every night of this trip and, every night, have engaged in about 30 minutes of the Battle of the Blankets, which involves border disputes and skirmishes and far too much wrestling for control of the bedding.  Tonight, I’m thinking we’ll put Elegant to sleep in our bed and then just move her after she’s asleep (or the Valium kicks in.) 

(Kidding.)

Tomorrow, I’ll be able to report on what happens when three bloggers meet for the first time!