Niagara Falls, simply unbelievable

Today is my last day in Toronto.  As long as all goes well with flights today, I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

I do want to tell you about one of our side trips we took during my ten day jaunt.  This past Sunday we all packed into the car, dog Freyja and all, and headed down to Niagara Falls.  It's only about an hour from where my daughter currently lives in the Toronto area.  It was a sunny but cold day.  The wind was picking up a little.  Driving into Niagara Falls wasn't quite what I expected.... it was a quaint little town full of older homes... then as you get close to the Falls, well it kind of turns into a Vegas atmosphere.  Lots of neon and touristy things to do.  Obviously this place is big entertainment business!

We checked into our hotel and headed right down the hill (and I must say this must be the first hill I've actually experienced in the Toronto area) to the Falls.  Straight ahead were the American Falls... once we got down to the main street, we could see the Canadian Falls, the iconic horseshoe, to our right.  And it goes without saying, the Canadian Falls are WAY more spectacular than the American.  (American Falls are pictured first and the Canadian Falls are second)

As we headed toward the Canadian Falls, the mist coming up started to drench everything in sight.  The amount of mist coming off the falls was crazy.  The pavements were wet (just wet thanks to lots and lots of salt/de-icer), the people were wet... but everything else was covered in thick coats of ice... even after a couple of days of warmer temperatures in the Toronto area... everything was still covered in ice!

You can get right above the Canadian Falls and see them spill over... the roar of water is amazing.  I didn't realize that you could get so close!  Standing against the railing you can actually see the water rushing over the edge.

Next we headed inside the tourist building, just to warm up our freezing hands and faces!  You can only enter the building at the time of year using certain doors, the others are completely snowed and iced over.  Even the door that does open, well the handle is actually iced over! (Yep, I took a picture...).  In this area close to the Canadian Falls the railings, trees, you name it... gets a thick layer of ice on it from the mist in the air and the FREEZING temperatures.  Like I already said, it just keeps building up while it is sooo cold.

After leaving the building we headed along the "boardwalk" towards the American Falls, The Maid of the Mist boat ride (not running at this time of year) and the large ferris wheel.  We did take a spin on the wheel and it made for a phenomenal view just as the day was turning to dusk.

Later, after dark, we headed back down the hill to see the lights on the Falls.  It was freezing so there weren't many people out at night, we of course had changed into down jackets and warm, woolly boots for the trip.  Once again I snapped picture after picture.

It truly was amazing and I'm so happy we were able to make it down to The Falls on my trip out here.

Soon to be back home,