Day 18 - What is that bright light?

Walked out to the parking lot this morning and there was this incredible bright light in the east. Could it be the sun? We haven’t seen the sun or bright blue skies since western CO.

What a morning, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the sun is shining, traffic is light, it’s nice and cool, the road is level and the A’s are humming. Life is good.

It is only 9:45 am and Bob spies a MacDonalds at the rest stop. Milkshakes are great for breakfast, just frozen milk. We hummed our way to the Canadian border, crossed the Peace Bridge and the customs gal asked us what were we going to leave in Canada? I replied just money and she waved us in.

Drove the Niagara Parkway alongside the Niagara River from Lake Erie all the way to the Falls, a gorgeous drive. We came off this quiet country drive and plunged into a tourist mecca. We were amazed by the hoards of people and the commercial development that has occurred here since the last time we were here. On the one hand, the falls, as beautiful and loud as they have ever been, and spray you with mist as you walk around. On the other hand, high rise hotels, ticky tacky tourist traps like wax museums, mazes, hard cafe, planet hollywood, miniature golf courses, house of terror, Ripleys believe it or not, etc complete with loud music and sidewalk barkers. The sidewalks were thick with tourists. We checked into the motel and walked to the Falls. It turned out to be a good bit of walking and John thought he had seen enough but we convinced him to go to the very end. As we headed back to the motel, the blue sky disappeared and the clouds became very dark. We walked as quickly as we could and just made it back before a huge thunder storm hit. The black clouds of MA and NY are obviously following us. The lightning show was spectacular. We sat out in front of our rooms and enjoyed the show while staying dry.

We did manage to shop a bit because Pat did tell the custom’s lady that she would leave money in Canada. She managed to fulfill her obligation.

All 6 cars regrouped here in Niagara Falls, ON, all running smoothly. Tomorrow we head for Dearborn.

We did hear from Hazletons and Fontaines who left San Jose this morning to meet us in South Dakota. They have had a couple little problems, Bob H has had vapor lock problems (our Bob H?????) and Ray’s AC seems to have quit. They are working on it frantically because Linda has threatened to go home, although the temperature in San Jose today was in the 110 range.