On our way to PA.

When we left Niagara Falls, we had intended on driving to a campground in Mansfield, NY.  This campground was listed as a RESORT.  Everything we read about it sounded fine.  We arrived and they were closed and had a sign on the door to just find a spot and see them in the morning.  We didn't have reservations, but had called ahead to make sure they had a site for us.  We drove around the park looking at sites.  This place was not a resort.  It was a mud hole.  The music from Deliverance was playing in my mind as we drove through the place.  We like to stay at family owned parks and resorts when we can, but this was a little too rough for us.  We decided that since it was going to be a one night stop anyway, we would stay on Walmart parking lot.  I went in to make sure it was ok and the manager said fine.   It was cool so we didn't miss the electricity and our lights are battery powered.  We had water on board.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but not something I really want to do again.  We boon-docked one other time, but it was across from a baseball park, in a tiny town in OK.  We did so because we missed our turn to the campground and we were exhausted.  We were going to look for a Walmart then but our motorhome was bigger than the Walmart parking lot in this tiny town.  Anyway, back to Mansfield.  Another experience down.

This morning we left our wonderful site at Walmart and headed to Lebanon, PA.  It was a beautiful drive.

I wish it hadn't been raining.  There was a lot of fog in the area too.  We were crossing some of the Allegheny Mountains, I believe.

Between the rain and the tinted windshield, it was hard to take pictures, but I wanted to capture all the color.  There was just no way to do it justice.

 We also saw some of the Amish in their horse drawn carriages.  This was on Hwy 15.  Notice he was traveling against traffic not with it.  He had orange lights flashing on top of the carriage.  The horse was in a pretty fast trot, but not enough to keep up with the traffic.  LOL

We arrived at Pinch Pond Campground around 4:00.  I was having low blood sugar problems at that time and haven't gotten pictures of our site and the grounds.  I will get that tomorrow.  They are already gearing up for Halloween here.  It seems they decorate and have hayrides and games and competitions on best decorated sites like they do in Star City back home.  We couldn't get sites next to each other because of all the folks coming in this weekend.

Niagra on the Lake

We drove to Niagara on the Lake.  It's just about 13 miles following the river from the Falls to the open lake.  The cables you see in the center of the top picture are for a cable car.  I don't think it's in use anymore.

This floral clock is one of the largest in the world at 40 ft. in diameter and was built in 1950.  The clock even has a second hand.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

Niagara on the Lake is like stepping back in time.  It has a lot of old buildings and homes that remind me of Mackinac Island.  But cars are everywhere!

Then of course there is the beautiful Lake Ontario.  Magnificent homes are near the waters edge.  There is also Fort George and a memorial to a battle.

Just a very peaceful area.  The clear blue waters make you think they must have added food coloring to get this beautiful blue.

It was another great experience.  Can you tell, I really enjoyed this trip and am just in awe of the Great Lakes.

Later

Niagara Falls again today

We went for a better look today and we weren't disappointed.

There are 3 falls here.  The American Falls, The Bridal Veil and Canada's Horseshoe Falls.  I have to admit that the Horseshoe Falls are the prettiest.

The boats were steady moving people to the falls. Maid of the Mist on American soil and Hornblower Niagara Cruises on Canada soil both go close to the falls inside the Horseshoe Falls.  We are planning on riding the Hornblower but after watching them today, I don't know how much we will be able to see.  The mist from the falls is so thick, I don't think we will be able to see anything.  It is more of a "I did that" kind of thing.

The traffic and parking was terrible.  I suggest you ride the WEGO buses wherever you want to go.  They run to all the tourist attractions and pick up at all the hotels, motels, campgrounds and everything in between.  As bad as the parking was here, it wasn't as bad as in Toronto.  In Toronto, we parked across from the Rogers stadium and CN Tower and it cost us $10.00 an hour.  The pictures taken today, are from Doug's cell phone.  Unbelievable, I know, but I ran out without my camera today. I hope to come back and post more later.
Later

Niagara Falls from the Canada side

Today we moved to Niagara Falls, CAN.  We are staying at Scotts Trailer and RV Campground.  The WEGO bus stops right here and will take us wherever we want to go tomorrow

It's a nice clean, simple campground right in the center of everything.  One bad thing, across the street is a  Gentlemen's Club.  LOL

I thought I would show you some of Canada's money.  This is a $20 bill.  I was told they changed to this money a couple of years ago to make it harder to counterfeit.  The money is plastic and looks like Monopoly money.  LOL  See that really white stripe, it's actually not white, it's clear.

Can you see my finger on the other side?  This really is funny money.  LOL

Here is the change.  The gold colored coin is a dollar.  Next under the gold coin, is a quarter,  nickel and then dime.  They don't have pennies anymore.  They just round up.

 We drove around looking at the area.  We came across  lots crazy building.  Here are just a few.

                                        How do you like the upside house.  Cute wasn't it.

                                                                  Lots of older churches                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                             I am looking at the stone wall on the U.S. side.

There is a lot of beautiful architecture and landscaping.

My first glimpse of the falls.

                                           I see that they have carriage rides around town.

I don't know what this building is, but it was huge.  I couldn't really get the whole building in one shot.

    

                                   Almost got it all.     Right behind this building,are the falls.

Later

Toronto here we come

We headed into Toronto today.  It was a nice drive into town.

If you look real hard you can see Lake Ontario.  LOL  We were driving in heavy traffic and there was no time to stop for better picture.

 Yep, it's a mounted policeman.  Everyone was taking his picture.  I think it was really the horse they wanted a picture of.

 It was funny how the old buildings were mixed in with the tall sky scrapers.  The building on the right is the Ripley's Aquarium.  That tall thing on the left hand side, is the CN Tower.

Here is the rest of it.  This tower was built in 1976 and is 1,815 ft. 5 in. tall.  It was the worlds tallest building from 1976 to 2010.

This is the view from the Look Out level which is 147 stories tall.  With my fear of heights, I can't believe that I did this.  The worst part was riding in the glass elevators.  There were even two glass windows in the floor.  I didn't like that at all.  The elevator rocked too much too.  Was glad when that part was over.  It traveled from ground to top in 58 seconds!

 I was really looking at the old schooner in the center of the picture.  I guess that is what it's called.  Pirate ship will do too.

                  I took a cazillion pictures of the city.  It was hard to pick which ones to post.

This was on the level that had the glass floor.  This floor is only two pieces of 1" thick glass with 1/2"  air pocket between them.  2 1/2" is not a lot.  I didn't like standing on it.  I am looking down on the roof of the Ripleys Aquarium.

                                Buildings, Buildings everywhere.  Toronto is a very big city.

 Down safely, on the other side of the tower is the Rogers Center.  This is the stadium that the Toronto Blue jays play baseball.  And guess what?  The day we happen to be there, they are playing baseball in just a few hours.  Blue Jays are playing New York Yankees.  No wonder there were so many people everywhere.

 Across the street was the Toronto Railway Museum.  The building was part of the Roundhouse.  Some of it was turned into a Brewery.

 It's hard to see, but that is the turn table used to turn the engines around 360 degrees.

 By the time we tried to leave Toronto downtown, the traffic was horrendous.  It was bumper to bumper for as far as you could see.  The 30 min. trip into town, took us over 2 hours to return.

 We were traveling slow enough on the highway that I could get a picture of this neat building.  A round building and a square building connected by a triangle walkway.  cool huh

          Then we came across this sign.  This is just right off the freeway.  Quick Sand! WOW
Later