Day 28

Today was another wonderful free day! After enjoying a surprisingly good continental breakfast at the hotel (our first of the trip), we drove from Toronto to Niagara falls for a fun and very wet visit. We started our day off on the Canadian side, Megan and Tim (the only ones to have seen the falls before) said the Canadian side would have the best view. We grabbed lunch at Queen Victoria’s Place, Edgewater and had a great view of the falls from our table. 

  After lunch we walked down the block to Tim Hortons. While you can find them in America, they come from Canada, so we had to get something. Tim Hortons is a doughnut and coffee shop, so Megan and Rebecca both got iced capps and everyone got to try a Timmy Ho’s doughnut.  

Then it was time to go home, we took the Rainbow Bridge back to America. The cross over was very easy, and the international portion of our 37 day adventure came to an end. We have gone into two countries, and we didn’t get a single stamp in our passports.  

  The American side of the falls was breathtaking. Rebecca and Andrew think that is definitely the prettier side. We got tickets to Maid of the Mist, and went on a fun ride along the falls in our big blue ponchos. They were pretty effective, but we still got pretty soaked. 

  After the ride, we went on a walk along the falls, on water soaked steps. Rebecca casually wondered how many people fell each day on the steps. Within 5 minutes of her statement, she ended up ripping a hole in Megan’s poncho to save herself from a nasty tumble. Thankfully Megan didn’t mind too much. The four of us then took our soaked selves up to the observation deck and dried off a bit while enjoying being on top of the world. We ended our Falls stop by walking over to Goat Island to see the Rapids. Overall it was a pretty fantastic afternoon at one of the largest falls in the world. 
  Our next stop was Varysburg, NY (just outside of Buffalo) home of Buffalo wings and Tim’s grandparents. Their house is set in the country with a huge backyard. If anything can make four 22-year-olds act like children, it’s a huge backyard with a creek running through it. Rebecca and Tim both jumped over it a few times. Tim stuck his landings… Rebecca cleared the creek, but her landings were a bit more of thud as her fall wasn’t particularly graceful. Don’t worry, she is okay. We spent time splashing in the creek and turning cartwheels in the yard before going in for dinner. 
  We had authentic Buffalo wings, complete with blue cheese, carrots, celery and local Genesse beer from Rochester. The wings were great and the company was even better. 
  After dinner we took a short walk, just through the backyard, to take a look at some of the exotic animals across the road. We made friends with an ostrich, an emu, and a turtle. After walking a bit farther to the petting zoo, we saw kangaroos, rabbits as big as dogs, peacocks, and goats. It was a great way to spend the evening. 
  We got back to the house and played dominoes until bedtime. Our fourth and final grandparent stop of the trip was a great way to spend our free day.