Tourists at the Falls, originally uploaded by LapisBlue.

It occurs to me that I have not yet written about Part Two of my vacation earlier this month; the part where I flew from Green Bay, WI to Dayton, OH to visit my friend Jewel. Rather than having a relaxing few days drinking Starbucks, eating out, shopping and playing Rummy, we decided to take a road trip. To Niagara Falls. In Canada.

Crazy, you say? Perhaps. But fun? Oh, hell yeah!

And, so, in keeping with the “List Theme” I seem to have developed recently, here is the “Recap of Niagara Falls Trip” in list form (and just a warning: the thoughts are not necessariy in chronological order.):

1.  Well, seeing my friend Jewel again was awesome, but I suppose that goes without saying. We hadn’t seen each other since last July when I flew out to visit her and we went to the USGP. Also, meeting her Co-Worker and Co-Worker’s Family was a lot of fun, too.

2.  I was a little bummed that Thelly the Magnificent basically shunned me that first night. She wouldn’t even come out from her hiding place under the bed when I shook a container of Pounce. Jewel assured me she was just traumatized by  Co-Worker’s Energetic Daughter, who occasioanly cat-sits when Jewel is away, and that she would come out and visit her “Auntie Pounce” eventually.

3.  The ease with which we were allowed into Canada - as well as back into the United States – was a bit surprising. I was a bit worried because I don’t have a passport, and didn’t bring my birth certificate (which Triple A said I should have) to prove I really am honestly and truly a US citizen. But, I guess they get so many cars and trucks going over the border back and forth every day that two road-weary women in a Hundai probably didn’t seem suspicious.

4.  The Falls. OMG, what can I say? Niagara Falls – particularly Horseshoe Falls - up close and in real life is amazing! Because it was winter and the river was all frozen over (very cool looking as well, by the way), we weren’t able to take the Maid of the Mist or hike to the Cave of the Winds, but we still got to see The Falls and photograph them, and that was really the point of the whole trip. 

5.  I was slightly disappointed in the Casino, and not just becasue neither of us had very good luck there. It’s a non-smoking casino. When we asked where the designated smoking area was, we were given long, convoluted directions to a door next to the kitchen which basically lead us outside. In the cold. The FREEZING cold. Gah.

6. Luckily, however, the Casino wasn’t dry, so we were able to get some beverages. I lost approximately $80 American, and then pretty much gave up. I initially had some good luck on an African-themed nickel slot, but pretty much everything else just took my money and snickered at me behind my back.

7.  Our Hotel was awesome! The view from our room was spectacular! It’s too bad we didn’t have time to take advantage of the pool or spa, but perhaps next time, right?

8.  We watched Little Miss Sunshine on pay-per-view and it was amazing. I hadn’t seen it before, despite everyone telling me how wonderful it is. And everyone was right! The entire cast did an amazing job, and I now officially lend my own voice to the “Little Miss Sunshine was robbed at the Oscars!” outcry.

9.  Our roadtrip soundtrack included B.B. King, Three 5 Human, and the soundtrack to The Incredibles. Jewel’s Co-Worker loaned us a copy of a Bob and Tom CD, but we never got around to listening to it. At lot of the time we just sat in silence and watched the countryside fly by (well, I did, anyway, I’m sure Jewel’s eyes were stricktly on the road!)!

10. It was awesome and wonderful and fun and way, way too short. As are most vacations. I’m completely out of vacation hours, so I won’t be going anywhere for a while, but it was so very worth it!

Cheers!