This afternoon we returned from a trip that took us from our present "home" in Butler, Pennsylvania to Geneseo, New York to Wilson, New York to St. Catharines, Ontario and back to Butler once again all in five days. This triple header gave us the opportunity to visit with two different couples we've gotten to know in our Florida winter home, Hillcrest, and the other visit with two sets of Ken's first cousins one of which made Hillcrest their winter home too.
Tuesday we set off for Geneseo in our trusty Escape
to visit with Jim and Sandra Cole arriving there in the early afternoon in a rain storm though it slowed up for a short time giving us a chance to walk around their house and enjoy the beautiful flower gardens on all four sides.
During our visit we had the opportunity to meet their daughter and her husband and five children who live next door, see their chicken house that Jim built for them that gives them plenty of eggs daily, do a driving tour of the nearby college campus, and simply enjoy about 24 hours of their wonderful hospitality that included a terrific salmon dinner prepared by Sandra (including a marvelous broccoli soup and salad) and omelet breakfast prepared by master breakfast chef, Jim. We hope to see them again in early December when they make the trip down to Florida for the winter months.
Then after breakfast on Wednesday morning we set off for Wilson, New York to visit with Ken's cousins John and Donna who live in a 5th wheel in a campground that overlooks Lake Ontario near Niagara Falls. We had the opportunity to stay in the park ourselves for a week a couple of years ago when we took our grandchildren Scott and Abbi on a trip to the Falls area for a week and looked forward to a return visit to the beautiful setting. Both of them enjoy gardening and birds so we had a wonderful time just relaxing on their deck surrounded by beautiful flowers and watching a variety of birds enjoy the food and bird bath arrangement they have across from their spot. John has even hollowed out a fallen tree in the woods and planted flowers in it as well as hanging several bird houses and feeding platforms. Their were two different hummingbird feeders too that were well used.
We enjoyed an early dinner out with them and then drove to John's brother's home in Sanborn. There we visited with George and Pat for a little bit. Pat had back surgery just a few days earlier so she was not up to a long visit though.
From there we enjoyed a drive down to Lewiston and then up along the shoreline along the Niagara River and back along the shoreline of Lake Ontario to the campground where we watched the sunset and settled down for the evening.
The following morning we met George and Pat at the Knead to Dough Restaurant in Ransomville for breakfast before heading on to St. Catharines, Ontario.
We were glad we were going in to Canada at the Lewiston Bridge as the lines were huge and all the way across the bridge for those going into the U.S. We on the other hand got in fairly quickly. It is just a very short jaunt then to the Visschers new apartment where we caught up with them. Unfortunately her back was giving her a good deal of trouble but she was determined we'd see a bit of the area so after having lunch out together in a nearby restaurant we drove over to Port Dalhousie so we could see the area where their granddaughter had many of their wedding pictures taken in May. The beach is huge and there is a long channel that was part of the Welland Canal long ago so lighthouses sit along that and there were lots and lots of pleasure boats going in and out.
Out in Lake Ontario we could see a line up of freighters waiting to go into the Welland Canal entrance which was a little further down. We enjoyed a walk out to the end of the pier as well as over to see the huge old merry go round that is kept under cover and still only charges 5 cents a ride.
We made a stop at the grocery store just walking distance from their place to pick up the food we'd need for the next couple of meals together and got a chance just to see how close they are to most of their basic needs such that they can get a bit of exercise and leave the car in the garage most of the time.
They just recently returned from a trip to Halifax to see their daughter Paula and her husband. The four of them took a two week trip to Newfoundland together so they had lots of pictures and stories to share with us. We in turn shared our cruise pictures with them and just enjoyed some quiet time together. The following day we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a fun stroll through the very touristy but pretty little town. The flowers were positively gorgeous and their were lots of fun shops to check out.
After lunch we headed back to their apartment by way of the Number 3 lock on the Welland Locks thinking to just take a quick peek only to discover a cruise ship, Pearl Mist, in the lock. We decided to stop and watch the process from the observation platform.
In the distance we could see the bridge we had just been on as well as the closer one that was now open so they could pass through. This is a new line that has just started this summer offering tours that run from Toronto to Chicago with stops in such places as Niagara Falls, Macinac Island, Sault St. Marie, and Holland.
Afterwards we checked out the small museum with some of the history behind the canal as well as the area.
Including this layout showing the route of the Welland Canal and where the locks presently are located...
and this chart showing the depths of the five great lakes with Lake Superior being the largest and deepest (first lake pictured) and the Atlantic Ocean level (St. Lawrence Seaway) the widest (last one pictured) The little white boxes represent the locks needed to get from one to the other and how much you go "up or down hill" depending on the direction you are going. There really is a major difference in the elevations of the water!
The following morning after breakfast, we said good by to Jan and Lucy and headed back to our RV in our son's driveway in Butler, PA. This time we did get caught in the long line of traffic heading into the United States and despite the 16 open stations still waited in line for an hour.
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