My uncles Roger and Mike, and Aunt Cynthia, were visiting the Falls on the US side to celebrate Roger's birthday. Whilst all three had flown up from Tennessee, Mike and Cynthia were over from the UK so I felt it would be too good a gathering to miss out on so we'd arranged to meet to see the Canadian side of the falls; cue a trip in Towed Haul, Tadpoles and all, to that centre of good taste and culture, Niagara Falls. That's irony by the way.
We had a good run up from Chatham, stopping briefly at CanAm RV for trailer-type supplies (JW was on hand and said that the dent on Towed Haul was simply "patina" - love it!) then continued on via Brantford and Hamilton. This being the toads' camping weekend, we did get a bit of rain on the journey and the forecast wasn't good, but heck, we expect rain every trip these days. It was a clear run and we arrived in good spirits because our gas mileage was showing as 18.2 litres per 100 kms, which was a good 1.5 litres better than usual. I was bemused, but more of that later. We had arrived at the Niagara KOA ($74 a night!) just as the light went so we had to set up in the dark; it wasn't so bad, though, as we had a perfectly level site and the benefit of being able to drive right into it, despite it not being a pull-thru. The Tadpoles were not ever so pleased that we arrived with no time for them to swim in the indoor pool, but Mrs T's homemade chicken casserole sorted them out.
Saturday dawned, bright and sunny, but we all took quite a while to get going, even with the likelihood of visitors arriving. We'd promised ourselves a big brekkie at the Flying Saucer Restaurant and ended up missing the cheap deal and had to stump up a total of $63 to feed the starving toads. By the time we'd started back to the KOA, our visitors were at the gate and busily engaged in negotiation with the office staff about why they should pay $27 just to get in to see their nephew; it was only a campground after all. A bit of jiggery-pokery and a seven-seater Toadmobile and we'd circumvented the guards; $27 indeed.
After showing off Towed Haul, we made our way into Niagara Falls proper, dropped the rellies at a Subway and motored off to go and see the falls again. $20 to park is a tad steep but I consoled myself with the thought that it was way cheaper than Disneyland and the Canadian National Parks Service were the main beneficiaries, and that tweaked my public service glands a bit.
The Falls were lovely, as ever, and I fancy had a bit more water going over the crest than the last time we visited. Even with the death of a tourist a few weeks ago, dozy people were still clambering over the railings to get "good" photos; they won't be good photos from the bottom of the gorge, I can tell you! We had intended a wander over to Clifton Hill, that's Blackpool-On-The-Falls for those who don't know, but the weather, far from being horrid as forecast, was sunny and hot. We made it as far as the ice cream shop and went no further.
Given that it was a nice day, we then took the rellies down the Parkway to Niagara-On-The-Lake, a well to do town at the mouth of the Niagara River where it flows into Lake Ontario. It was quite windy down there (and very busy, too) but it was good to see the sailboats on the choppy water and to get a very clear view of Toronto on the other side of the lake. On the subject of being busy, it's interesting to note that the Parks Service, which owns most of the Canadian side of the gorge, had scaled back operations after Labour Day last week, meaning parking and shuttle buses were in limited supply. Now forgive me an observation here, but all around the region it was as busy as any Summer Saturday; Mr Parks Service, you are losing money here!
After a brief run back to the KAO, we set off to a little, new and untried (by us) Hungarian Restaurant in Chippewa called Sweet and Savoury. It was a nice little place that had an unusual menu (Hungarian dishes, strangely) and some interesting Gypsy Music playing. The waiter, the owner I think, was very pleasant and dealt with all our questions with patience. The delivery of the food to the table took a while, though, and wasn't always as ordered, but we got there in the end. The Restaurant had been booked for a party later in the evening and I think they had half an eye on the rest of the evening. Still, it was a good meal, even with the cold pasta, and was quite inexpensive. I'd have liked a sweet but they'd taken so long to serve the main meal, we were in danger of crashing the party, so we paid up and left; next time, maybe.
We then took our leave of the rellies. It was great to meet up again and I now have an appointment to visit Weston-super-Mud on my next visit to the UK. Of course I should have visited before, but better late than never, eh?
Repairing to Towed Haul, after another ice cream of course, we settled in to watch Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Munroe in Niagara; well, we had to, didn't we? The director plays fast and loose with which side of the river the action was supposed to be with the USA pretending to Canada and vice-versa all through the film; even the dialogue was confused on the issue sometimes. Anyway, we collapsed into bed having had a great day with great people in great weather. And the Tadpoles still didn't get to swim!
The KOA decided that we had to be out by 11am on the Sunday so it was up and out, really. We did have a chance to mooch around the site, which was OK. If anyone says to you that it would be a great idea to get a KOA cabin, though, say no. They are no more than wooden tents with electricity and bunk beds, not even a toilet as you have to use the camping facilities; buy a tent as it will be bigger, cheaper and more comfortable!
Our trip back was as easy, too, if a little busier on the road. I discovered the secret of a the excellent gas mileage on the way down when I realised that from Hamilton to London, it's all uphill (or down hill when going, London to Hamilton), so the Toadmobile was coasting down and stressing out on the way back. We still managed 19.4 litres per 100 kms, which is OK, so the average was 18.8; really rather good!
We're thinking we may do one more trip this year, before putting Towed Haul into hibernation. Whatever we do it'll be local and nowhere near Ontario's rip-off capital. Ribbit.
