I did not go over the Falls in a barrel

Last week I went on a whirlwind adventure to the midwest and Canada. It was a trip my family had been planning for awhile. Since my brother lives in Ohio, which seems relatively close to Canada, as opposed to say, Puerto Rico, we thought it would be neat to go to Niagara Falls. As noted in my previous posts, my trip started out in St. Louis where I got to hang out with friends and family. On Wednesday, we headed out to Columbus, Ohio. I don't know why I sign up for that drive each year... it takes FOREVER! First you drive over the river to Illinois. Crossing the southern part of the state is relatively short and before you know it, you're in Indiana. Indiana is boring and starts to become tiresome after about, oh, 11 miles. The only interesting scenery is when I-70 crosses through Indianapolis and the sights change from farms to buildings. That's over rather fast and you're only halfway through the state! But wait, it gets better. You still have to drive through half of Ohio! On top of all that, you lose one hour crossing into the Eastern Time Zone.

At least Ohio seems excited to have you visit:


In Ohio, I got to see my favorite dog, Lucy. We got Lucy as a puppy when I lived with my brother here in CA. Lucy and I always had this special bond and it was awful when they all moved away. Lucy was sooooo excited to see me that she wouldn't leave my side. She even slept at the foot of my bed to make sure I wasn't out of sight.

Shh...she's sleeping...



We packed everyone up in the car and set off for Canada. It was going to be about 6-7 hours and we were going to drive through eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and upstate New York. Once again, Ohio went on and on and on and on! It was unbelievable! How wide can one state be? It's not like it's Texas! After about 5 hours, we were finally into Pennsylvania, but if you didn't pay attention, you missed it. It was so fast. I did note that the interstate was close to Lake Erie at one point and it could be seen on the horizon. Right after PA came New York and it snuck up so fast, I missed the welcome sign! Here's a photo of the side of the welcome sign. Doh.



Buffalo was the only city we passed through in New York. It was totally run down. Well, at least the part we went through. There were seriously burned out buildings that looked like they had been bombed. It was not a friendly-looking place. They are probably just pissed because of all the snow they get each winter. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it still looked uninviting.



Finally we crossed into Canada! The border guard at the Customs station on the Peace Bridge could've been less friendly. We were all excited that we had passports and he didn't even ask for them! He asked my brother several questions since he was driving. The questions consisted of "Where do you live? Where are you going? Why are you going? Who is in the car? What is everyone's citizenship?" That's it. He didn't even get up off his chair. Deflated, we pressed on into Canada, which looked surprisingly like the US. I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I was picturing Canadian Mounties riding around, people frolicking in maple leaves, and children playing ice hockey on frozen ponds. But, we were on vacation!

To be continued...