Our Visit to Ohsweken, Niagara Falls, & Picton (Ontario, Canada)

After wrapping up at Summerfest in Johnstown, PA, we continued north to Lockport, New York, then Clayton, New York, both of which served as launching points to visit with good friends we know in Ontario, Canada. We had a whirlwind week going back and forth across the border into Ohsweken, Niagara Falls, and Picton to visit with Vivien and Arnold, Wes and Eleanor, and Deb and Peter. (We left the 5th wheel in the states to make border crossing less of a hassle.) Our friends were wonderful hosts, giving us the grand tour of Ontario, from the village of Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve, to the beautiful neighborhoods of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, to the lovely countryside of Picton set on the Bay of Quinte. We had a chance to visit a Native crafts store on the Reserve, Dan got a round of golf in with Wes, Arnie, and Vivien, and we were treated to a beautiful drive through the wine country in Prince Edward County. One of the best perks of living this lifestyle is the opportunity to visit with the great friends we've made along the way. We are so grateful to have had this opportunity!

Niagara Falls

For our seventh wedding anniversary, which happened to fall on the Labor Day weekend this year, Dan and I decided we would take a trip to Niagara Falls to celebrate. We figured we were close enough at 420 miles to warrant the drive, so we made reservations at a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, packed up for a long weekend, and headed out. My knowledge of Niagara Falls was pretty much limited to what I've seen in movies, but nothing could really prepare me for the magnitude of this natural wonder.

The weekend we were there was cool and crisp, perfect for walking, which we did a lot of! On Saturday, our anniversary, we walked about six miles total, crossing over the Rainbow Bridge to the New York side of the Falls, and back again. There are three falls altogether that comprise Niagara Falls: Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls. We viewed theses from many angles - from the top where you can see the sheer force of the water cascading straight down from the Niagara River; from a vantage point very close to the bottom; and from across the Niagara River, looking both from the Canadian side and the US side.

From certain vantage points, you can see rainbows sprouting across the Falls, sometimes even double and triple rainbows. It is really quite magical! Before the area became so built up, and city lights became a constant, on night with a full moon, you could also see lunar rainbows from Luna Island, the area between American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. I would have loved to see that!

Hopefully these pictures can give you a bit of an idea of the wonder of Niagara Falls.

Drive Through Canada

On Thursday, May 1st we left Elma, Washington after a wonderful two-week visit with family. My mother lives in Hoquiam, my sister and her husband live in Aberdeen, my daughter and two granddaughters live in Seattle, and I also have a niece and nephew and their families that live in the area. I spent as much time as possible with my loved ones in those two weeks, and then before I knew it, time was upon us, and we were preparing to begin our journey to Fairbanks, Alaska. The first leg of our journey consisted of traveling through Canada, first through British Columbia, then the Yukon Territory, then crossing into Alaska 40 miles from Haines. If anyone is looking at the map, and wondering why we would follow that route to Fairbanks, it is because we wanted to visit Juneau (the capital of Alaska) prior to arriving in Fairbanks. The only way to Juneau is by ferry, and Haines, Alaska, was the most logical place for us to catch the ferry to Juneau on our way to Fairbanks. I will have a separate post on our Juneau trip; this post is to cover the beautiful drive through Canada and most especially the Northern Canadian Rockies.

Since we were traveling in early May, it was still very cold, and there was lots of snow on the ground and in the mountains. The lakes and rivers were still frozen over, and this was quite a treat for me to see. I have never been anywhere that gets cold enough, long enough, to freeze more than just a puddle. The beauty of the frozen lakes nestled in low rolling hills or between towering mountains was impossible to capture in a photograph, but believe me, we tried! Many times we were the only vehicle on the road for miles at a time, and the solitude combined with the winter-like landscape was like something I’ve only seen on calendars or postcards. When I thought things couldn’t get any more spectacular, we found ourselves in the Northern Canadian Rockies. The appearance of the Canadian Rockies is a result of the area being very heavily glaciated, producing sharply pointed mountains separated by wide, U-shaped valleys gouged by glaciers, whereas the American Rockies are more rounded with river-carved V-shaped valleys between them.

Almost just as spectacular was the area between Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, and Haines, Alaska which winds through the Alaskan Mountain range. I don’t know if we were just lucky, but on the day we traveled through this area on our way to Haines, it was bright sunshine and crystal clear blue skies. This afforded us clear views of all the splendor the mountain range had to offer. I feel so fortunate we had such perfect weather, because on our return trip five days later, it was foggy and cloudy with poor visibility. If both days had been like that, we would never have experienced this once in a lifetime opportunity.

I’ve attached one picture of the RV park we stayed in the first day we were in Canada (Hope, B.C.), and several of the Northern Canadian Rockies and the Alaskan Mountain Range.