July 8, 2009 Niagara Falls

“Maggie”; Route 3; Niagara Falls

Damn. It happened again. I set the alarm and forgot to set the button that turns the alarm on. So at 7:20 Bill called and work me up for the 7 AM breakfast I was supposed to attend. I hurried and showered and as I turned the corner to the lobby, “Maggie” (whose name has been changed to protect the innocent) said to me, “Gunny, breakfast has ended and your friends have left, just a while ago.” I looked and the rope gate was stretched across the entry with the sign saying “BREAKFAST AREA CLOSED.” Then I saw Bill and Bob in the corner giggling. I downed a quick bowl of cereal, packed my gear and loaded it on the bike. While waiting for the others, Maggie came out for a cigarette. I asked her, “Who the hell is Bob Evans?”
“You mean our neighbor there?”
“Yes.”
“That place sucks,” she exclaimed.
Right on, Maggie.
After clearing customs (we sent Griff first to clear the way and that he did), we hopped on Route 402 to just short of London, Ontario, and then took Route 4 to Route 3 East. It is a two-lane road with a speed limit of 80 kmh. It went through towns every 15 miles or so (Jarvis, Simcoe, Delhi, Haldimand) and after an hour and a half or so on Route 3 and then Route 20, we entered Niagara Falls, ON. It was very business and back and forth we drove in the heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic, trying to find a parking space close the the river so that we would have a short walk to the Falls. I finally found a great spot - on the driveway leading to the police station. I couldn’t understand why the others hesitated. Then they pointed out the sign above my parked bike that mentioned something about a $300 fine for a vehicle parked in that spot if it wasn’t police business. Details, details. So we went to the US side of the Falls, going through U.S. Customs this time. We found a cheaper parking space near the river at $5 per bike, saving us $295 per bike. Not bad, eh? I’ll have that to spend on something for my bike - isn’t that how it works?
We set off on a long march to the island in the middle of the river where we had a cheeseburger at the Snack Bar. Griff did remarkably well for a man who said he could only walk 200 yards before he had to sit down. He attributes the improvement to a power drink Eric gave him yesterday - it’s a drink the Red Sox use. After lunch, Bob suggested that we go to the Cave. I was the Scrooge and suggested that if he wanted to get home on Friday, then we better leave now (about 4:00, fearing that if we delayed any further, we would be caught in rush-hour traffic and not be able to get very far, if anywhere). He reluctantly agreed. Griff observed that Bobby is like a kid in a candy store - he wants to do and see everything. I don’t blame him. That’s a good attribute to have. En route to our current location in Syracuse, Bob’s bike again malfunctioned, losing his speedometer again but keeping his signal lights. So I took the lead from him as he could not tell how fast he was going.
Here’s a sign that we saw for a town in Wyoming: “Town of [whatever the Town was named], Looking to the Future, Home of the 1977 State champion girls’ basketball team.” :-)
Good night. Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, Gunny
PS And again the good ole USA nicked us for another “bridge fee” in Port Huron even before we used the bridge to Canada. It is very difficult to pay tolls on a bike. You have to stop the bike by the window, shut it off, stand up and fish the money out of the wallet crammed into your front pocket, hand it to the attendant, get your change back, put it in your wallet, jam your wallet into your front pocket, restart the bike and drive off. I’m sure I’m not a big hit to the guys behind me.