"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" she said ...

"Ahhhhhhh" she said, "so that's what it feels like to ride a motorcycle." She had almost forgotten. She had been afraid; afraid she'd forgotten how, afraid that the riding pants would no longer fit ... afraid of so many things. But it was all good. It was a stellar day on the same old bike, in the same old pants! Life is good.

Went for a short 257 km ride today to break in the new rear tire and cover the new windscreen with bugs. (You can hardly see that windscreen in the photo - it's so clear. Who knew they were supposed to be so 'see through.') Met Art Rider at Lake On The Mountain for lunch. He knows Prince Edward County like the back of his hand so after lunch I just followed. He pulled over at this small light house attached to an even smaller marine museum so I could get one photo to mark my first ride of the 2015 season. Felt good! Perfect weather for riding.

"Let's Get Physical"

The last day in Niagara Falls meant one more quick trip down the hill to see the falls close up - from the tunnel lookout behind the falls.

Then, my long time, avid Geo Caching friend who had consented to leave hubby and offspring behind to visit the Falls with me said, "There are a couple of caches at the bottom of Whirlpool Gorge I'd like to find ... wanna go on the way home?"

This is the view of the Gorge from the visitor centre and aero car docking station. You can see the water whirlpooling counter clockwise as it rushes into the basin over the class VI rapids. The Parks Commission only allows a few professional kyakers to attempt this run.

(This is the Google Earth view of  'the Whirlpool Gorge.') Alright, then. If you're going to go on a hike might as well make it a good one. Let's get physical.

This is the view about 1/3 of the way down looking up the trail "steps." Notice you can't see the top!

This is the view looking down from where the steps end. Notice, you can't see the bottom! Looks like an easy trail right? Notice there are no more photos along the trail? I was too busy trying not to end up at the bottom the quick way to take more photos.

This was the view from the bottom. The concrete object on the bottom right is a heli pad (kind of says they expect hikers and kayakers to need rescuing doesn't it?) The trip down was a breeze (compared to the trip back to the top) though the terrain got too treacherous for us to find the third cache along the shore and we turned and headed back up the trail.

Niagara Falls region - a super spot to visit.

City With A Split Peronsality ...

The conference ended at noon today giving me time to wander away from this familiar and scenic little corner of the city surrounding the falls.

 

 

It is a city built on the edge of the Niagara River where two separate falls thunder over a precipice; one in Canada and the other in the USA. I walked over the Rainbow Bridge crossing the international border (there was no dotted yellow line down the middle of the river, I was really disappointed.)

Down by the bridge, with my back to the river, I found a totally different city. Niagara Falls is truly a city with a split personality. At one end it is a place built around the natural beauty of the falls with miles of parklands honouring nature. On the other end it's a horror of crass commercial, touristic, casino filled, money grabbing, ugly crap that is Clifton Hill. (But that's just my opinion.)

P.S. This was 9 pm.

 

... and so was this (three weeks ago snow, today a high of 33C, still 27C after dark.

Sunrise To Sunset

I haven't had much to say lately, it's been same old, same old and way too much of it to have time for anything else. I'm glad spring has finally - really arrived and along with it I'm glad I have the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Niagara Falls - mid week, bonus!

This was today, sunrise to sunset. (minus 6 hours inside the Scotia Bank Conference Center.)

Star comes out of hibernation next week.