Day Two

After a wild, stormy night, we packed up soggy tents and returned to the falls--this time the Canadian side. The pictures can't do it justice, but the Maid of the Mist did not disappoint. The falls are magnificent from below--even more so than from above. It's hard to imagine wanting to go over them in anything (let alone a barrel) but there are amazing stories of people who have and survived. And others who have not, of course. Recently a 6- or 8-year-old boy fell over in nothing but a life jacket and was picked up, alive, by one of the boats. Lucky boy! The sun came out while we were there, but we soon learned that was temporary!

After our soaking we took in a few sights. This giant Hershey kiss was irresistible.

The skies started to threaten again so we got back on the road. Route 5--the Seaway Trail-- out of Buffalo. Soon we were in some of the heaviest rain we've ever seen. When cars started pulling over, we did too, sitting out the rain and hail for a bit. Somehow we drove out of that into a gorgeous day. Saw a spit of land on our map called Presque Isle State Park and had to check it out. If you knew that presque isle means "almost island" in French, raise your hand. It was an interesting little bit of Pennsylvania and we made the most of it by trying our first tandem ride. The bike squeaked like a chipmunk and rattled like a tool box but we had fun steering its wonky handlebars and fat tires around for an hour. The beach was rough sand with a good drop off and a pretty good surf. Kids were all over the place and I would not want to have been one of the lifeguards though there were many.

All that work made us hungry so we stopped at a likely place called Joe Root's Grille for some walleye fingers (not bad) and a local brew called--what else? Presque Isle Amber Ale, light, with a touch of hops. Not bad at all. I thought my friend DD would appreciate their lamp posts.

Back on the road and now on route 20, we had to stop for a root beer float at the White Turkey Drive-In. Homemade root beer--yum!

Now it's raining again and we're enjoying the dry hospitality of the Best Western in Mentor, Ohio. Tomorrow James Garfield's house is just down the road and Amish country is calling--we hear they make cheese!

A p.s. for Mrs. Timblin: people are finding it difficult (impossible) to post. Can you share how you did it?? Thanks!