Well, I spoke too soon about my hotel room in Port Huron. Oh, my… gosh!! I figured it was Sunday night…right? What would be the odds anyone else would even be at this motel? Well, after changing rooms once because on no wireless access…and a green tinted television… I landed in room 112… right below… apparently… the frat party’s all night beer pong and orgy party. Young college kids having a house party right above my head!
It started sometime around 10p.m. local time.. bam! Slam… bang bang.. laugh. Laugh.. scream… bang some more.. thump thump thump! This continued unabated until 3 a.m. I turned on the wall air unit, but it still did not help. Finally, around 3:15 a.m. I went to the front desk and was very polite but very firm about the noise above me. The front desk lady understood, and shifted me to room 217. I did find sleep sometime around 3:30 am.. only to be awaked by the gentle pitter patter of some worker with a “saws all” one floor below me!
Man!!
I did get back to sleep and awake later than I figured I would.
The day was rainy a dreary, but at least I did get a few hours sleep.
Soon I was packed up and only 6 miles later, I was facing the US/Canadian border. Over the bridge… (1.50 for a toll), and wait in line to show a border official my Passport that I had so proudly attained months before, and just for this moment.
It’s true… the border guard lady was one tough and assuming bitch.
I guess the thing that really surprised me is when she asked me, “Why would you decide to come to Canada on a Monday and Tuesday?”
Wow… by the time she was done with me…I did feel like I had done something forbidden.. wrong.. It was pleasure. It was pleasure! I think it was? No. No… I swear I’ve never stolen anything but cigarettes and that was in 9th grade, and I swear it wasn’t for me.. it was for a friend that said he would pay me 10 dollars and a box of rubbers.. honest. PLEASE DON’T ARREST ME!!!
Bye. Bye. Is what she said (unsmiling) and handed my passport back to me. Whew!
The roads in Canada are pretty nice. One thing I noticed was the complete lack of roadside billboard type signs. No like in Arizona, where they have a sign advertising “Willy Billie Bob’s Chicken BBQ house and pancake house” every 100 yards.
Okay, a quick primer in metrics (something us Americans REFUSE to learn, I guess)… 100 km/h is about 62 miles per hour. The kilometer is just a little short of our mile. Maybe my GPS unit was not great on directions, but it did really help me learn a short lesson on digital mileage.
I arrived in Niagara Falls shortly before 4pm, and was surprised that I could find the hotel very quickly. The nice lady checked me in… I was surprised to find I was on the 10th (top) floor of the hotel!
Wow… pretty nice. It’s an older hotel, for sure.. but it’s pretty well kept.
A walk down the street to the falls. Pretty darn kitschy.. Not quite Las Vegas, but more so than Wisconsin Dells. Actually, very much like Wisconsin Dells. Ruby Tuesday; Hard Rock Café; Ripley’s Believe it or not; The horror museum; TGIFriday’s… it was a touristy paradise.
I spent 31 dollars (American) for a Philly Sandwich and a salad. I spent 13 dollars for a six-pack of “imported American Beer”. I guess I should have listened to Gail…
But, the one thing that no matter how much they try to “tourist up”, they still cannot take away the beauty and majesty of the falls. I think of it a little like the Wisconsin Dells boat trips. Sure. Sure…as some people think, they are kind of lame… (After all, the falls is just a big waterfall or two. The Grand Canyon just a big hole in the ground, etc etc)… But seeing the falls…. And feeling the constant humid spray from those falls reminds you the awesome power of nature.
What was even better was the falls at night. The lights on the falls gave the place an eerie, painting like feel. It was beautiful!
Tomorrow, I have a very long day of driving.. the next to longest of the whole trip… 8 to 9 hours of driving to arrive at the most northern point I’ve every been, Montreal.
I must say that I can see the American side of the falls from where I was at, and I sort of long for my own Country already…. I told myself that up until this point, it would be possible to turn back and scuttle back home in just a day or two. After this, this is no turning back.
The day was rainy a dreary, but at least I did get a few hours sleep.
Soon I was packed up and only 6 miles later, I was facing the US/Canadian border. Over the bridge… (1.50 for a toll), and wait in line to show a border official my Passport that I had so proudly attained months before, and just for this moment.
It’s true… the border guard lady was one tough and assuming bitch.
I guess the thing that really surprised me is when she asked me, “Why would you decide to come to Canada on a Monday and Tuesday?”
Wow… by the time she was done with me…I did feel like I had done something forbidden.. wrong.. It was pleasure. It was pleasure! I think it was? No. No… I swear I’ve never stolen anything but cigarettes and that was in 9th grade, and I swear it wasn’t for me.. it was for a friend that said he would pay me 10 dollars and a box of rubbers.. honest. PLEASE DON’T ARREST ME!!!
Bye. Bye. Is what she said (unsmiling) and handed my passport back to me. Whew!
The roads in Canada are pretty nice. One thing I noticed was the complete lack of roadside billboard type signs. No like in Arizona, where they have a sign advertising “Willy Billie Bob’s Chicken BBQ house and pancake house” every 100 yards.
Okay, a quick primer in metrics (something us Americans REFUSE to learn, I guess)… 100 km/h is about 62 miles per hour. The kilometer is just a little short of our mile. Maybe my GPS unit was not great on directions, but it did really help me learn a short lesson on digital mileage.
I arrived in Niagara Falls shortly before 4pm, and was surprised that I could find the hotel very quickly. The nice lady checked me in… I was surprised to find I was on the 10th (top) floor of the hotel!
Wow… pretty nice. It’s an older hotel, for sure.. but it’s pretty well kept.
A walk down the street to the falls. Pretty darn kitschy.. Not quite Las Vegas, but more so than Wisconsin Dells. Actually, very much like Wisconsin Dells. Ruby Tuesday; Hard Rock Café; Ripley’s Believe it or not; The horror museum; TGIFriday’s… it was a touristy paradise.
I spent 31 dollars (American) for a Philly Sandwich and a salad. I spent 13 dollars for a six-pack of “imported American Beer”. I guess I should have listened to Gail…
But, the one thing that no matter how much they try to “tourist up”, they still cannot take away the beauty and majesty of the falls. I think of it a little like the Wisconsin Dells boat trips. Sure. Sure…as some people think, they are kind of lame… (After all, the falls is just a big waterfall or two. The Grand Canyon just a big hole in the ground, etc etc)… But seeing the falls…. And feeling the constant humid spray from those falls reminds you the awesome power of nature.
What was even better was the falls at night. The lights on the falls gave the place an eerie, painting like feel. It was beautiful!
Tomorrow, I have a very long day of driving.. the next to longest of the whole trip… 8 to 9 hours of driving to arrive at the most northern point I’ve every been, Montreal.
I must say that I can see the American side of the falls from where I was at, and I sort of long for my own Country already…. I told myself that up until this point, it would be possible to turn back and scuttle back home in just a day or two. After this, this is no turning back.
No comments:
Post a Comment