Today we said goodbye to the beautiful Niagara Falls area and headed back west to St. Thomas, Ontario, to visit Marilyn and Collins bridesmaid, Nyla.
We got on the road about 10:00, it was 64 degrees this morning but not raining. We had to drive a little further than we expected, 145 miles today (I don't know how many kilometers that is). Marilyn and Collins reported that they had an excellent dinner last night at the Skylon, "world famous revolving dining room." They said the restaurant revolves once an hour and they were there 1 1/2 hours so they got to see the 360 of Niagara one and a half times. Collins had prime rib, which he said was very good; Marilyn ordered surf and turf, and her steak was tough. But the fireworks were just about eye level with their viewing, so they had a great evening.
Our drive today took us away from the water (Lake Erie and the Niagara River) but we went through beautiful countryside and lots of crops, which Joe always enjoys. But the first obstacle we cleared was the bridge -- and sure enough, we came under it unscathed, just like Joe measured it.
We saw fields of strawberries, potatoes, tobacco, some kind of melons, and the usual corn, beans, and wheat. And lots of flowers. And ginseng! What we thought were strawberries under some kind of black shade we learned were ginseng, and we saw lots of them. We saw lots of hothouses or greenhouses, and we don't know if they were vegetables or flowers but they really like their flowers in this part of the country. Almost every house has some kind of flower garden, and some are quite extensive. And most of the little towns (or villages as they are sometimes called here) have hanging baskets all through town.
This is Mennonite country and we did meet one horse and buggy along the road, but Marilyn's friends said it was probably Amish. There are both in this area. Unfortunately, I had to take it through the front window and the windshield wiper split my photo.
We passed a Siemens plant, and I thought they made mattresses, but Collins informed us that that was probably wind turbine blades beside the plant. Apparently Siemens makes is involved in many different industries.
We stopped at a picnic area for lunch and had a nice break. A little later, we had our excellent adventure. Joe had to take a p-break and he pulled off the road right beside a bakery. After a group discussion among the ladies (are you going, no, I'll go if you go, etc.), we all traipsed into the bakery. We were like kids in a candy store (which wasn't too far off). Everything looked yummy, and the people in line only had good things to say about everything. So we all came out carrying sacks. I didn't take my camera into the store, and by the time I told the others on the CB that I wanted to take a picture of our bounty, some of it had already been digested (especially the Brundiges coach). So here's what is left: 3 kinds of brownie squares plus a carrot cake square, elephant ears (one missing), chocolate eclairs (one missing), an individual pumpkin pie, pineapple turnovers and some other kind of turnover, raspberry I think, and homemade rolls. And that was after we narrowed down our choices to the minimum! (For the record, it lasted each of us 3 days)
We arrived at the first campground about 3:00 but there was a mix-up here -- first of all, it wasn't the right campground, and it went downhill from there. But Marilyn got it all straightened out, so we got ourselves all turned around and headed to the right campground, in St. Thomas, Ontario. Bridesmaid Nyla is fixing dinner for all of us tonight, so we got set up at the campground and then Marilyn headed over to help and visit. We followed about an hour later.
This is a beautiful campground, but pretty wet. Joe had to move over from where he initially backed in and made some significant ruts. He said if we had done this yesterday we probably would have gotten hung up.
Nyla and Earl have a lovely home out in the country. He is a grain farmer, raises some cattle. With Marilyn's arrival, they forgot to start the beef tenderloin on the grill on time, so dinner was a little later than planned, but it was lovely, and delicious. We had a fun time getting acquainted, then they taught us how to play some silly card game called "99" which was a lot of fun and laughs. We didn't leave until 11:00, then had to wind our way back through town to the campground, but it was a great evening. We watched for deer (they have a lot in this area) but didn't see any.
Friday morning -- we don't have any specific plans for today. It was 55 degrees when I woke up at 7:00 so I turned the furnace on and went back to bed. I got up about 8:30 and I imagine everyone else is up (except Joe), but I don't see anyone moving around. It's a beautiful morning, clear and sunny. Looks like a good day.
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