MO GOES HOME

Thursday, October 10

What a busy day!  We loaded the bus this morning at 8:15 for our tour of Niagara Falls and the area.  It was quite foggy so the first view we had of Niagara Falls looked like this!  

After driving around some we went back by the falls and got a little clearer view.  Hopefully it will be even clearer tomrorow.

Our first stop was at the Mount Carmel Monestary.  This was a small church with extensive white oak wood carvings and beautiful stained glass windows.  

Several years ago the church was struck by lightning and suffered extensive fire damage,  Miraculously, none of the carvings or the stained glass windows were damaged by the fire even though the roof caved in in the sanctuary.

Front row: Terri, Barry, George, Carol, 2nd Row: Nuschi, Ruth, Jack, Lynn, Ken, Janet, Sherry, Ron,

3rd row: Udo, Ernie, Ron, Linda, Janice, Bill, Linda, Lyle, Top Row: Mary, Ron, Gilbert, Jenna, Joyce, Jerry, Eunice, Earl.

After taking a group picture on the front steps at Mount Carmel, we journeyed on to see the famous Floral Clock. The clock face is made up entirely of flowers and the stainless steel hands weigh over 1000 pounds each.  The clock chimes every 15 minutes and plays the Westminster Chimes on the hour.

Our next stop was in the town of Niagara on the Lake.  The town was founded by Loyalists from America who fled to Canada during the Revoutionary War.  It is a rather fashionable town even though it is quite old and quaint.  The downtown was lined with boutiques, pubs, bistros, and lots of "touristy" type stores.  We had lunch there and walked around the Main Street.  What I noticed the most were the flowers hanging from the lamp posts and lining the fronts of most of the stores.  They must spend a fortune on landscaping! The Prince of Wales Hotel is located in Niagara on the Lake. During the summer season rooms rent for $500 per night. We went into the lobby - it is very nice but not that nice!

    The Prince of Wales Hotel

We reloaded the bus and headed for the Joseph's Estate Winery.  

This is one of over 40 wineries in the area.  There are acres and acres of vineyards to produce the grapes.   The grape harvest begins in September and usually ends in late October.  They do a late picking in November and a final picking in January or February.   This final picking provides grapes for ice wine.  Ice wine is made of grapes that have been frozen for 3 consecutive days and are picked by hand while they are still frozen.  Usually it is -10 Celcius when they are picked.  Ice wine is very sweet and sells for $30 and up per bottle.  Asians come here and buy several cases to take home and resell for up to $500 per bottle!  We had a tasting at the Joseph's Estate Winery and had the opportunity to buy their wares.

Next we went to the Picard Peanut Store.  Here we had the opportunity to buy all different kinds of nuts and candies.  I bought a big jar of Beer Nuts and a small package of salt-water taffey.

Our next stop was at the Chocolate Fix candy factory.  

If there is one thing Adventure Caravan Tours guarantees, it is that you get to eat a lot!  The owner of Chocolate Fix talked to us about the business of making chocolate.  

     

       One of the Employees at Chocolate Fix

She gave us an informative and funny talk about her business before inviting us in to sample the different chocolates they manufacture.  Once again I had to laugh at the look of 28 senior citizens gathering around the chocolate buffet.  I know I sampled one of every variety, and there must have been 25 kinds - but I wasn't alone.

      It was a rush to the free chocolate samples.

We moved on to Lock #3 on the Welland Canal.  

      An empty ship waits to rise up in the #3 lock

   A ship comes under the draw bridge before entering the #3 Lock at the Weiland Canal.

The Welland Canal and its 8 locks are just part of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System that provides a trade route for ships moving from the Atlantic Ocean to Chicago on Lake Michigan and Thunder Bay on Lake Superior or any point in-between.  The Welland Canal and its locks were needed to help ships get around Niagara Falls.  A ship was in Lock #3 when we arrived and another was approaching.  A volunteer told us that there was a lot of ship traffic today and that would slow down their trip through the canal.  All of the 15 locks in this system are 766 feet long and 80 feet wide with a water depth of 30 feet.  Each lock holds around 21 million gallons of water and take about ten minutes to empty or fill.

The canal was first opened in 1829 and has seen 4 different sets of locks in the years since.  The first locks were made of wood with horses used to pull ships through the locks.  The 2nd and 3rd sets of locks were constucted of limestone.  The newest locks are made of concrete and steel.  The 15 locks in the system raise a ship  total of 552 feet, and the 8 locks in the Welland Canal system raise a ship 368'. The Welland Canal and its locks were needed to help ships get around Niagara Falls and comprise the tallest water staircase in the world outside of China. The canal closes from late December until late March due to cold weather. Ships coming through the canal carry a variety of cargo ranging from grain and iron ore to petroleum, coal and chemicals as well as manufactured goodsof all kinds.

We arrived back at the campground around 4:30.  Earl and Eunice asked us to go out for pizza.  The pizza place they chose was a take-out only so we brought it back to the campground and had dinner at their rig.  Pretty good pizza!  

At 8:00 we gathered in an activity room by the campground office for a end-of-trip dessert party.  Carol and Terry had prepared desserts for us and Barry and Terry passed out gifts - glasses decorated with fall colors.  

      Linda, Mary and Ron go for the desserts.

     Carol gives me her beautiful smile.

     George even mugs for the camera.

Then we went around the room sharing our favorite memories from the trip.  The recurring theme was the camaraderie among all of those on the trip.  More than once people said that it wasn't what we did, it was the people on the trip that made it special.  We were all thankful for the fellowship, helpfulness, and friendliness of our Adventure Caravan friends.  Additionally, we all agreed that the fall colors were beautiful and the many train rides, boat rides, dinners, museums, etc. were all wonderful too.  We all had a few laughs and a few tears were shed as we reminisced about our 33 days together.

Mo, or Morene - a monkey who was passed around during the trip - made his return to his home with Barry and Terry.  

As he as moved from rig to rig during the trip he has picked up many new items to help him remember his travels. Lile and Linda gave Mo a rain suit designed by "Baggy" (pronounced "bagaaaaaa"  to commemorate his ride on the Maid of the Mist tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another full day of sightseeing.  Come back  then to hear about our day.  Until then,

Happy Trails!