1997 Niagara Trip

Niagara Trip

June 7 , 1997 th

It was around 3:30 in the morning. Neither of us could sleep anymore. We were just too excited. So I got up and made coffee while I washed the dishes and Janette unplugged the air mattress. We busily darted around the room like a couple of green-bottle flies as we eagerly got dressed and selected our last minute items to pack. We just couldn't wait to start our day! This was it! Our legendary, traditional annual Niagara Weekend!!! And this would be our third trip there together. It seemed like we'd been talking about this journey all winter. Last year's trip had been a disappointing washout. But this year we were willing to go back and give Niagara another chance! Are we gluttons for punishment or what? I put on my purple dress I'd been cheated out of wearing on our previous journey due to the cold, wet weather we'd had on that day. With it I wore my long, dangly Baroque-style earrings with the big black stones that I had bought at the mall in Zuitermeer when mom and I went to Holland in 1990. Those are my favorite earrings and I've probably worn them on every Niagara trip so far. I also wore my Baroque-style pin with the pale turquoise-green glass gemstone and three pearl drops. Janette wore her beautiful ruffled sun dress she bought at a yard sale a couple weeks ago. It's black with flowers in pink, blue and mint green and she added pink lace to it to make it even prettier. We still had time to kill so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of the Dutchies and chocolate chip muffins Janette had brought while we drank our coffee and watched “Kids Can rock and Roll” on video. It just happened to be the episode with KIDEO's video “In a World of Black and White” which was filmed there with Ace and Buddy singing in front of the American Falls and much of the footage at Tivoli Miniature World, which sadly doesn't exist anymore. At around 5:00 a.m we could no longer settle so we grabbed our bags and left the house. The first bus going to Niagara left at 6:45 a.m and we wanted to be on it! The TTC bus we took only went as far as the Bloor and Dufferin subway station and we still had at least three quarters of an hour until that opened at six, so after getting bored waiting for the next bus to take us the rest of the way to Dundas, we walked to the next stop and caught it in front of the mall. However, when we got off at Dundas, we still had to wait at least another 20 minutes. The street cars don't start until 6:00 either. So we headed east and walked several blocks until we finally saw one coming and managed to flag it down between stops. Excitedly, we got off at the Bay & Dundas Toronto Coach Terminal where we hurried to get our tickets. There was practically no lineup so we hardly had to wait at all. After we got our tickets, Janette held fort with the luggage while I visited the ladies' room. On my way back to our seats I was approached by a man who explained to me that he was trying to raise money so he could get a ticket to Huntsville. My heart went out to him so I gave him a five dollar bill. He had left his newspaper where we were sitting and I leafed through it as Janette told me she'd given him some money too, but unfortunately it felt like he was trying to chat her up when he kept talking about this article in the paper that had made the front page; a topless woman had crashed a senior citizen's party at Nathan Phillips Square! Soon it was time to get on the bus. It was frustrating to see how many last minute stragglers seemed to suddenly appear out of the blue, some with a million questions for the driver. A couple came on board with a baby. One guy even had to have his cigarette before getting on the bus. “Got a water-pistol?” I joked to Janette. Finally our bus pulled out of the terminal. It

was just then that the baby would have to start squawking. Fortunately, the noise didn't last very long and the baby actually slept and remained silent for the rest of our journey. Our journey seemed to go quickly even though Janette was feeling a bit queasy and the sky was growing darker. My heart sank as raindrops hit the windshield. “Not again!” I thought. “Let's play “Spot-the-Tower” Janette suggested as we neared Niagara. “Great idea!” I agreed. Janette already knew where to look, as her many previous journeys gave her the “Home Court Advantage”. However, I was the one with the window seat. “YESSS!!” I shrieked so loudly I startled myself as the familiar structure appeared on the horizon. Immediately, I apologized to Doug, our poor driver as we'd been sitting right up front and probably startled him too. “Excited about your weekend, aren't you?” he said. The bus stopped at the downtown terminal, but we stayed and got off at the new casino which was within walking distance of the Sunset Motel where we were staying. The rain started again and it was starting to get rather cold out as we picked up our luggage. The casino looked oppressive and ominous, at least to us who felt like we were in another century as we gloomily trudged our way along to the motel while the rain got worse. The less said about my mood and the hotel clerks' attitudes, the better. We were both soaked as we entered our room and as soon as Janette went into the bathroom, I dropped to my knees and cried. It was pouring outside and I was scared of history repeating itself. “Oh God!” I sobbed, feeling for the moment as if we'd really been abandoned by Him “What have we done to deserve THIS AGAIN!!??” The weather reports never predicted this. With a sigh, I turned on the TV. Saturday Morning Cartoons. “Life With Louie” was on Global Kids TV.” We ate the chocolates and turnovers that Ruth, my landlady, had given us as we cuddled our favorite dolls and watched the episode about the cow that was stuck in a tree. A second episode was starting about a fair when miraculously the rain cleared away. Relieved, we put our jackets back on and made our way down to Clifton Hill. On our way there, we encountered another brief sprinkle before we popped into a favorite gift shop. While Janette was trying to decide which pretty, glitzy bracelets to select, the woman on the radio blurted out “The weatherman didn't predict this yesterday! The rain's going to be here all day! Sorry!” She sounded so sickeningly cheerful and smug I wanted to hurl! “We've been jinxed!” I fumed. After Janette picked out two bracelets, it was time for me to seek out my special treasure—my mask!! Which one would it be? There were so many the same that collecting them was beginning to lose its challenge. We went into about 3 or 4 shops before I made my selection. I finally decided on one with a pink and gold lacy ruffle, gold beads, a pink flower painted on her forehead and a luxurious cloud of soft, pale-pink pink feathers. I named her “Rhoda” because the colour of the feathers reminded me of the rhododendrons we saw at Oakes Garden Theatre which is where we went next.

We enjoyed a peaceful idyllic stroll along the enchanting walkways and delightful nooks and crannies of Oakes Garden Theatre. The first picture I took was of some dreamy purple wisteria hanging down. I took two in case one didn't turn out as Janette had been having trouble with her camera about a month ago when she changed the battery and the film wouldn't advance properly. Fortunately, it was only a small problem, easily solved and the man in the camera shop didn't charge her a cent and the camera has worked fine ever since. We took several more pictures of the gardens and each other posing amidst the tranquil scenery. I got Janette to take one of me, dancing, twirling around in front of this trio of archways, almost akin to the picture she took of me in that stone shelter on our first trip One of my favorite parts of this place was this shady pond where trees similar to weeping willows dropped their hanging tendrils. We took one or two pictures there. One thing we noticed as we wandered these delightful pleasant groves was how secluded and peaceful it was there on this particular morning. Hardly anyone was there. They were probably all either gambling at the casino, milling about in the gift shops or gathering around the Horseshoe Falls. The sky was still pretty gray and overcast but at least nothing was falling from it for the time being. However, we were getting pretty hungry. Time for lunch! But it was only 11:15! The family restaurant we used to enjoy last year didn't serve lunch until 12:00. After pouring over the menu for several minutes we basically concluded that there was no way our stomachs were in the mood for breakfast stuff! So we made like a couple bananas and split!! They recommended the Golden Griddle, our favorite restaurant, well beloved for the generous servings we've enjoyed there....NOT!! (Note: it's changed since then!) We went into one or two more places but it was the same story! No lunch until twelve! And we were both starting to feel rather fractious! In fact I was all set to throw in the towel and go to the nearest Burger King, but Janette was determined to find us a decent place with some Style!!! And her suggestion paid off! Up the street, past the “Rock Legends” wax museum (“Oh wow! Let's go there next! I hope we see KISS there!!” I exclaimed) we found the Lotus Garden Chinese restaurant. It was almost 11:30 now and that's when this wonderful place already started serving lunch. So I ordered the chicken fried rice with shrimp and and egg roll. Janette ordered chicken balls with chicken fried rice, beef with vegetables and an egg roll. Both our combo plates came with wonton soup and we ordered coffee. As usual, I poked my fork into my creamer to “milk the cow”, squirting four tiny jets into my cup. It was an enjoyable meal and we were both pretty full by the time we were finished. In fact, Janette couldn't finish her meal so I used my chopsticks to help myself to morsels from her plate. There was a Shriner's Convention in town that weekend and as we ate, two Shriners in costume' an Indian and Danial Boone, rode past us on motorcycles decorated to look like canoes. When we finished eating, paid our bills and left, we headed straight for the Rock Legends wax museum. A lady outside gave us a coupon for a dollar off the admission as we admired the life-sized waxworks of Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley. They all looked so real, especially Elton John. In fact the only thing that took away from the realism was the noticeable lack of nose hair. They did a great job on the whisker stubble, however. Inside we were greeted by the likenesses of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Diana Ross

and of course, the Beatles and Elvis to name a few. There was Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltry, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and an especially adorable-looking Jim Morison! He was soooo cute! Then right behind me was David Bowie with bright red hair and a futuristic silver costume. Then I turned the corner and gave a shriek!---”KISS!!!” I hollered making poor Janette jump! Right in front of me was none other than the one and only “samurai bass player” himself, Gene Simmons, complete with his famous protruding tongue, although not as long as I've seen it in real life. I mimicked the well-known expression while Janette took our picture together. How it will turn out I won't know until it's developed, as the waxworks were all behind glass and I hope the flash didn't make too much of a reflection. “Gene Simmons 1975--”Rock and Roll All Nite”” it said on the plaque. Ace, Paul and Peter weren't there, although I would have liked them to be, but I guess they chose Gene because he's basically the star of the show. This was the Heavy Metal room and he stood amidst Ozzy Osbourne, Angus Young and a few others. We then saw Frank Zappa, Madonna (who was actually dressed quite modestly for a change in a long, black pantsuit with her hair coiled in a braid around a high, long ponytail) and a few others including Johnny Rotten and an extremely vicious-looking Sid Vicious. “Who hurled in your Wheaties, dude?” I said to his angry, snarling face. “I hope we don't have nightmares.” said Janette. We reached the exit sooner than we thought we would so before we left we just had to have another look around. I wanted one last look at Gene Simmons before we emerged out into the gift shop were I bought several KISS postcards. Janette bought some postcards too. We wound our way down Clifton Hill, popping into a few other shops in the process. The Fantasy Fudge Factory sold not only fudge, but various toys, stuffed animals and puppets. I played with the fuzzy purple ostrich-like bird whom I made give his distinctive call of “Brrrrkaa-kaa-whoot!” We then bought our passes and enjoyed riding the “poople mever” as we call it, to the lilac gardens. There we enjoyed just leisurely wandering among the luxurious assortment of blooming bushes, amazed by the variety, breathing in the sweet fragrances of as many as possible Some lilacs were big and bushy like a purple clown's wig. Others were really dear nook and grew in tiny white puffs like a bunny's tail. And there were many other different kinds in between, many having their own unique scents. We thought we saw some yellow lilacs from the 'poople mever” but they only looked yellow in the distance. Up close they were really more of an off-white. We ate “Drumstick” ice cream cones as we wandered the grounds. “Are you still game for the Butterfly Conservatory?” I asked Janette. “Oh yes! I think so!” she exclaimed cheerfully. We made our way to the Floral Clock to wait for the next “poople mever”. There was an open room at the back of the clock where one could go to see how it worked. In front, there was a moat, surrounding the clock where we could watch the goldfish swim. We then took the “poople mever” to the new Butterfly Conservatory and when we got out it started to rain again. We hurried to get into the conservatory. Once we paid our admission, we were led to an auditorium to watch a seven-minute video about the Niagara Parks, school of horticulture and this glorious new place. Once inside the conservatory, we lingered in reverent awe as we watched with fascination the many different types of butterflies that flew around

freely within their own special biosphere. It was like and indoor tropical rain forest, complete with its own waterfall and sometimes the occasional butterflies would even land on people. A woman stood there with a big one on her head like a living hair ornament. A small one with brilliant green stripes kept hovering around us, fascinated by our colourful jackets. Many butterflies helped themselves to a “buffet” of fruit left for them on various platters. Outside it was really starting to pour, but we were safe and dry in here, just watching, carefully savoring every moment. The Butterfly Conservatory is one of those places you just can't rush! We noticed several chrysalids in the window of a special nursery where they hung looking like jewels. Soon new butterflies would emerge from these pods, ready to be released into this salubrious biosphere. However it did get rather crowded in there and we eventually made our way to the gift shop where I bought more postcards. We then caught the “poople mever” ans took it to the Skylon where we stopped for a ride on the carousel on our way back to our motel. We got a man to take a picture of us on our horses. We then had a rather slow, sedate ride. Nobody stopped me from riding sidesaddle. We noticed that the Flying Carpet video exhibit we had done last year had been moved. Last year it was out in a shop near Oakes Garden Theatre and we were probably among the first customers to try it. Now it was here in the Skylon amusement area and this Chinese family, a mother with two small children were really getting into it. They made the ride look even more realistic with the way they were clutching and shaking the carpet's edges and rocking from side to side. Back at the motel, even though it was still raining just a little bit, crazy as tit sounds, I wanted to go for a swim. After all one goes swimming to get wet anyway. The thought took me back to the days in my childhood when my cousins and I used to rock back and forth, kneeling on our inner tubes at Aunt Jean and Uncle Alex's pool in the rain, pretending to have a storm at sea. However, with no lifeguard on duty, I had to find another way to make a splash. So after writing a couple of postcards, while Janette changed into her evening clothes, I slipped into a luxurious, hot bath. That's one of the things I look forward to about staying in a motel room. My own apartment only has a shower, so soaking in a tub is a rare treat which I gratefully appreciate when I have the chance. Janette wore her black pants and a white blouse topped by her glitzy black-and-soap-bubbleiridescent metallic top. When I finished my bath I donned my lacy white blouse, tiger-striped vest, pearl earrings and the notorious hand-embroidered KISS jeans! Those jeans were my special winter project with Paul and Peter on my right leg and Gene and Ace on the left. They took me about two weeks in February, and now as I frantically futzed around with my hair, wishing I could make it “bigger” I was almost ready to party in some fine Style!! We made our way down the street and stopped at the drugstore where I bought three bags of salt water taffy. One was to share at work with Maggie and Alzira, one was for Ruth, my landlady and one was for myself, but I'll probably share it in church. These were cheaper than the ones we usually get, but also a different assortment of flavours.

Supper was at a place called the Filling Station. We had noticed it during the day as we'd passed it with its old-time Sunoco pump outside the front door and both agreed that it looked like a fun place to eat at. There was a Petroliana theme everywhere with gas pumps elsewhere and the food on the menu was all named with auto mechanics terms. I think the chicken wings were referred to as “Piston Pumpers” or something like that, which is what we had, served with fries and raw veggies. I had honey-garlic and Janette had plain. When we finished our meal, we popped into a few other gift shops as we approached Clifton Hill. I wanted to take another look at the Rock Legends gift shop. There in the window I saw a gorgeous KISS patch. It was the only one left, so I was glad that the man working there was willing to get it out of the window for me so I could buy it. I also bought a Gene Simmons key chain. Karaoke singing was fun! This was our first time since those times we used to go to the Grand back in Lindsay. Our first number was (what else?) “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” I guess you could say that's our theme song! The deejay got a kick out of our colourful jackets and my crazy KISS jeans. “I feel like I'm on acid!” he teased. Our second number was “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers. On the S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!” I encouraged the audience to participate. “Crazy KISS Jeans” became the nickname I was known by whenever the deejay called us up on stage. We were “good smurfs” this year. We only had one drink each. I had a beer and Janette had a Caesar, unlike last year's slovenly scene at Tommy Ryan's. Oh well, aren't the flowers lovely. We also sang “Surrender” by Cheap Trick and I went solo on Buggles' “Video Killed the Radio Star” before we decided to “call it a George” and go to see the Falls, illuminated. Our first glimpse of the Falls was the American Falls lit up in blue, green and red (You-knowwho's colours!!) We wandered along enjoying the spectacle as the colours changed. The Skylon, hidden in the fog, looked strangely like a U.F.O as its circles of lights flashed. As we neared the Horseshoe Falls, the fog surrounding the tower decreased in density, making its silhouette more distinct. Lights on the Horseshoe and American Falls changed colour gradually. There were purple, yellow and magenta shades. Photos could not do it justice. This is one of those things that must be seen live and I was so glad to be able to see this at last, having been cheated out of it last year. Last year when we arrived on the Friday night, it had been way too foggy to see anything at all and way too rainy on the Saturday to be bothered to go back out again. Now here I was finally seeing the illuminated Falls at night. Janette had talked about wanting to go back and do more Karaoke singing, but I knew for our safety that we should soon “Mosey on back to the Ranch.” The gift shop was already closed and so was the information centre. We'd have to wait until tomorrow to pick up any pamphlets. We asked about the Waltzing Waters, to find out that they don't have it anymore, then we took the Incline Railway up to our street. We thought it would be nice to stop for a nightcap at our beloved all-night ice cream parlour, near the Maple Leaf Motel where we stayed last year. Unfortunately, that place doesn't exist anymore. It had been replaced by some new sports tavern. It was around midnight when we were back in our motel room, both of us thoroughly tired. We didn't even bother with bedtime banter as we drifted off to sleep rapidly....

Only to be rudely awakened at around 2:00 a.m by the inconsiderate assholes listening to loud music in the next room. It was so bad that earplugs didn't really matter. They don't stop the beds from shaking. I wanted to phone the front desk to complain, maybe even the police, but we noticed much to our shock that this room had NO PHONE! We quickly pulled our street clothes on over our nightgowns and stormed down to the main desk but it was closed. Feeling utterly frustrated, we went back to our room where I turned on the TV and watched cartoons until we could go back to sleep. I also gave the wall a few good hard bangs in hopes that those idiots next door would get the message. The next morning, Sunday, June 8th, we were up bright and early and we just couldn't wait to start our day. The sun was shining and the sky was blue, but it still felt a tad nippy outside, so I wore my black skirt with the airplanes and my coil top. Janette wore her orange, yellow and red outfit. We went to a place just up the street that served a good hearty breakfast buffet. So we loaded up our plates in some fine style! Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, French toast....”Gordon Bennet! You're going to have to ROLL me out the door!” I joked to Janette. After breakfast we strolled down Clifton Hill and cut through Victoria park on our way to the Falls. We stopped to admire a beautiful fountain. Then we made our way to the Falls. Time for the annual tradition of taking each other's picture in front of the Falls and then getting someone else to get one of us together. We walked back up through Victoria park again, admiring the colourful rhododendrons. In awhile we were back in our motel room to take a final check and make sure we had everything packed before we grabbed our bags and checked out. Janette wanted to find a shortcut other than Clifton Hill. Unfortunately, this so-called shortcut led us way off course and we ended up wandering around for over an hour before we could get down to the “poople mever”. Good thing I had changed into my colourful tank top. The coil shirt would have been excruciating in this heat. At the stop where we were dropped off, I bought a slab of rocky road fudge. Then we went to the bus terminal to cram our luggage and jackets together all in one locker. We bought something to drink and I got my 6-49 ticket at the corner store before we caught the next “poople mever” heading in the direction we wanted to go. It was already at the stop so we had to make a mad dash for it, waving frantically! We had talked about the Great Gorge trip but decided instead to devote the rest of this day to th U.S side. We got off at the next stop and wandered up through Oakes Garden Theatre once again, on our way to the Rainbow Bridge. The view across the bridge was wonderful and I kept wanting to take pictures. I kept walking further in hopes of composing my shot to include both the Skylon and Minolta tower. Once on the other side, we found ourselves amidst the beautiful parks. A woman in turn-ofthe-century attire informed us that a historical walking tour would be leaving almost immediately. We thought about it but decided not to go as it cost $10.00.

There was a unique fountain with arching jets of water overhead that could be walked under. I couldn't resist the urge to stick my head in the water, hoping to just get my hair a little wet but instead I wound up drenched from head to toe! My “poople-mever” pass wouldn't stick anymore so I had to borrow one of Janette's buttons to pin it to my top. We took the elevator down to the lower level where we wandered around a bit and saw people getting on the Maid of the Mist. There was hardly a lineup, whereas the Canadian docks were chock-a-block. We'd always wanted to go on this and since it was less crowded on the U.S side, we agreed it would be a priority on next year's list. Janette's been on it before, but from the Canadian side, of course. In a little while we went up to Goat Island. Much of the day seemed to go by in a blur as we enjoyed the peaceful surroundings and watching the water flow. The Gorge trip probably would have been a bit redundant. We stopped for lunch and had excellent 100% all-beef hamburgers. No soybean filler here. We both agreed that these were well worth the $5.00 Canadian we had to fork out and for dessert I treated us to a container of strawberry Chill. The frosty, sherbet-like concoction really hit the spot on this hot day. Next we went to Cave of the Winds. We paid our fare and gave our shoes and stuff to the man at the desk who put it all in a bag on a numbered shelf and gave us our identification tag and special slippers so we wouldn't slip on the wet boardwalk. We went and got our raincoats which we eagerly put on. My ponytail got caught and Janette had to come over and carefully “de-Velcro-ize” me. We waited in line with several other yellow-clad tourists before we followed our guide to the elevator. Once outside the elevator we went through a long tunnel where sound echoed and it was hard not to resist the urge to make crazy noises. Outside the tunnel our guide gave us a few details about this trip. It was called “Cave of the Winds” because a long time ago there really used to be a cave there. Unfortunately, the cave caved in in 1922, killing three tourists. I pulled up my hood quickly to avoid being bombed by the many seagulls hovering around overhead. Up on the Hurricane Deck, we were as close as we could get to the Falls as they cascaded almost within reach, drenching us in their mist as nearly two inches of water engulfed the boardwalk on which we stood. It was such an overwhelming and awesome spectacle that I found it hard to look directly at it even without the problem of my glasses being spattered. Looking directly at the falls before me created a peculiar dizzying sensation that brought forth quite a few spontaneous whoops and shrieks and nearly left me breathless. No wonder this is a popular spot for honeymooners. The legendary positive ions were taking their effect. I managed to shut certain thoughts out of my mind as I admired the many rainbows that appeared in the spray. As we left the deck, we asked a man if he could get our picture together. “A ladybird! A ladybird!” exclaimed Janette. Unfortunately, as we looked to admire the tiny insect on the railing, the man who was with the man who took our picture flicked it away.

“Meany!” I grumbled as we both gave him dirty looks, hoping the dear little creature wasn't hurt. When we finished our Cave of the Winds tour we went up to the gift shop where I couldn't resist the tiniest little dear nook coffee cup with my name on it. Actually, there were many cups available with different names and it was also possible to buy pins, necklaces and little pieces of doll house furniture on which to display them. As I paid for my purchase, I joked to the cashier “It must be pretty strong cappuccino to be served in a mug like this!” We went outside and walked around a bit until we came to the Horseshoe Falls from the U.S side. I had a bit of a challenge trying to photograph a red-winged blackbird. Janette was telling me that this was where Roger Woodward's sister Deanna was rescued. In another gift shop I was admiring another patch I wanted to sew on my denim bag. This one said “Cave of the Winds, Niagara Falls” and had a picture of a teddy bear in a raincoat. Janette saw some beautiful jewelery she really liked. “Should I?” she wondered. “GO for it!” I encouraged her as I debated as to whether or not to get that patch as money was running low. “Uh, step outside for a minute.” she said, but couldn't surprise me as I knew what she was thinking. I waited outside and sat on a stone wall. A few minutes later Janette came out. She'd bought me that patch. “Wow! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed “I just can't wait to sew this on my bag!” Now I had three new ones this weekend. The first was a small blue crest of the Horseshoe Falls, then there was the KISS patch I got at the Rock Legends store and now this one. We sat on the fence for awhile and relaxed. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing more exploring. It's kind of a blur to figure out what exactly happened when, but we had a wonderful time admiring the scenery and watching the water flow. At one point we sat in a quiet corner and let our feet dangle in the water which felt icy cold at first, yet was soothing and invigorating. Later we sat down somewhere else and finished off the rest of that fudge together. We pretty much had to drag ourselves away from the beauty and tranquility of these peaceful park lands. Janette then treated me to the “Heroes of Niagara” wax museum. It was fascinating! Some of the barrels used in various Niagara descents were on display there with images of some of the most famous people associated with Niagara, including Annie Taylor. Various stories and anecdotes were posted around including one that said that an ice blockage caused the falls to actually stop running for 30 hours. Local residents were shocked by the sudden unearthly silence. After we left the museum, we looked around in a couple more gift shops as we reluctantly tried to tear ourselves away from the U.S. Even the gift shops were more peaceful. There was none of that irritating feeling of being in everyone's way or anyone in ours. Even children there were quieter and more well-behaved! We hardly heard one crying all afternoon. However, when we came out of the last gift shop a little girl was making a big fuss. “She must be from Canada.” I joked to Janette “She probably doesn't want to leave the States either.” Reluctantly, we soon made our way back across the Rainbow Bridge to the Canadian side of the border, where we took our last stroll through Oakes Garden Theatre and headed up to

Clifton Hill for the last meal of this particular journey. We went back to the Lotus Garden, the same Chinese restaurant as we'd been to the day before. Janette ordered chicken in a basket and I had what she'd had for lunch the day before. This time I was the one who couldn't finish everything on my plate. Now comes the part I dread writing about; the journey home, or at least the circumstances surrounding it that almost ended out little holiday on a sour note. Er must have sat there for over half an hour waiting for the “poople mever” to show up, so when it didn't I went into the gift shop to inquire only to be told that they already stopped running at six! I was furious! With less than half an hour to get to the bus terminal this unpleasant surprise was the last thing we needed. And worst of all, nobody seemed to want to help us as we ran and even tried to hitchhike. I tried to flag down passing motorists with my thumb and a crudely scrawled sign “BUS TERMINAL PLEASE” written in lipstick on the back of an “Old Time Photos” brochure. I'll spare you the rest of the gory details. Finally, out of the blue with only about ten minutes to spare, a white taxi cab appeared. We were able to flag him down and got in quickly, relieved and grateful. “Praise the Lord!” I sobbed, so relieved I was crying, “God must have sent you!” “He certainly must have.” the driver agreed, “I don't usually go this route.” It was truly a miracle indeed, as up until then there were no cabs to be seen anywhere! I honestly felt kind of embarrassed with myself for not trusting God as much as I should have but thankful we didn't have to hitch-hike because God didn't want us to and in fact was likely trying to protect us. This was yet another example of His perfect timing and as we got out at the bus terminal, Janette gratefully handed the driver $6.00 worth of toonies and told him to keep the change even though our ride was only $4.50. We made it to the terminal just in time to catch our bus with less than five minutes to spare. I remember very little about the journey home except for the so-called courtesy stop at Union Station. We wanted to get off there too, but it was strictly for passengers who only had carryon luggage and ours was underneath. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving and in the midst of all this commotion, someone's baby, who had been sleeping peacefully during the majority of the trip, had awakened quite irritable and cried all the rest of the way to the bay and Dundas terminal. Although, this is backtracking, another thing I remember about homeward journey was having to use the washroom on the bus. As luck would usually have it, I was just finishing my business during the curviest, swerviest part of the trip and it was quite the conundrum to keep my balance on my way back to my seat. I grabbed for the back of one of the seats and much to my embarrassment, grabbed the top of one of my fellow passenger's heads! It could have been worse! At least it wasn't someone wearing a wig! The End