Niagara Falls

Thanks to Air Canada, Glen and I visited Niagara Falls 35 years after the first visit we did so as a couple to the falls. This time we had two of Glen's labbies with us.

How did this happen? Well, I blame Glen because he said as the plane taxied to the runway that it was great that we were leaving on time. Mintues later, one of the crew said the toilets weren't flushing so they'd have to fix them. It would take 10 minutes. The maintenance men came on board and sure enough 10 minutes later, the toilets flushed. Then for reasons known only to the man himself, one worker opened the rear emergency door. There was a whoosh then a loud hissing noise. The evacuation shute had deployed.

We returned to the terminal and deplaned. Three hours later, we took off from Calgary knowing we would miss our connection to Buenos Aires. We arrived 20 minutes after the flight to Argentina had left.

Air Canada put us up at the airport Hilton (2 nights) and gave us meal vouchers for the day (but who can get a breakfast for $10 when a glass of orange juice is $5?). It was 2:00am when we finally tumbled into bed. After sleeping in, we got a rental car and headed for Niagara Falls. It has changed over the intervening years but the falls are still the same. We ate in the restaurant overlooking them because it was 3 pm and the restaurant was empty. Just as we paid our bill, the power in the district died. Glen felt it was ironic considering the falls are a major source of power. He gave Tom and George his Tesla vs Edison lecture then we headed toward Queenston Heights.

We saw the huge dams that generate some of the power as well as Brock's Monument. We had to tell the tale of the War of 1812 and who Issac Brock was and what he did on Queenston Heights (died fighting the Americans). Then we passed through Niagara wine country and saw the Inniskillin and Jackson-Tiggs wineries. Niagara-on-the-Lake is still quaint and we saw Laura Secord's house (but not her cow--and no, her original claim-to-fame was not chocolates).

We got back to Toronto and headed to the airport about 10pm. Good thing we did as planes to Tel Aviv, London, and Frankfurt were leaving at the same time. Our plane was not full so we had a seat between us to spread out. Just as well as Glen's TV wasn't working. After a second supper at 12:30am, they dimmed the lights and we used the neck pillows I had bought and fell asleep.