So we woke up relatively early on Monday, September 5 (actual Labor Day) and headed on the road back to Niagara Falls. We had all filled out the online ArriveCAN app on our phones to get into Canada. After my last horrifying adventure with the Canadian border (in pre-pandemic 2019--I believe I wrote about it here), I was concerned about getting beyond the border without a hassle. In fact, I felt a bit anxious about it the entire drive to Niagara Falls.
As usually happens when I worry about something, the actual source of the anxiety ends up being completely uneventful, and in this case the Niagara Falls Canadian border patrol guard was a perfectly polite and kindly fellow who let us in with a smile.
Nora was excited because it was her first time in Canada and she was able to add another stamp to her passport.
Despite overcast skies, misty rain, and a chill in the air, the Canadian falls were delightful and worthy of multiple photographs. The general eeriness of the cloudy conditions may have made Niagara Falls even more awe-inspiring.
We probably spent a good two hours in Niagara Falls, Ontario--making this easily the most time I have ever spent at this particular natural wonder. (I had previously been to the falls in 1993 and 2015. I don't think Lynda and I stopped there in 2000. If we did, I have no memory of it).
After poking around in the massive Niagara Falls visitors' centre (note Canadian spelling), we set off for Sarnia. Sadly, this is one of the most boring drives in Canada. There is not much to see beyond the drab office parks, shopping strips, and factories along the highway. We did, however, make a pit stop at an A&W restaurant in St. Catharines and a Tim Horton's in the charming small city of Ingersoll (near London). The Ingersoll sojourn only happened because I accidentally blew past the highway rest area.
After Ingersoll, the rest of the journey home was fairly uneventful. There was a bit of a hold-up getting into the U.S. after crossing the Blue Water Bridge. The final hour stretch home was livened up by a 1980s dance music mix on some forgotten Sirius radio station.
So as you can see, we had quite a wide-ranging and active five-day vacation.
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