August 30th, 2007 - Another Adventure Begins

I managed to wake up at 9:00 AM, which is early for me, but later than I had hoped to be up. Within a couple hours, Mom and I were packed, in the van and on the road, but we weren't aiming for Canada just yet.

While printing driving directions and room information the night before, the power cord on my MacBook up and died for no reason. A couple aspects of the trip required me to be in touch with people via email, so our first stop was the Apple Store. It was a frustrating start to the trip as they told me my warranty would cover a replacement, but only if I had an appointment and they were booked solid for the next two days. Reluctantly, we bought a new one, fully intending to return it before their two-week return limit is up.

We were finally on the road toward Niagara-on-the-Lake at noon. It was a dreary, drizzly day, much like our first big trip which, in an odd coincidence, began exactly three years before. Little did we know how many parallels to that trip would pop up this time around.

Before too long, we pulled into the rest stop in Angola, New York, where we took the opportunity to play with my recently purchased new toy: a bright, shiny, Kodak Z712.

A spider on the outside of the window of the rest stop's overpass

Pictures were snapped, mashed potatoes were devoured, and the road was hit.

As soon as we crossed the border at the Peace Bridge, the sun broke through the clouds as if on cue. It was like an entirely new day. That seems to happen quite a bit on our trips, it seems strange, but you'll not catch me complaining.

I weighed the hotel options over and over again, which lead to me getting headaches over and over again, due to the absurdly high rates over the Labor Day weekend. I love staying at the Falls, but I flat out couldn't afford it, so I decided on the Hilton Garden Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which was way cheaper, a short drive from the Falls, and it looked nice enough.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I was met with a flashback to the 2004 trip. I stared across the street as I got down from the van and wondered why it all looked so familiar. The road, the freeway, the multi-restaurant rest stop, I knew I had been there before.

And then, along with a fit of uncontrollable laughter, it hit me. This was the same rest stop where we had an unforgettably hilarious experience with Grandma, and we were back, three years to the day later.

The rest stop across the way

Still chuckling to ourselves, Mom and I checked in and headed up to our room. It was a bit cramped for my chair, but it worked well enough.

We relaxed for a little bit and unwound after the drive before hopping back into the van and heading to the Falls.

As we searched for cheap (or better yet, free) parking, we noticed everyone on the streets was standing still and staring upward. After parking, we saw what all the eyes were drawn to- a tightrope walker taking a stroll high above the city. A perfect opportunity to try out the camera's zoom.

Without zoom


With zoom

The height of the wire was impressive enough, but when paired up with the distance from start to finish, it was a mind-boggling feat.

The Falls beckoned, so we headed down once the man reached the end of his walk and began to climb down. It was already getting dark as we made our way down Murray Street, but it was a beautiful evening, if a bit chilly. Another nice chance to see what the camera could do.

View of the Skylon Tower from Murray Street






The SkyWheel




The Rainbow Bridge at night










A shot of the Fallsview Casino

Our casino visit was a fun one, though brief and uneventful. We left with what we came in with, which is nice, though a jackpot would have been nicer.

Inside the casino


The fountain


Above the fountain

Bellies were a-grumblin' after a long day and lots of walking. We marched our way up to The Keg for my one splurge meal of the trip. Seated by the giant window overlooking the Falls, I had a glass of champagne and tried filet mignon. I'm not much of a steak guy, but it was tasty and enjoyable.

Then came the one bummer about not staying at The Falls. At the point where we'd normally walk back to the hotel and crash, we had to walk back to the van, load up, and drive back to the hotel. At least it wasn't too long of a drive.

On the way back to the van

Back at the hotel, I relaxed online a bit and got to sleep. Saturday's events would fill up most of the day, so I had to rest up and fit in the rest of our Niagara Falls sightseeing on Friday.

Niagara Falls 2005: Day I

As written on September 6th, 2005 at 11:12 PM

We got a slightly late start today, but that's the beauty of vacations, it doesn't really matter if you're late. Everything was packed and ready, I quickly ate a few pretzels, breakfast of champions. On the way out the door, I grabbed the one thing you should never ever leave home without, I grabbed my towel. Laugh now, just you laugh.

Mom, Kris, and I hit the road at 12:30, not too bad. The sky was clear and the air was warm, a lovely day for a drive. Just like last time, I had my iPod with a seemingly endless supply of music ready to go.
The road was smooth and traffic was minimal, but somewhere in Pennsylvania, something hit me. Y'know how you sometimes see a little something out of the corner of your eye, but when you look, it's gone? This was exactly like that, except that something hit me in the face and that something was a bee. To be more precise, it hit me directly in the lower lip. The little bugger and I met with such a velocity that he broke in half upon impact. His head popped clean off and the remains landed directly on my iPod. A photo opportunity if ever there was one.

At some point after that, a bee flew into the back of the van and stung Kris in the arm. Did my family do something to upset the bee community?

As we made our way through New York, things were smooth again. It was incredible driving past all the vineyards. You could actually smell all the grapes from the freeway, it was mouth-watering.

We took a break at the roadside rest stop in Angola. To get to the restaurants, you have to go through an elevated walkway that leads you over the freeway. A simple pleasure, but I love it.

From above, we noticed smiley faces made of asphalt on the road below.

A quick bite to eat at McDonald's and we were on our way again. We drove through Buffalo.

Then over the Peace Bridge.

And then we circled around to finally reach Niagara Falls.

We quickly found the Marriott and Mom went up to the desk to check in. It was then that Kris leaned forward for some reason, spilling water from the cooler slung over his shoulder all over the floor and my shoulder. Good thing I had...my towel! HA!
We made our way to our room and it was fantastic. The room (a 2 room family suite) was spacious and had an incredible view. Amusingly enough, we were right next door to the hotel building we stayed in last year.

A few minutes after we got in the door, our phone rang. Turns out we locked the keys in the van, so the valet couldn't park it. Kris ran down with the spare set and unlocked it.
A couple quick calls home to let people know we arrived and we were off to explore. Well, not quite yet. I wanted to load pictures to my laptop to free up space on the camera's memory stick. It was at this point we noticed Mom had left the tray for my wheelchair at the front desk. When she returned with it, Kris realized he had left his wallet in the back seat of the van. He had to take a shuttle to the van to retrieve his wallet. We seemed to be having a bumpy start at a pretty classy looking hotel. Anyway, THEN we were off to explore.

We wandered down the street and through the mall area in the casino building.

When we came out the other side, we made our way down the same enormous hill from last year. Murray St.

From there, we walked along the walkway by the Falls. As we got closer, the mist gradually intensified until in felt like rain. I breathed deeply, smiled, and tried to take in the euphoric effect of the negative ions given off by the Falls. Before I knew it, I was laughing uncontrollably. I probably looked like a maniac, but oh well. Kris and Mom weren't quite as thrilled as I was, but I think they enjoyed it.

To get back toward the hotel, we cut through a gift shop. The mist had gotten me so wet, my hand kept slipping off the controls when I tried to drive my chair. Solution? Dry off with my towel. Those intergalactic hitchhikers really know what they're talking about.

We found ourselves at the base of the hill once again. It was a real trial getting my old chair up that hill last year, but I now had my new chair. It was time to show that hill what for. I started out fast and strong, but the farther I got up the hill, the steeper it got. About halfway up the hill, there was a group of elderly folks resting on a bench. Seeing me pushing my way up, one lady spoke up.
"You oughta give an old lady a ride" she said.
"Hop on!" I replied, but I guess she decided to do it on her own.
Eventually, I made it! Now it was time to eat.

We went to the steakhouse we ate at last year because it was so good. Upon arrival, we were given a seat right by the giant window overlooking the Falls. Again, the food was fantastic, aside from my steak and baked potato, I ordered a chocolate martini.

Our waitress was cool, but a little absentminded. She confused us with another table at one point and then Kris had to ask her four separate times before she remembered to refill his Pepsi. The biggest shock was how expensive it was. I won't give a number, but let's just say I made sure I ate every last bite so I got my money's worth.

Right now we're back in the hotel room and I'm watching the Falls out the window as I type this. My eyes are trying their hardest to close, so I think I better let them. More tomorrow.

Jacob's 2004 Adventure: Part IV- Day One At Niagara Falls

Instead of waking up and seeing the cabinet in my bedroom covered with Superman memorabilia, I woke up to a view of a city stretched out far below me. The sun was out and the world was bright, I was in the midst of an adventure far from home.

I sat up and looked at the book and picture on the foot of the bed. I smiled as I saw these reminders of my wonderful experience the night before.

While we were all waking up, my aunt was on a mission. She tossed on a little outfit and went down to the front desk to talk to the morning concierge. She told her version of the story and ended up redeeming herself for being an hour late the day before. This generous concierge gave us an upgraded room for the price of the room we were supposed to have. Poor guy never knew what hit him.
We all got dressed and hauled our stuff to the new room. It was great! A living room with a couch and pullout bed, a bedroom with two big beds and a beautiful view of the Falls, a bathroom, a separate shower, and a even Jacuzzi. Style, baby.

After getting settled in, we set out for adventure.

Getting a late start, we went down to the T.G.I. Fridays that was connected to the lobby of the hotel. After a quick breakfast, we were on our way.

We walked for a while to see what we could see, then we decided on our first destination: The Maid of the Mist.
Our journey to the Maid of the Mist was roughly a half hour to 45 minute walk. It led us through the new casino, which we'd be returning to later. When we came out the other side of the casino's mall area, we were directly across the street from the Skylon Tower. One of my goals for the trip was to see the view from the top of the tower. My aunt said she'd go up with me...until she actually saw it. Apparently I was the only one of the four of us who isn't terrified of heights.

To get to the Maid of the Mist from where we were, we had to make our way down a huge hill, which was easy and I thought quite fun, but there was one thing we overlooked, on our way back we'd have to go back up that hill.
Deciding to make it easier on myself by not fighting gravity, I let 'er rip and flew down the hill. Mom matched my speed. As Grandma observed, she thought I had lost control and Mom was chasing me. With that, Grandma began chasing us while yelling to my aunt "Help your sister! Help your sister!"
We finally made it and got in line. We got our tickets and they led us down an elevator and through a long hallway. We were given ponchos, which we quickly put on, then we went aboard the Maid of the Mist.

The boat rocked as it traveled against the current and it took us practically right below the Falls. It was so incredible. The rocking, the wind, the mist spraying you. Mom thought the same effect could be achieved by going to the firehouse and having them hose you down, but I absolutely loved it. The poncho came in handy, but my legs were soaking wet for the rest of the day.

After getting back on dry land, it was time to eat. Right by the gift shop was a cute little eating area overlooking the river. There were one or two little restaurants, drink stands, live music, and a little craft stand. I decided it was souvenir time and approached the craft stand. They were selling leather bracelets that they would personalize for free if you wanted. I thought about it, I wanted one, but I didn't want it to just say "Jacob," too predictable. After some thought, it came to me. Over the past few days, I had met so many people from message boards and they kept referring to me by my message board name, "BoyOfSteel". So I picked a nice black bracelet, told the lady what I wanted it to say, and watched as she burned the letters "B.O.S." into it. After I ate me an ice cream sundae, we were once again on our way.

As we walked, I made a last-ditch effort and offered my aunt $15 for the casino if she took me to the top of the Skylon Tower. No luck. It was worth a shot. Maybe next time.
Shortly later, we found ourselves at the base of the hill, gritted our teeth, and started to make our way up. It's insane how tiring it was, even for me in my wheelchair, I felt like Frodo scaling Mount Doom. About 90% of the way up, a guy working a parking lot at the top of the hill came down and asked if help was needed. My mouth said "No thanks, I've got it" but my brain was saying "Screw you, buddy! I made it this far on my own and I'll make it the rest of the way!"

We took a breather at the top and then we headed into the casino. I had set myself a $50 limit for casino use over the entire trip. That night I lasted over an hour on $40 and the credits I won at the quarter slots. I don't think that's too bad for my first time.

Upon getting back to the hotel, we were all hungry again and decided to go to the steakhouse in the hotel. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great. Dimly lit, very friendly staff, hot waitresses, and amazing view of the Falls, which were lit up at night. I had a nice steak, a baked potato, and a drink called an "Orange Slice." The drink was okay, but went fast, everything else was fantastic!

Slightly buzzed from my drink, I followed as we made our way back to our room.

From the comfort of the room I relaxed and watched as they shut the lights on the Falls off one by one. I worked on my travel journal on my laptop, but we were so busy throughout the trip, I never even finished documenting the first day's journey to Toronto. Then it was time for bed. I had to rest up for what was sure to be another full day.