Niagara Valley vines and tulips 

We have been to a tulip festival this morning. It was on a farm up the valley on the  winery route. The farm is called tulip farm and was very muddy and slippery 

In the early hours this morning we had a thunderstorm with flash lightening flashing all across the time across the sky, there was a bit of thunder and torrential rain. Hence the boggy tulip fields

There were over a million tulips and the colours and varieties were beautiful.

Everyone was allowed to pick 10 tulips in the price of their ticket so we picked 20 to give to our sweet Malaysian hostess.

This afternoon we went to find Grimsby no not Lincolnshire but here in Ontario 

We passed a town on the way here called Lincoln and close by is a town called Brigg. All three are well known place names to us! We were both born in Grimsby lincs

It was pleasant and warm to sit by the lake shores . There must be many such places all around the Great Lakes.

We got caught in traffic on the way back.

We called at McDonalds for (not burgers! But) ice cream and large Diet Coke to cool us down.

So now we are back sorting our many photos and listening to music and Netflix films

We move onto near Toronto tomorrow. 2 hour journey depending on traffic xx

no photos as probs uploading sorry ill try to add tomorrow

The skylan tower and buffalo city

It’s hot today!

The b&b where we are staying for 4 nights is so comfortable. We get a huge cooked breakfast and we are well looked after by a young Malaysian lady.

As we ate breakfast we saw a ground hog as big as a cat and a grey squirrel.

Today we went up the Skylon tower high overlooking the Niagara Falls We went early before all the coach parties arrived and there were only us and 2 other couples up there!

The 360* views were spectacular . You could see where all the river waters came from and flowed onto Lake Ontario.

As we have now so many pics of Niagara Falls in three kinds of weather 🤣🤣☔️

We decided to go to US side to a nature wildlife reserve at the Buffalo harbour.

We saw terrapins, deer , geese,yellow warbler birds, terns, dragonflies,egrets and unknown species of birds to us. But it was so hot. We went along walkways over marshes and ponds and all this was free. The lady at the info centre thanked us for coming to America as many people won’t!

We travelled back along the USA side to the border crossing further north, following the banks of Ontario 

82*f was the hottest we reached today. 

We went back to the lilac garden again just for the perfume  ….as it’s only just down the road from our b&b.

Day 5 Niagara valley  and Lake Ontario 

So today we went along the raging river as far as the Lake Ontario at Fort Ontario 

Firstly we stopped at the whirlpool. Here you can take a cable car across… we didn’t as it was closed for maintenance. 

We passed a clock made with flowers and a lilac hillside garden, especially planted for the millennium. The smell was wonderful.

. We saw the bridge separating Canada and USA

Pleased we are on the right side!

We passed some very huge houses and vineyards

The visibility is much better today so we took much better photos of the falls.

(Sorry my blog was muddled up yesterday … I don’t know what went wrong but I edited it to read properly but it relayed to you still

Muddled with yesterdays and the previous day)

Niagara Falls

Day 4

We had a good journey all the way to Buffalo and onto Niagara Falls. It only took 2 and a half hours with a stop.

We visited the American side first and parked in the national parks car park. We walked quite a way to see the roaring river and the tops of 2 of the waterfalls. The sound of the water was quite deafening. You could see across to the Canadian side and see the boats below on the water. The people were getting drenched by the spray on those boats!

Last of the big spenders we had a packet of crisps to share and a coffee each! 

We imagined it would take a while to cross the border but no we answered a few questions on Canadian side paid the bridge toll on the American side and we were there. 

Once again we parked a long way from the falls and walked a longish way to take our views and photos. 

Well what an experience it was. They are beautiful, powerful, astoundingly forceful and cover such a huge area . I hope my photos do them justice. 

More tomorrow…..

Day 3 

Never go to Syracuse

Today it is warm and sunny again

We decided to go to Syracuse to explore the town ……what a dump!

So after looking at the map we went to the nearby lake … again a bad idea

Then we thought to go to lake Ontario it was 31 miles to Fort Ontario at Oswego and that’s where we arrived in half an hour. It is amazing, the fort was built by the English in the 1770 s to guard the lakes and protect British interests. After the Boston tea party it was almost 30 years before the American flag was hoisted here. The English held out until after Independence Day thinking it would not last 

I took photos of the blurb about the history to save me writing it!

there was a cemetery with unknown soldiers buried there from the 1700s. The hearth is a memorial to all the women and children who suffered at that time in the civil war and french/ English wars

There were many birds to photo and the beauty of the calm lake scenery. We saw American robins yellow and blue birds and an osprey, many water fowl and the lighthouse and jetty’s in the distance. 

We drove through the town over the river and along the lake to the town regional park and stayed there ages in the sunshine we had such a lovely  and relaxed day there with amazing views over Lake Ontario. We drove back via the country avoiding motorways. It was fresh and green with small holdings and forests. 

Day 2 Sunday 11th May

We woke up to blue skies and sunshine with a chilly wind but not a cloud in sight 

After breakfast we set off for our long drive (half way to Niagara) to Syracuse. There is little to see here but we are using it as a stop over and to see some lakes.

We enjoyed crossing the Appalachian Hills they were covered in deciduous trees with black bark and we passed many small lakes and streams

Not much wild life a couple of deer and a few eagles soaring.

We crossed the mighty Hudson River and had a break there to view the naval ship docked for people to visit. 

On reaching Syracuse we found our hotel and then went into the town to have a dinner.

This is the Dinosaur Grill and we had a rib eye steak. Many people were there celebrating Mother’s Day in USA

Here’s just a few photos taken on route on my mobile phone 

Back in Boston Massachusetts

Day 1 Saturday 10th May

Yesterday was a very long day! But after battling the rain and wind (at Boston ) as the plane descended and circled a while. Then we had to wait on the tarmac until it was safe for the plane to proceed to the terminal. 

To accommodate the bad mist and rain they had changed the departure runways and so we had a little wait there.

This time our luggage was safely in the baggage area!

Again it took about an hour to sort out the paper work for the hire car…. 

Then sat nav was slow picking up the satellites…. It was dark and we did not know which road to go on … but eventually we got on track and 35 minutes to this hotel… 

Now it’s 5am and I’m wide awake and it’s still raining. More later as we explore Boston. We are shattered🥰🥰🥰

Today as it was raining we drove into Boston much easier in the daylight!

We got on the hop on hop off bus and had a tour of the city. 

We visited the navy museum  and went on a navy ship with cannons and sails 

We visited the scene of the Boston tea party. Only 5 people died in that “massacre”

We ended up on the waterfront and wandered round the quays. I had a fish food ice cream! Chocolate marshmallow and white chocolate bits mmmm 

At last just as we were leaving the sun shone for the first time and everything looked so different.

The carparks are very expensive but at the weekend it’s $25 each day that saved us a lot.

Day 2 in Georgetown Colorado guanella pass and the Georgetown loop railway 

It was temps in the 40*f s outside the hotel this morning… not used to that 

We had to buy another suitcase so we headed to walmarts along the high way.

The sun shone no clouds and it was soon into the 70*f 

We planned to do the guanella pass from Georgetown to Grant  up to 11669feet

(Georgetown is 8470 feet) well what’s a few more hairpin bends!

Do you know we had a lovely day amongst the aspen trees and flowing streams and a waterfall, lakes and autumn colours 

We drove up to the summit at 11,000+ ft

We also travelled down the other side to the junction with the main road. 24 miles in all. 

Back eventually in Georgetown we

Had a sandwich and a proper cup of tea at a cafe called Lilyannies. There are lots of craft and unique stores in Georgetown 

We went in the sweet store where they make all the sweets and they make ice cream …. So we had to sample😎

We went up to the station and lucky us again we watched the steam train set off and go over the iron bridge and up the valley and then saw the other train on its return. We timed it just right.

What a full last day. 

We’ve been warned to allow for weekend traffic into Denver and to allow time so we are setting off earlier than we anticipated 

But as our family know only too well we always arrive about 4 hours early!

(I’ll load some train pics up later perhaps tomorrow as they need resizing)

Turn in 278 miles to Georgetown from Moab 

We left the hotel at sunrise and enjoyed seeing all the rocks light up in the early sunshine rays, all their colours glowed red

A hot air balloon was ascending .

We passed the cars queuing to go into arches np and joined the highway 70

Turn right in 278 miles!

After 90 mins we stopped at a Starbucks

I’m longing for a Costa!

We have noticed lots of homeless people in populated areas begging for food. We have seen people living in boxes under covers on hillsides all the time we have been in USA

Now we crossed back into Colorado and followed the river Colorado The trees are showing autumnal colours mostly reds and yellows and the reflection in the river water are so pretty.

As the highway climbed higher through the mountains the road became a very scenic route.

Then we reached the aspens. With the sun on them too, they dazzled in golden beauty. We had 10 106miles of road works to negotiate at one stretch but admiring the aspens really kept us interested in our surroundings 

10630 feet  at Vail pass!

We stopped at copper mountain Leadville as the roadworks had  finished. There were pools of turquoise and navy water full of minerals as fishermen were fishing them. It is 62*f

Near to Georgetown we stopped at a rest area to take autumn pics. Well we heard this train and to our luck it was a steam train doing a loop up the mountain side

We raced for our long lenses but I gotst the best pic on my mobile 

Georgetown is Victorian and full of charm. It is set on a lake and has the loop the loop steam train. The autumn colours are stunning and there is a scenic route to drive up the mountain to the next town

We will send photos tomorrow 

Maybe we will see a bear at last?🤞

Day 2 Moab visiting canyonlands

Another hot day with no clouds just blue sky.

Today we find the needles, (fingers crossed).

Sunrise this morning was beautiful but didn’t photograph it sorry. I’ll remember tomorrow.

First stop Wilson’s arch

Excuse the sunglasses mine broke and these are our spare

Next stop the cathedral butte I think it looks more like the yellow submarine

Entering the road to canyonlands we kept stopping to capture the mountains and autumn colours in the valley. 

The valley is privately owned farmland. There was a gate and a small lake. It was padlocked but the barbed wire was down so we very naughtily went in to see the reflections in the lake.

Vince went much further away from me along the lake and he saw an animal in the water. It was a raccoon!

This is one of his photos…

Continued until we reached the visitors centre and found we took the wrong road yesterday 🤪

This time we found the view point to the needles 

There is an 8 miles hike to them but we have that a miss 🤣

We ate our lunch under shade at the visitor centre 

There was one more thing to do to see the wooden shoe arch.

On the return back to Moab the sun was high and it was 89*f there was more of a heat haze. We have really enjoyed the canyonlands. It has huge dimensions and you keep expecting a hoard of Navajo on horses to appear!

So onto our last hotel tomorrow at Georgetown Colorado.