O Canada...

Well, I woke up at noon today. I could - it was my day off. It made me feel good. Then once we had lunch and the tech staff made it back from the load in of the show, 10 of us hopped in the van and headed 15 minutes up the road to experience NIAGARA FALLS! And what an experience it was. In a nutshell...it was cool. I guess literally and figuratively. Literally, it was 31 degrees and with the wind whipping off that water...MAN. Cool. Figuratively, it is this set of waterfalls (NEITHER of which are actually named NIAGARA...did you know? I didn't...one is called American Falls and one is called Horseshoe Falls. Go figure!), that have a lot of water swoooooooooshing over them and they make a lot of noise. They will also get you pretty wet if you walk close to the mist.

We went to the Canadian side - because that is the side that everyone says has more to do and a better view. It was true on both accounts...but being winter, even the Canadian side was kind of dead. For those of you trying to imagine what it's like - the best way I can describe it is: Atlantic City with waterfalls, not ocean....and no Miss America Pageant. But there DOES seem to be a slightly higher-class feeling in Niagara Falls...but only because everything comes written in English AND French...and nothing seemed to be written in spray-paint on the side of buildings. So yeah - we parked, walked around shopped, snapped 1 million pictures of the falls in during the day, ate, walked some more, shopped some more, snapped slightly fewer pictures of the falls at night, walked back to the van and drove home (only after being chosen for a random VAN SEARCH at the border. VERY exciting.)
Niagara was a great day trip - and a fun thing to add to the list of crazy things we've done, seen or experienced on this tour. I mean, it was no Tulsa State Fair...but few things are.
OH! And as far as other things going on in the world today BESIDES our trip to the falls - please click HERE to read an important article. You can thank me later for keeping you updated on the world around you.
So now, without further ado, please enjoy my photo journal of 'A Day At The Falls'.


The American Falls....(the bridge in the back is the Rainbow Bridge...taking you from the US to Canada. US is on the right. Canada the left.)


AND the Horseshoe Falls.


And the anti-climactic Falls at night.


L: Part of the group at the Falls. R: Part of the group looking ACROSS to the US-side of the falls.


Some long-awaited MATT ART SHOTS! L: Jill looks SHOCKED at something she's seen across the way. R: Elisa and Eric pose in a soft sepia tone for their wedding annoucement pictures.


L: ROOMMATE TIME! R: Me. Evidently I didn't see the small sign under my right foot.


So Jackie was the only cast member who didn't come. So, as a cast, we did the Jackie-Pose, in her honor! WE MISSED YOU JACKSON!


L: Me...pondering life's mysteries...like WHY I had to find out that Wonderfalls, one of my favorite TV shows from a few years back that was set here in Niagara Falls, was COMPLETELY fictional. No 'Surrender To Destiny' - NONE of it. I've been duped. R: Andrew in front of the falls? PSYCH! It's just a MURAL! You were SO burned...


More MATT ART SHOTS! Models Jill (L) and Andrew (R) strike a pose or two in some random stone house thing overlooking the falls. Available for purchase at fine art dealers everywhere.


L: Hoops checkin things out on the US-side of the falls. R: Hoops and Yoyo get some lady friends to strike a pose with them.


Soooo...if you can't tell from the picture, Hoops and Yoyo are SO mad at me for putting them so close to this shark. He was alive and breathing pretty much right down their necks. I snapped the shot and they were OUT of there.


My AMAZING cheesecake at Rainforest Cafe in Niagara today. It is called 'Gorillas In The Mist' on the menu - and it's a banana cheesecake with just a hint of chocolate on the top and an amazing cookie crust on the bottom. This magic earns a SOLID 9 on the MASE...and everyone was in agreement. SUCH a great dessert!


Eric and I got smashed pennies, to add to our collection! Buy WHY is he blowing on it? The answers on the RIGHT - and they were NOT kidding. SIZZLING. Weird.


We saw some STRANGE things on the streets of Niagara. But they always make for fun camera time!


So these stuffed animals were in a display case at a gift shop we went to. THEY MAKE ME FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE. What is going ON there? WHO makes these things? And am I the only one who immediately saw the 'DIRTY' in them? I doubt it.


So much FRENCH!? See what I mean? It gets ANNOYING after a while.


A picture of a picture we took today. Quite hysterical - both the picture AND the taking of it.


Everyone loading back IN to the van after our search at customs. Strangely enough, the only 2 questions they really asked us during the search were: 1) is the van a rental; and 2) have any of you been on a farm recently? "WHAT THE CRAP?" I shouted in my head.


Hoops and Yoyo ponder the success of the day. Either that, or they ponder jumping off...I can't QUITE tell. (They are STILL ticked off about that shark incident...)