A little bit of America...

Hello!  I know this is a blog about my Canadian adventures, but whether or not we like to admit it, here in Southern Ontario we're quite close to America.  Also, I've had some requests for another blog post.  So, for cryin' in the sink, here we go!

About a week ago, my friends and I decided to go to "the states".  We live closest to the border crossing at Niagara Falls.  It's frequently busy, but we went at about 9pm so it was not bad at all.  We got right through.

Niagara Falls is a unique place.  There are actually 3 waterfalls there.  The Horseshoe falls (a.k.a. the Canadian Falls) are the best.  Let's not beat around the bush.  They see 90% of the Niagara River's water.  The other 10% is split up between the other 2 falls: the American Falls, and the Bridal Veil Falls.  Here's an aerial map of the location:

The Island in the middle is called Goat Island.  You can see 2 bridges coming down from it.  We traversed both bridges which was quite the experience.  The rapids that flow under them were very strong.  Here's a picture taken from the beginning of the bridge, with Canada and the Skylon Tower in the background:

After that, we continued walking towards the falls and ended up right beside them, where this picture was taken:

In the background on the right of this picture, you can see a tree with a few lights around it.  Around that, there was another platform which we made it to, and that's where this picture was taken:

And that was pretty much it.  The American side of Niagara Falls provides a different perspective than what most of us Canadians are used to.  Firstly, you can be very close to the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls, and there are lots of trails and trees around you instead of casinos, hotels and Clifton Hill.

That's all for now!  Tomorrow I get my schedule for the second semester of school so that will be exciting.  I'm looking forward to new classes!

I'll post again soon, so don't worry!

Maple Syrup Festival

Saturday was the world's largest Maple Syrup Festival!  It took place in Emira, Ontario.  Elmira is close to Kitchener, but its closest well-known neighbour is St. Jacob's.  There are lots of Mennonites there who drive their horse and buggy along the side of the road and such.  It's always a nice experience to go there and see their quilts and taste their baked goods and such.

Anyway, back to the festival.  We got there at 8am, and it was already PACKED.  There were tons of people there.  It was also really cold, but luckily I was prepared for the weather and dressed in layers!  It had snowed the night before, so that provided a nice back drop to some of my pictures!

We got to go into the Sugar Bush (which is just a forest with tapped trees) and see the sugar shack!  It was very interesting to see how maple syrup gets from the tree to the bottle.  Then, we explored the festival and finished it off by watching a dog show (indoors where it was relatively warm!)

Here are some pictures!  It was great fun!!

Our ride from the parking lot to the festival

A pancake!

The beginning of the festival.  There were more than 100 vendors!

This was our ride into the sugar bush, which you can see in the background

The sugar shack!

mmmmmmmm.  Maple candy straight from the source!

Lumberjack log cutting contest!

Yes, the whole experience was really fun.  There were lots of things to see and do, and no shortage of maple syrup, that's for sure!  For more info and probably more pictures, you can go to their website by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!