Friday, June 12, 2009 – Day 15
We drove from our free lakefront overnight parking spot in Parry’s Sound to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful little town that is not only upscale but also shows a person what this part of Ontario probably looked like 50 years ago. As we drove through the small village there were plenty of people walking along the streets and one got the feeling that this was small town Ontario, yet so close to the big cities.
After driving through the town we drove to the registration office of Whirlpool Jet Boats to experience a boat trip on the rapids of the Niagara river. Although these jet boats don’t go up to Niagara Falls themselves, they went up to the “Whirlpool” and some level 5 rapids. We had the choice of going in a covered boat or an open boat. Kirsten and our 6 year old Eli went for the covered boat (Eli was a little too short of the requirements to be in the open boat).
Alyssa, Jaeden, Dailin, Orin and I however went an hour later (we had to do a baby swap as they are not permitted on either boat) we chose to go on the open boat. This was a thrilling ride better than any amusement park get-wet ride. We ripped up and down the rapids in the 1500 horse power boat that glided on the top of the water. As the driver spun in circles we all got sprayed with water. Further up the river we raced up and down Devil’s rapids and litterally got drenched in the process. Fortunately it was a hot sunny day and so we didn’t mind cooling off as we held on tight. I especially enjoyed watching Orin’s (my 8 year old) face as the wave of water came over and doused us.
A Mistake Crossing in to New York
I thought I was informed earlier in the week that we had been invited to the Aquarium of Niagara Falls. When we looked on the GPS however, we noticed that the Aquarium is on the US side of the border.
I didn’t notice until it was too late and we found ourselves at the US customs office on the other side of Rainbow Bridge. Although it did not take long for us to cross the bridge, we soon discovered that we were not to go to the Aquarium but rather to the large Marineland Attraction on the Canadian side of Niagara. As we attempted to zip back for our visit there we soon discovered that returning to Canada would be a longer process. First of all as we attempted to cross the bridge we were asked to pay a toll. Well we had to scramble around the RV to find the $8 we needed and did not have any luck. The attendant at the window was not about to let us through even when we explained that we had only mistakenly crossed the border a few minutes earlier. He simply referred us to an ATM machine down the street as our Credit Cards would not be good enough. After about 5 minutes this attendant switched off with another. We re-explained our plight and he told us if we were quick he could let us through for the $4 regular vehicle fee. Well by this point we had found just over $4 and so we quickly handed him our change before heading to Canadian Customs.
While we thought we were almost back and ready for the 5pm deadline to enter Marineland, we didn’t realize what we were in for in getting back to our home country. On the Canadian side they had a separate entrance for Busses and RV’s, we pulled in just behind an Asian busload of people and were informed that we would need to wait until they were finished before clearing customs ourselves. 20 minutes later they were all done and we woke up our 1 year old (who desperately needed some sleep) to take her and the rest of our gang inside to the same customs line up. We were told to go back to our vehicle and wait for someone to come to us… it wasn’t too much later before a customs officer asked to see our passports and how long we had been in the USA. When we told him we were only gone 5 minutes after making a wrong turn we were quickly waved on through.
We arrived at Marineland a few minutes after 5pm to find the front entrance closed. Although they operate until dusk (around 8:30pm) they close the front gates at 5pm. This meant that we would need to come the following day instead.
We found a great fun Campground where the kids could swim and do other activities as they were in desperate need of getting out and playing outside. After 3 long days of driving, they needed a bit of a holiday.