We came across a Jumping Pillow. I recall seeing these things online or on TV, but I'd never seen one in person or tried one. As I posted mid-day here, this thing was pretty cool. Seems like it would be a lot safer than a trampoline. I know everyone enjoyed it - even me as evidenced here.
After that workout (stiff today due to it, I think) we headed for some lunch. I enjoy local places, versus always frequenting the chain restaurants you know. We located a little sub shop called John's Pizza & Subs. The girls were a bit worked up, so we sat outside. Harper got wings (of course) and the stain on her shirt for the rest of the day attested to her approval.
While we're eating out a lot, we are still keeping the camper stocked with food for when we need it (snacks, meals on the road, etc.) which necessitated a stop at a local supermarket (the only one on Grand Island, apparently). Our errands done, we stopped quickly at the camper and then headed back to the Falls.
We began The Falls v2.0 at The Aquarium of Niagara. This was a tiny little aquarium (probably the smallest I've ever been to) but it was very nice. Well kept, and the we got there at an apparent lull, as we had no issue getting to and seeing all the exhibits. Things crowded up around 2:30 when the sea lion show started, which lasted about 10 minutes - but it was the quietest 10 minutes for Harper for the whole trip - she was amazed and loved it.
Upon exiting, we logged a Did Not Find geocache (too many muggles). For more info on THAT see one of my first blog posts here. After conceding defeat, we headed for Rainbow bridge.
So, traveling from New York into Canada at Niagara Falls is not what you would necessarily calls an "international" experience, but we DID cross an international border AND we got our passports stamped. So, we'll take it for what it's worth, and Cadence and Harper will be able to claim they were in Canada over the summer.
Several things we learned in Niagara Falls on the Canadian plan:
1. Parking at Niagara Park is VERY expensive. We paid $18 to park, versus $5 we saw later...
2. Clifton Hill (where a lot of the more commercial, touristy, Gatlinburg-ish stuff is) is a LONG walk from Niagara Park. And after paying $18 for parking, we weren't in a hurry to un-park. (we never made it to Clifton Hill on foot - btw)
3. IHOP at the Sheraton closes at 3pm on weekdays. This is, of course, after talking Hungry Harper (she's a different person when she's hungry) into pancakes. Uggh. We ate at an Italian place in the Sheraton. Why - because it was right there, and it was OPEN.
4. There is a geocache located very close to the top of the incline railway (which we rode) which got us our first international geocache!!! (here's a clue for those who geocache and might be there sometime)
Our Canadian adventure coming to an end, we headed back towards Rainbow bridge. The signage isn't all that good to get to the bridge, but due to that we DID get to drive up Clifton Hill, which showed Melissa I was NOT crazy, and there was a lot of stuff there, if we had just been able to keep going and get there...
Crossing back into the USA, we all (individually) recounted our country of citizenship to the border agent, told him 4 times we lived in Indiana, etc. Feeling safe and protected from dangerous Canadians, we headed back to the camper.
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