Sunday August 22, 2010 – Day 4

Today we drove to Niagara Falls in Canada. It's not far from Lily Dale. Maybe a two hour drive.

The first thing we did was—yes, you got it—visit the falls. Our first job was to find a parking spot. Unfortunately, there was a public parking lot that charged twenty US dollars for the privilege. It was maddening.

We've never been to Niagara falls before. It was cool. It was a lot smaller than I expected, but it was still very cool.

When I say Niagara Falls was smaller, remember that I'm a bit jaded. I've seen Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia and it's stunning. Huge. Powerful. Breathtaking. I've also seen Iguazu Falls in Argentina and Brazil: It was amazingly long, stunningly beautiful: the most beautiful place I've even seen in the world. So we've been kind of avoiding Niagara because we knew we'd be disappointed by way of comparison.

Don't get me wrong: Niagara Falls is still big and beautiful, and well worth the trip. It's just that it pales compared to Victoria and Iguazu.

We bought an expensive pass that gave us unlimited trips on the bus service, plus several attractions, which we proceeded to do.

The first attraction was the “Journey Behind the Falls”. An elevator took up underground to a tunnel where we could see behind the falls. In a couple places, there were tunnels cut through the bedrock so you could see behind the falls and hear the thundering roar. It was fun.

After lunch, we walked back to our car. On the way, we spotted a statue of one of my heroes, Nicola Tesla! I didn't know it at the time, but Tesla lived in the area and operated his own hydroelectric power plant. I climbed up to the top of the statue like a monkey and asked Kathy to take my photo with the distinguished gentleman.

Now I bet you're wondering about my heroes, aren't you? I've got several. My first and oldest hero is Leonardo DaVinci: the perfect blend of scientist and artist: master of both left and right hemisphere of the brain. Then there's Charles Tart: scientist who studied altered states of consciousness, including out-of-body experiences. I was honored to have Tart write the introduction to my first book. Then there's Nicola Tesla: revolutionary mad scientist who didn't give a damn what people thought of him.

After that, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast which was run by a nice Italian man named Joe. It was called the Redwood Bed and Breakfast. If you're interested, they can be contacted at (905) 358-1990 or send them an email at: info@redwoodbb.ca

After getting settled, we drove into the countryside. We saw the hydroelectric dam, a flower clock, and more. At one point, we passed by a house that looked just like my brother Joe's house.

We stopped and took some photos, making the owner—and his dog—a bit suspicious.

Next, we drove to a house called The McFarland House. It was interesting and supposedly haunted, but we didn't see or feel any ghosts.

We then drove to Fort George, which is a historical fort relating to the war of 1812. Even though Kathy and I are somewhat amateur history buffs, neither of us knew anything about the war of 1812. I'd like to study it some more, but it sounded like the American forces tried to invade Canada and eventually took Fort George.

Next we drove to a nearby town called Niagara on the Lake. It's a quaint little village full or little shops and lots of beautiful flowers.

We had tickets for a play by George Bernard Shaw there called “John Bull's Other Island” which was about an aristocratic man who decides to settle down and run for public office in Ireland. All of the characters were screwed up and dysfunctional, so it was interesting. All in all a very good play.

We drove back to the Bed and Breakfast and settled in for the night.