Ziplining at Niagara!
Ready for some excitement, I got up one morning & proclaimed, “Pack some clothes, we’re driving to Canada!â€
Truly, one of the most marvelous spur-of-the-moment trips ever ~ complete with sunny skies & 80 degrees!! We spent a supremely-packed 46 hours at Niagara Falls!
Night arrival in Ontario, Canada to the powerful glacial phenomena at Horseshoe Falls & the American Falls in all their glory in ever-changing brilliant colors!
We grabbed ponchos and headed to the water’s edge straightaway!
We enjoyed a gorgeous suite with center views of Horseshoe Falls at the Embassy Suites – pure magnificence outside our 10th floor window!!
And look at the morning mist below & the stunningly beautiful vista at breakfast!
That’s our hotel & the incline trolley to the Falls! And can you see the small red boat on the left-hand side?? That’s the Hornblower with a passenger capacity of 700! Yeah, that’s how huge these Falls are – hard to capture in a pic! The Hornblower has been in operation for 170 years and, in 2016, carried 2.2 Million people that year!!
We spent the day at Marineland where our daughter enjoyed the 450’ tower drop – height of a 45-story skyscraper – and rode it 3 times with great joy. Then she went on Dragon Mountain, the world’s largest steel roller coaster covering more than 30 acres. Plenty more rides followed by a visit to the beluga aquariums – one for the males, one with 34 young belugas and one maternity pool for 
pregnant belugas! Our marine-loving 14-year-old fed and caressed a beautiful female whale with continued appreciation for these amazing animals (click: Sea Trek or Dolphin Trainer or Harmony & Magic)
This was followed by a most striking sight – the rainbow over Horseshoe Falls!! A rainbow appears every day as the sun sets and hits the mist. 
We then watched the Niagara Fury movie protected by ponchos in this full-immersion film – covering us with snow, water, wind and a moving floor! We topped off that first day with an unnerving walk through the deep tunnels of Niagara, actually journeying
BEHIND the thundering falls!!!! 
Tunnels built in the 1800s, the massive force of the clear waters roaring overhead and all around made me glad when I was back above ground! 
The following day, we traversed the Maze of Mirrors & then enjoyed lunch at the famed Rainforest Café where our daughter said she enjoyed the world’s largest steel roller coaster & mega tower drop but she needed something “more thrilling.†
We asked her what she had in mind. Ziplining at the Falls! Oh, of course. So after lunch, our daughter found herself 220 feet above the Niagara River Gorge alongside her father because I sure as heck wasn’t doing it!!
They traveled 2,200 feet at speeds of 70+kph along the breathtaking vista of the American Falls to the outer rim of Horseshoe Falls!! An experience of a lifetime was how they both described it! A bucket-list moment – volume up! to enjoy this quick video:
I loved the beauty, visitors, rainbows, wineries ~ Niagara Falls, Ontario is a must-see!
Love locks on Lock Bridge, Canada – photo taken by my love, Phillip.
We topped off the late afternoon with Dairy Queen and said goodbye to Ontario, Canada as we headed 3 hours south to the Benn Conger Inn, a gorgeous Colonial built in 1921 for State Senator Conger in Tompkins County, New York & the Skaneateles Lake region.
Click here now for those beautiful photos & experience: Skaneateles
The Bright Spot – Bucket list moments. Enough said.
Castles & Angels
This gorgeous English countryside was captured on my cell phone! Breathtaking. Lush. So British.
During our 2-week trip to Europe to visit family, we went with some good friends to Northumberland. 
The girls loved that parts of Downton Abbey and Harry Potter were filmed here at Alnwick Castle. 
 Lots to do here including bamboo mazes, ventures through the magic fairy gardens, the famous Poison Garden and, of course, flying broomstick classes!!
  
  
 
On our way back to Grandma’s, we pulled off the highway to see the Angel of the North, a massive copper & steel statue in Newcastle Gateshead, believed to be the largest angel sculpture on the planet. The wingspan reaches wider than a jumbo jet and the angel stands 65 feet high, more than 4 double-decker buses! We’ve seen her on the hillside from the highway for over 15 years. This ride home, we actually pulled off the exit and made time to visit. Those are the life-changing things we have found we do facing this awful journey of cancer, click: Kicking Cancer!
Yes, actually seizing the day and doing what we wish at a moment’s notice because no one knows how many moments we all have. Â More than 150,000 people visit each year. This year, we’re one of those people.
 The Bright Spot – Visiting family & friends…and pulling off the highway to really seize the day!!
