Miles Driven on June 13: 188
Lodging for June 13: Neill-Wycik College Hotel, 96 Gerard St. E,
(416) 977-2320 or (800) 268-4358
This morning I said goodbye to Rochester. My cousin Annie wanted me to stay another day; she was crying and didn't want me to go. David on the other hand kept asking me "Where's Mommy?" while she was at school for a 15 minute meeting. Oy.
It was nice to escape to Niagara. It rained most of the way here but it was worth it. On the New York side, the peacefulness of the Niagara River turns into rapids and then
falls. The "Fort Schlosser" stop was pointless. I saved $5 by parking near the rapids on Robert Moses Parkway. I paid the $8.50 (plus 50 cents for the elevator) to go on the "Maid of the Mist", which gave an up-close view of the falls. I think if I had more time I would go on a hike on Goat Island.My uncle was right--the Canadian side of the falls is much nicer. I didn't have time to park (plus I didn't want to spend 9.75 CAD), but I drove along the park. The drive on the QEW was uneventful. Very little traffic. Lots of fog and mist around here. The hostel looks nicer than I remember from the last time I was here. I had some lo-mein for dinner (thanks to my aunt and uncle), then walked to Eaton Centre. It's a very chic shopping center, nice for window shopping.
I'd heard on the radio on the way up that Tuesday is "cheap movie night" in Toronto--all movies all day are 5.50 CAD. So I saw an evening showing of "After Life", a Japanese movie about what happens to you after you die. The premise is you have three days to choose one memory to keep for all eternity. I think if I had to choose right now, it would be my college graduation. I had just given the commencement speech, and it was time to walk to get the diploma. My great-grandmother, great-aunt, and great-uncle were sitting in the accessible section of the amphitheater, which was on the same level as the graduates. So as I got to the end of my row I saw my grandma and smiled and took her hand and said, "I love you." I was so proud that I had given a good speech, and I knew I had made my family proud, and I was happy my great-grandmother could be there to see it. And my great-grandfather wasn't there physically because he'd passed on 6 years before, but I felt his presence just the same. Plus the whole world was open to me from the that point on.
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