Vicki
2012/05/20, Queen's Quay

I really appreciated having Tania with on these first days of our traveling. Having her with increased my confidence in what we are up to, she made it feel do-able and not completely crazy. Tania was a lot of help in the Welland Canal and great fun in Toronto. She walked our butts off. We saw more of Toronto than we would have, by walking, subway, taxi and streetcar.

The second day we went to the Brickyards, Farmers Market and to Greek town, we had a delicious meal at Omonia, all on the recommendation of Margot from Outward Bound. We also walked around the neighborhood, which was a little unusual. A lot of the homes are side-by-sides where they share the middle wall. But they own their own half and seem to fix it up however they want, check out one of the pictures, each half of the building is completely different! We also found a food co-op, Big Carrot, so we could get our granola.

To celebrate with Tania on her last night, we ate the sheep cheese spread from the farmer's market and shared some wine. I know she missed her children a lot and was excited to see them. I hope they aren't mad at Grandma for keeping their Mom away so long!

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Vicki
2012/05/18, Queen's Quay West

Okay, I love Toronto. We have hiked all over, saw the waterfront, the business district, condos galore, the funky Chinatown and University neighborhoods, the Art Gallery of Ontario and outside the government building. We ate at a wonderful vegan restaurant "Hibiscus". If I could cook food this good, I think I could be a vegan, at least six days of the week. The diversity is wonderful, and the open, friendly people are great. So many people on the streets!

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Vicki
2012/05/16

Can't take Niagara River from Lake Eric to Lake Ontario, a little thing called Niagara Falls is an obstacle. The Welland Canal was built, in the 1800's to get ships across. There are 8 locks for a drop of about 300 feet. Once in the canal you are not allowed to stop, it is all about business. The big ships pass by quite close. One ship was loaded down and heading fast, the bow and stern waves were steep and close. We rode them out but almost lost our headway. After you flush down the first couple of locks it becomes less scary and by the final one you feel like a pro. I was glad to have Tania with, the women handled the lines and Paul kept the boat off the wall with a 2" x 4". It was only difficult when the wind would pick up.

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Vicki
2012/05/15, Port Colborn

We left Buffalo and shortly thereafter were in Canadian waters. We registered in Canada, hoisted the Canadian flag, found an anchorage and had a great dinner. Thanks Jennifer for the great Thai buffalo dinner, and thanks to Karen and Mike for the champagne. Our first foreign port! We are in Port Colborne, at the southern end of the Welland Canal.

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Vicki
2012/05/13, on to Buffalo

Paul was ill so we had to leave a day later than planned, and when we did leave he rested most of the way and I had charge of the boat from North Tonawanda to Buffalo, about a three-hour trip. I think he has been working too hard and then got cold and wet at Niagara Falls. The trip to Buffalo was lovely, one canal lock and two raised bridges later we arrived at the Buffalo Yacht Club where we stayed two nights. More work on the boat, mostly getting things stored away and making the boat ship-shape. Tania, my daughter, joined us for a trip to Toronto.

The photo is equipment abandoned by some company, left along the river. Starting with abandoned ore docks in the Superior Harbor, the abandoned copper mining buildings in Houghton, MI, and don't even ask about Detroit, the path along the Great Lakes is strewn with buildings, loading docks and equipment abandoned by companies. I understand the hardship on workers, families and the communities, but honestly, why are companies allowed to leave a mess?

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Vicki
2012/05/11, North Tonawanda

Okay, now our trip is beginning to feel real. Today we returned the truck. We had the Budget rental truck for 26 days. It did so much for us. We used it to bring furniture and items to various children and schools, used it to bring our junk to the Minneapolis transfer stations, used it to bring all our boat supplies to North Tonawanda, used it to store the boat supplies while we were working on the boat to keep the mess to a minimum, used it for the hot date night, for grocery shopping, for the never-ending trips to West Marine, and used it to go to Niagara Falls. We never did have to sleep in it, but that was always a possibility. Donald, our Budget guy here in North Tonawanda was great! And now it is gone, our last link to the land. Tomorrow we cut our dock lines and head for Buffalo.

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