Great Lakes Circle Tour, part 3 (day 4)

We started out the morning with the usual routine of getting packed up, checked out, etc. No breakfast with the room, and we hadn't bought milk the night before, so ended up at a Tim Horton's where we bought some donuts and a bagel, plus some milk for Steve. Then ended up with a breakfast picnic at the nearby Canadian Air Force National Museum in Trenton, Ontario. We were still in the car when some volunteers pulled up next to us in the parking lot, as the museum was about to open. They asked if we were going to go to the museum. We replied that it depended on whether or not we could take the dog, at least to the plane exhibits outside. They checked and we were allowed to do that. So we traded off with outside with planes and Max, and inside with the rest of the museum. Max got to see the planes twice... Not a large museum but it was still interesting. Moved on from Trenton, following the Lake Ontario lakeshore as much as possible. Of course, not always possible but we did our best. Did persuade Steve to stop for one travel bug hotel cache in Trenton before we left. The last previous finder was a gencaching friend from Holland, Michigan - small world. As we approached the Toronto area, we got back up to the 401 freeway. Lots of traffic but not unmanageable. We hadn't been to Toronto since 1999, seems even bigger than when we were there with the boys. Looking at the city map, easy to recall some of the places we'd been -- CN Tower, Canada's Wonderland, Ontario Science Center. Made it through and on to the QEW, the Queen Elizabeth Way to Niagara Falls. Got off at the Niagara Parkway in St. Catherine's, enjoyed the scenic route to Niagara even though there was light intermittent rain. As we approached, we made two stops. Once was at the Floral Clock at Niagara Power Company. I took pictures of the clock and found a cache with Max while Steve took pictures of the nearby dam that we'd seen a few days ago. Then a bit more down the road there was a scenic pulloff that Steve stopped at to take more pictures of the dam and power station. After we stopped I realized there was a cache there, too! Arrived in Niagara Falls, Ontario, with light intermittent rain. Our last visit in 1999 with the boys was less than stellar - spawning the infamous story of the Denny's in Niagara Falls and the exorbitant parking fees. The falls were just as beautiful today as they were then, though. We managed to find some parking near the Skylon Tower for $5, and walked a few blocks to see the falls. Got some great shots and views of the falls, then walked a quarter mile north to get the virtual cache that was there. Then finally a bathroom break and the walk back to the car. At one area I found a lock that someone had fastened to the fence. Reminded me of the stories of locks on the Paris bridges that my aunt has blogged about. Never did find the Denny's again - sorry boys. Went on down the road and made our turn onto Route 3 in Fort Erie. Saw a WalMart and had Steve stop - I was out of drinks. So stocked up on water, some mini diete coke cans, KINDER EGGS (not available in the US), Quaker rice cakes - caramel corn/chocolate chip (also not available in the US), and a couple of bananas. It was getting late in the day so when we arrived at the next mid-size town, Port Colborne, we decided to look for a room. Got one at a reasonable price, another small mom & pop motel. We went back into town for dinner at Subway, took our food to a nearby park which was at Lock No. 8 for the Welland Canal. We timed our visit right as we watched a large ship go through the lock, one of the longest locks in the world. Then went back to the motel after stopping for the "Welcome to Port Colborne" cache. Found a Gold Wing Road Riders Association pin in that cache. There was wifi but I spent most of the rest of the evening trying to pin down our route for the next day. So didn't get to the blog.