Road Trip - Day Two

Sub-Title: ...and they let me back in the US anyway.

Today started out fine with an average free breakfast consisting of a bagel, a hard boiled egg and coffee. The coffee wasn't half bad and I was able to take it all on the road with me instead of waiting around eating.

On the way through Michigan we (well I) decided to stop in Battle Creek to try and find the Kellogg's factory. They used to have a little museum type thing in town but that is closed now. We find the factory using the handy GPS and I get out to take pictures. I only got a few pictures taken when a security guard came out and said taking pictures wasn't allowed. I slipped my camera into my pocket and we left. I did get three pictures that I, of course, will upload to flickr. I vowed to never eat frosted flakes again but given that I rarely eat them now, it's not much of a threat.

We drove on through Michigan and heading into Ontario. Crossing the border actually wasn't that difficult. They ask you a few questions, look at your ID and then wave you on. We drove through Ontario for awhile and decided to stop for lunch. We ended up taking an off-ramp too soon and drove around trying to find something and eventually giving up and getting back on the 401. We found a Tim Hortons somewhere, I can't remember the town. They don't take Visa - just Master Charge, and yes, she said "master charge." They did take US currency but change is made in Canadian. I had an egg salad sandwich and was asked if I wanted a donut with that - I declined.

We drove on through Ontario on Niagara Falls and drove back into the US to get to our hotel. From there we walked back over into Canada and walked around the area. Going through customs became a small problem though, due to a miscommunication my birth certificate was left in the hotel. They went ahead and let me go through but I was slightly worried I wouldn't get back into the US.

There are a lot of little touristy things and stores. We went to the Hershey store first where I converted a $20 US currency bill into about $16 CDN plus a cookie. I bought some souvenirs and then finally found my beloved ketchup chips in one of the shops. After that we walked up the hill of tourist traps and I took a lot of pictures.

We had dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe which is a chain type place that has a rain forest them and animatronic animals that kind of creeped me out. They also had a live shark display. I had the fish and chips and it was pretty good but too much food. Speaking of food, I have learned that in Canada stuff is still made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup, the ketchup was lovely as was the coke.

From there we walked back down to the stores to sort a problem and I bought a few other things. Then was walked down to see the falls and waited for it to get dark so they would turn the colored lights on. It was quite nice. I chickened out on riding the "wheel of doom" but that's OK.

After seeing the lighted falls we walked back into the US. Turns out, it costs 50 cents, Canadian or US, to walk back to the US and the duty free shop has a minimum purchase price for people on foot. I was unable to buy anything at the duty free shop. At the customs coming back in there was not problems at all, no one even took my ID but then we had been through customs about 4 times at that point.

I am currently working on getting my pictures organized and uploaded. The wireless in the hotel is pretty weak. Tomorrow we head towards Lake George, NY.