June 25

Today was our Canada day. We went back into Niagara and then walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. We didn’t get our passports stamped- what a disappointment. Funny thing is Canada is just the same as the United States- the kids just couldn’t understand that. Well the same except more expensive. Rick told the kids the could buy a suveniour so we went shopping. We went to store after store – the kids had a blast looking at Canadian things and trying to find something we could afford. Ryan, and Rachel just wanted the cheap plastic toys you could buy at the dollar store – we finally agreed since the main goal was to make them happy and the toys were a lot cheaper than tee shirts or something. Dallin got a shirt, Taylor got a hat, Anna got a key chain and Ryan and Rachel got squirmmals. Rick and I got chocolate.

The falls from the Canadian side are pretty cool – again so huge. I think they have a better view, although like I heard a tour guide say, the US side tries to make the falls a little less commercial buy making them in park with grass, trees, walking trails etc while the Canadians built the city right up to the shore. Our little jaunt across the boarder was short and sweet but fun.

We walked back across the bridge to find a turnstyle blocking our path. We needed to pay .50 cents a person to get into the US. While that is not a lot of money- it was more than we had. We had credit cards and 1 $20 bill. It only took quarters. There was a change machine but it didn’t take twenties. We stood around a while deciding what to do. Anna had the perfect solution – we can just all walk under the turnstyle like we did at the subway. Finally someone came in to see if there was a problem. They must have a camera in there of something because we looked for someone to ask and couldn’t find anyone. They took our $20 and after about 5 min they came back with change. 5 minutes isn’t that long but it was long enough to wonder if they were coming back or not. So we got back in the USA .

We went back to our RV had some dinner and took one last look at the falls then we headed out to Kirland. The drive was only about 2 hours but I was exhausted so it felt much longer. The kids watched a movie and Rick drove. We were staying at the Heritage Hills Family Campground. We called to make sure they had a site and they said they had a couple left but we better reserve because they fill up quick. So we did. We told the kids if we got in early enough we could go swimming because they had a pool. The campground was out on a dirt road a couple miles from nothing. When we pulled in Rick and I both laughed and thought there is no way this place fills up. Well we found out we got the last “good” spot. According to the old couple who runs it they have a couple good spots – a couple “crappy” spots and the rest are permanent residents. So we pretty much were staying in a mobile home park. It was kind of sad to look around and see all these families living in something not a whole lot larger than our RV. I can’t imagine how awful that would be. They didn’t have a pool like I supposed but a roped off portion of a pond. There were a lot of ducks, mud, and scum on the pond so jumping in for dip didn’t seem to inviting. The kids ran over and played on the little playground but it was cold enough they were asking for jackets. There were fires burning all over the park – I can’t imagine “camping out” permanently. You would perpetually smell like smoke. One thing the this has reminded me how blessed we are to have the home we do although there are some states I would gladly transport that home too.