To anyone who knows me, deciding to go to Niagara Falls on my extra day is no surprise. I love oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and WATERFALLS!!

But before I could leave Woodstock (my hotel room is the one with the reflection of the sign on it!), I took another visit to Curves, and no, I didn't drive back to St. Ignace to do my exercises! There was one in Woodstock.

The trip to Niagara Falls took a slight detour... and not by design. It seems that once you're on the 403 to Hamilton, there's no real signs saying just WHEN you're supposed to turn off to go to the falls. So as I went north towards Toronto instead of south to Niagara Falls, I wondered which attractions in Toronto I'd most like to visit.

To make the story short(er), I finally found an exit and asked how to do a turn around and soon I was on the QEW Niagara. When I pulled into town, I panicked just a little... there is one road that is SO "tourista" that I wanted to cry. But eventally all roads in Niagara lead to the falls, and THAT area was certainly no dissapointment.

The Table Rock Gift Shop and Restaurant is still the hub of activity around the falls. The gardens surrounding the building were awesome.

The sights along Falls Drive are all in keeping with the beauty of the Falls.

For instance: the cafeteria and gift shop is a beautiful old building with lovely gardens surrounding it.

The building which houses the lights for the evening light shows is overgrown with ivy and again, the gardens are impecable.

And fitting right in with the ambience of the site, there are a couple of horse drawn carriages which take (rich) people on rides down Falls Drive.

And then there's the Falls... People line up in droves at MY favourite spot... where the Canadian Horseshoe Falls are almost close enough to reach down and touch.

The Maid of the Mist still sits in the mist which is the result of the water hitting the bottom so forcefully and taa-daaa... the American side was "turned on" this time!! (Last time I visited here, that side was "turned off"!)

Can you see the balloon in the background of the American side? It is a stationary hot air balloon that goes up and down and up and down, obviously taking people up high enough to get a view from above.

Even though I was surrounded by thousands of people, I looked out towards the falls and felt that I alone was the one enjoying them.

Enjoy a movie of the back side of the Horseshoe Falls! Just click on the picture!

Here's a movie from the side of Horseshoe Falls.

I love watching the water go over the Falls here.

I got a kiss goodbye as I left Niagara Falls.

Although it was getting a little late to drive back to Woodstock, it seemed silly to drive past the Welland Canal without taking a few pictures. The last of these four pictures shows the "end" of the canal.

Perhaps I shouldn't have stopped because (surprise, surprise!) I got POURED on just outside Beemsville. Hiding under a bridge on the QEW didn't help at all... cars whizzing by just got me wetter. So I drove to the exit and hid out at a Tim Hortons/Wendys. This kind person who worked there helped me get dried out as well as giving me directions back to Woodstock that would avoid being splashed on my more crazy drivers!

If it hadn't been for those directions, I would have missed these motorcycles for sale on Highway 20 in Smithville. (I bought the one on the left. Hahahaha!)