½ Tank #21

We slept in a bit at the hotel, hoping that we wouldn’t have a long drive that day. That hope was realized when I called Irene, our very random contact in Hamilton, ON (CANADA!), and she said we could absolutely stay with her that night. After missing our free continental breakfast by 15 minutes (even though there was still food left), Hannah and I begrudgingly hit the road, power bars in hand.

The crossing into Canada went very smoothly despite our worries of getting searched because of all the stuff we have in the back of our car. A few minutes later we were wandering around Niagara Falls. I know that it’s just water and shouldn’t be a big deal, but I thought it was beautiful. I can’t make anything close to that amazing, so I was impressed. We were there on a kind of sunny day, too, so we got to see a rainbow over the falls. What I also really enjoyed about be there was the people. There was such diversity there and I loved it. An Asian woman is actually who pointed out one of the rainbows to me. :)

Hannah and I eventually made our way north and were amazed that we could see Toronto from the highway we were on a least an hour and a half away from the city. We were noticing some of the different license plates around us and Hannah wondered if we were the only Washington plate in the area. I figured there was a good chance we were, considering how far from home we were. Maybe 10 minutes later what should happen by us? Yup, a car with Washington plates. Ha. We tried to get them to notice us and care that we were from the same place, but that didn’t seem to work out.

When we arrived in Hamilton we were both very hungry, so we stopped at a restaurant called Montana’s. Ironic, I know. It was all decked out with animal heads (real or fake I’m not sure) and other random goods from the “Wild West.” After eating we set off to Irene’s a few blocks away and found it pretty easily.

Irene was such a nice lady, and very giving, especially considering her circumstances. She had just moved into her new house a few weeks before and was still trying to fix it up and get it organized. She had also gone through a divorce fairly recently as well, but seemed to be doing well. We met her shy son very briefly, and her daughter not at all.

Our first sight-seeing stop with Irene was a mall that we spent only enough time in for Hannah to fall in love with a vest that she didn’t end up getting, something she now regrets a bit. Next we went to Value Village and looked around at all kinds of stuff, but the only purchase was made by Irene and was a non-squeaking wheel for her hamster. After that we went to a place called “the Devil’s Punchbowl.” It’s a big cliff that’s circular and drops straight down for a long ways. Irene informed us that a lot of people have committed suicide there. Despite that sad fact, it was an incredibly beautiful area. There was a huge cross by part of the cliff that apparently lights up at night.

Following the punchbowl we just headed back home and tried to decide what to eat for dinner. Once we were sure no Thai restaurants existed in Hamilton, we settled on Chinese from Mandarin. It was the best thing I’ve ever had. Seriously. Hannah and I are determined that we won’t ever eat Chinese again because it could never be as good. If you ever find yourself in Ontario, try to find one of their restaurants -- you won’t regret it.

The next morning we actually awoke and left (more or less) on time. We made it back into the States with any problems, even though we didn’t get the hot Irish guard.

God bless, over and out.
~Marissa