Day 8: Ohio; PA; New York; Toronto, CAN

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Day 8: Cleveland, Ohio; Pennsylvania; Niagara Falls; to Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Well I would like to start off tonight's blog by saying: We ARE alright! When you get to the middle of our day, remember, We ARE alright....okay? (Caitlin and Tami, et al, you are not to worry.)
We had a small vacation to-do list today, but many miles to cover before we slept:
1. Wake up at a reasonable time so we could spend a few precious minutes revisiting AMP 150 for breakfast...YUM!
2. Go to the Cleveland Natural History Museum to visit the remains of Lucy- a failed line in the development of man but a small upright prototype of our ancestors. When Lucy was discovered, the anthropologists made a deal that they could send here bones back to Cleveland for radio carbon testing (No DNA testing!!!DRAT!!) to make casts of the original bones for plaster replication before sending her back to Ethiopia where she had been discovered. Even though Lucy in Cleveland was there only in a model replication, we got to see her!! As I said to John: this is a great museum for kids-very accessible in a 1950's technology sort of way. There were good, but low tech reconstructions, of Ohio Mound Builders and the hallowed out log boat found in the peat in Oregon. We spent 90 minutes and then were on our way to another country. Canada here we come!
3. Get across the Canadian border: not so hard since we had all of our papers in order and the Border Patrol Officer was professional, had a quick sense of humor, and sent us on our way.
4. See Niagara Falls--on the Canadian side it was very commercial, but still neat, clean, and orderly. Of course, the Falls are magnificent and gave us a wonderful opportunity for a long walk in the mist.
5. Practice Defensive Driving whilst trying to save our lives. Thanks to my squealing and John's quick and masterful driving, we are still alive: An 18 wheeler decided that he wanted to be in our lane even though we were occupying it at the time. John was able to ride the shoulder and ram the orange and black barriers that the Canadians use to keep cars off the guard rails, and got us back safely on the road. I was too shaken to roll down the window and scream at the truck driver who was still having trouble controlling his rig....drunk, stoned, or asleep at the wheel from the way he was driving.
6. Get to Toronto and check into our hotel: We were a bit shaken and tried to check into the very posh Marriott. We were straightened out by the desk and, assisted by a quite amiable bell hop who wouldn’t even take a tip for reloading our luggage, and now we are in its 2nd class cousin hotel- Fairfield Inn by Marriott. Not so nice, this hotel:--I immediately checked for bed bugs. Red wine was the first call of order once we arrived in Toronto...speaking of Toronto--I have never seen so many people anywhere as on the sidewalks of Toronto at 5 PM. Crazy! And I thought it was difficult to maneuver around the pedestrians in San Francisco.....there are veritable hordes of them in Toronto.
7. Discover a FABULOUS Portuguese restaurant within walking distance....AHHHHHHHH! Our outlooks have improved immensely. Gravlax with preserved lemons and aioli with lemon, horse radish, and crème fraiche.....
8. Plan a route to Montreal that includes more back roads and rural scenery.....It is good to be able to write to all of you tonight. We all take just the simplest things for granted and it is a small miracle every day that we wake up in our right minds with our health and able to continue on with our plans. We are grateful that we are able to write our thoughts every night to our family and friends......especially tonight.....sleep well all of you and know that you are in our hearts.

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