Going to Niagara Falls, advice/suggestions?

[saddlebum]

I wish we had more time, but this is one of those, get there, see it, then get home - being young and married with kids and owning two businesses kinda screws up the enjoy the ride thing sometimes - as far as sight seeing.

 

The route we have planned is this one: http://tinyurl.com/5z524s

 

Thats a good route to take we run a good part of that route going to St Louis or Indiana several times a year:thumbsup: Much nicer than crossing at Detroit and if time allows for a more scenic ride insted of going from the 402 to 401 take the 402 to 4 to 3 and cut across some nice scenic country

Edited September 5, 2008 by saddlebum

[Christo]

Hey this would work just fine! What is a Pepperette?

 

 

Hope this works, just an the alternative route:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=%3BFTaFgwIdKD7v-g%3BFay3jwIdhEUT-w%3BFTQCkAIdUGEh-w%3BFTcTkwId8Z8--w%3B%3BFcz_kQIdfMk1-w%3BFb_akQIdTo44-w%3BFbpejwIdXH89-w%3BFXiwjgIdKu9A-w%3BFZpHjwId_L5E-w%3BFYqjjgIdtCNB-w%3BFQh9jgIdXvRE-w%3BFRx7jgIdhIhI-w%3B%3BFf-ljgId5shL-w%3BFY7qjgIdluZL-w%3BFaBVjwIdMktL-w%3BFS3cjwIdbS1K-w%3BFTZ-kAIdjCBK-w%3BFRJGkQId0lxJ-w&saddr=17541+darden+rd.,+south+bend,+in+46635&daddr=I-69+N+%4042.173750,+-84.984280+to:I-69+E+%4042.973100,+-82.623100+to:HWY-402+E+%4042.992180,+-81.698480+to:Mud+St+W+%4043.193143,+-79.781903+to:6700+Fallsview+Boulevard,+Niagara+Falls,+Ontario,+Canada+L2G+3W6+to:Rest+Acres+Rd+%4043.122636,+-80.361092+to:CR-54%2FHWY-54+%4043.113151,+-80.179634+to:Munsee+St+N+%4042.950330,+-79.855780+to:Main+St+W+%4042.905720,+-79.630550+to:Forks+Rd+%4042.944410,+-79.380740+to:Chestnut+St+%4042.902410,+-79.617100+to:HWY-3+%4042.892552,+-79.367074+to:Wilhelm+Rd+%4042.892060,+-79.132540+to:42.905268,-78.946724+to:Albany+St+%4042.903039,+-78.919450+to:Niagara+Blvd%2FNiagara+Pkwy+%4042.920590,+-78.911850+to:Niagara+Blvd%2FNiagara+Pkwy+%4042.948000,+-78.951630+to:Niagara+Blvd%2FNiagara+Pkwy+%4042.982445,+-79.024787+to:Niagara+Pkwy+%4043.023926,+-79.028084+to:Niagara+Pkwy+%4043.075090,+-79.078190&mra=dme&mrcr=6&mrsp=14&sz=13&via=1,2,3,4,6,9,12,14,17,18,19&doflg=ptm&sll=42.923498,-78.988781&sspn=0.091133,0.133381&ie=UTF8&ll=42.942978,-79.106197&spn=0.091105,0.133381&z=13

[Christo]

I got Brad's and MarCarl's tel#'s in case! We leave tomorrow between 9am and 10am EST. We should hopefully arrive at our Hotel by 7-8PM Friday night is my guess at this point. On Saturday, once we do the falls thang getting all wet then doing some drying off, I will e-mail and/or call, depending on the wifey's mood for more riding, and see if we can all hook up for some eatin!

 

Thank you everyone for being so kind and helpful, god I love this forum!

 

[Christo]

Thanks Saddlebum!

 

 

Thats a good route to take we run a good part of that route going to St Louis or Indiana several times a year:thumbsup: Much nicer than crossing at Detroit and if time allows for a more scenic ride insted of going from the 402 to 401 take the 402 to 4 to 3 and cut across some nice scenic country

[Marcarl]

Hey this would work just fine! What is a Pepperette?

It's not all that big, always fits nicely in the trunk, can't be kept alone, must have company of at least a dozen or so, can stand the heat for a little while, likes it better cool or cold, comes with skin attached, and full flavour for all to enjoy.

A lot better than the pasties we dicovered in Michigan a few years ago. They were advertized all over in the penninsula. When we talk about pasties it's something only women use, and then not a whole lot of them, although they would need two to make things even. So of course we were somewhat interested in seeing just what was being sold, well we tried them and have not gone back for more as of yet.

That would not be said about our pepperettes, once tried you'll not easily forget the experience.

Maybe we'll see you tomorrow.

[Marcarl]

K would be our place

[BradT]

A lot better than the pasties we dicovered in Michigan a few years ago. .

 

Um ! I know what a pepperette is but a Pastie ? I thought I knew what a pastie was but it was not suupose to be mentioned here.

 

Christo busy Saturday evening not sure when your heading home ?

 

Brad

[Marcarl]

Um ! I know what a pepperette is but a Pastie ? I thought I knew what a pastie was but it was not suupose to be mentioned here.

 

Christo busy Saturday evening not sure when your heading home ?

 

Brad

Guess from his last post he will post tomorrow,, I'm ready to ride nad eat and Green Acres sounds real good,,, can be ready at 4:30pm if that suits,sounds like Midicat and Wizard765 are interested too,,,,,,hope he doesn't wait all day to tel us what he is doing????????????????

 

A pastie::::::::::::at first I thought it was something I should try licking ,,,,,,but when I saw the real thing I found out it something you should sink your teeth into!!!!!!!!!!

[Christo]

So, we went, we saw, we enjoyed, we came home. That is the simple story. ;-)

 

The first 8 hours of the ride up there on Friday were fine and uneventful, we drove up and over through Michigan and all was good. The weather was not the greatest, no sunshine, but no rain either ... until we cross over into Canada. So as we are heading down the 403, it starts to sprinkle , no biggie we can handle some mist ... well the mist starts to get bigger and we realize it is time to change into our rain gear... first the 403 needs a shoulder other than stone - kinda hard to drive on that stuff with a bike and trailer in tow...second, why isn't there ANY little stops along the way? You have to get off on some exit that seems to be in the middle of nowhere farmland?! But the one thing my wife and I did notice is that you fine folks up in Can. have... a plethora of golf courses along the way! Turn every other one of those into a rest area will ya! ;-)

 

Well it gets worse, so we finally pull off on some exit - remember I am just a dumb American and I aint nevah seen your type of exit before, so I realize there still is no shoulder or place to pull off so we can put our gear on , so I just pulled off to the side of the "getting back onto 403 ramp" and we get dressed. Before we take off I punch in some of the alternative routes that were given to see if we could get to NF any sooner, and since the weather was turning we were not up for a sight seeing ride, it has now become apparent according to my weather map on the iPhone that the storm that we were hoping to avoid was going to hit us anyway so now we just need to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible! So we head for the QEW bridge and stuff. We hit some traffic as predicted by those who posted responses to this thread, we sat in it for about 20 mins (in the now pouring rain), found an overpass, stopped (there were finally actual paved shoulders at this point, yippee!) stretched, dried off to a certain extent, had some fluids, gave my clutch hand a break from all the stop and go, and then we climbed back on and realized that less than 1 mile later all the traffic was getting off and it was home free for us to the bridge. We get to the bridge, we drive over - FABULOUS view BTW that was very cool, and after landing on the other side it was time to refuel, so we pull off on some side street for a gas feed. My wife went to use the potty and several Canadians approached me and struck up some very nice, humorous conversations - very personable, I was impressed, I only see this in the small towns in the USA. One of them was driving a huge flatbed 18 wheel semi, and as we were talking the weather was getting worse and of course it was dusk, Mr. Sun was setting, and I found out we were only about 40 mins from where we needed to be, and this very nice Can Man asked me where I was going, told him, and he offered to put the bike and trailer onto his truck and get is there since the weather was getting bad and he being a biker thought this would be something I could use - hind site he was right and I wish I took him up on his offer! - I politely thanked him, he even insisted, he had tie-downs, everything would be ok, but I though naw, we are almost there, a little rain never hurts, we would be fine, and I thanked him profusely for the kind offer. He wished us a safe ride and went on his way. Spoke to another Can Man on a crotch rocket, he also was going our way, but he was going to wait out the rain - so he thought... he passed us later on the QEW like we were standing still during the rain!

 

So this is where it gets good, so we take off heading towards NF on the QEW, Garmin Zumo says we have about 35 mins and we will be there.... well that is until the rain hits harder, the roads get worse, it gets darker, and I slow down and stay in my right lane to let faster traffic go by on my left, well that was a BIG mistake, as the QEW had some construction, and the lane I thought I was in turned into an exit, and next thing I know I am in some town, and the Garmin did not give me calc warnings or nuthing, so I think I am where I am supposed to be, I am too busy worrying about the safety of my wife, trying to hold the bike up on these slippery side streets, also this is the first REAL trip with my trailer in tow, so I am over compensating for turns etc. on these wet roads. It is getting darker, and in this small town there is ALL kinds of construction, I can't see through my windshield of the bike, I wear glasses and they are filled with water, my nerves are shot, I am tired, my wife - god bless her - is trying to help me and of course I just bark at her but she remains in good spirits and puts up with my crass self. So the Garmin is sending us on this wild goose-chase and I have no idea where I am going, I just know I can't see the road, or what is ahead of me, and the rain was getting worse... finally after about 30 mins of side streets, me cussing at the rain and the STUPID ROADS... the Garmin says to turn onto the QEW - I am like WTF!? If I knew I had to get back on the QEW initially I would have done so 30 mins back! ARRGGHHH! Anyway, we get back on, follow the QEW, finally get off on the correct exit, we find our hotel, it is now 8:45 PM, we pull into the covered drop-off check-in area, the Embassy Suites people take one look at us and ask - "Are you folks ok?" - I must have been white as a ghost, wet as a drowned rat - my wife is just smilin' away because I was able to get us there - she kept thanking me. Next thing I know we have a little crowd surrounding the RSV and trailer, and we are being asked all kinds of questions - Where are you from? What is that? What year? How was it? Cool trailer what is it? How fast does your bike go? Is that an HD? I felt like I had gone back in time and no one has ever seen a motorcycle before or I was being interrogated by the press!

 

My wife stays with the bike to answer what questions she could while I go and check-in, they upgraded us to the pres suite over looking both falls and into the "U". They gave us a special place to park, and everyone was offering to help us carry our stuff - too cute!

 

We ordered room service, had a cocktail, relaxed, and watched a movie - my nerves were shot, I fell asleep very quickly. I can tell you this, I am 42 YO, I have been riding since I was 10 YO. This is my 8th bike, I have ridden in snow, storms, wind, rain, but I was never - NEVER as scared as I was that night. Night time riding in bad weather do not a combo make!! I will NOT be doing it again anytime soon!

 

Saturday - I slept in, my wife knew I was burned out. It rained most of Saturday morning and when we finally got around to doing the falls, the Maid in the Mist, and some shopping, I was not in the mood to ride at all, it was late, and we had to get ready for our anniversary dinner. We got ready for dinner, ate at The Keg and we got a huge surprise when we got a window seat - as we were told that even with our reservations, it was a 2 hour wait - someone liked us!

 

Sunday's ride home was perfect, we hit a little rain/mist outside of NY and into PA, but just inside of OH it cleared up, sun was out, temp was perfect, and the scenery was beautiful.

 

My wife and I both agreed that we were more comfortable driving stateside than Can side - no offense.

 

We were very impressed with the Canadians hospitality - we really enjoyed ourselves.

 

I never did find out what a pepperette is. :-(

 

If anyone would like to see some of the amazing pictures I was able to capture, please feel free to look here:

 

 

Thanks to everyone for their generosity and extending their offers to hook up and help! This was a tight weekend, and well, my wife wanted me all to herself, so please do not take my not accepting your offers as something personal. My wife and I do not get much "alone" time between teenagers and toddlers, so when we do get a few days, we make the most of it together.

 

I look forward to going to and through Canada again - when the weather is nicer, the days are longer, and preferably with a GROUP of Ventures!

 

Guess from his last post he will post tomorrow,, I'm ready to ride nad eat and Green Acres sounds real good,,, can be ready at 4:30pm if that suits,sounds like Midicat and Wizard765 are interested too,,,,,,hope he doesn't wait all day to tel us what he is doing????????????????

 

A pastie::::::::::::at first I thought it was something I should try licking ,,,,,,but when I saw the real thing I found out it something you should sink your teeth into!!!!!!!!!!

Edited September 10, 2008 by Christo

[Mariner Fan]

Nice write-up. What an adventure! Really enjoyed the pictures as well. I never put much thought into going to Niagara until now.

[BradT]

Very sorry to say that I did laugh at your post and seriously it was not at you. Very nice story and well written, but you have to admit that anytime you go on a tour there is always something that happens, that will stand out, well I think you got many for your money.

 

AS mentioned that highway is not the best choice and when under construction even worse, add the rain and darkness and that must have been fun. Lucky you did not meet our OPP as you were sitting under the bridge, the time I was looking for a license plate I almost got a ticket for stopping on the highway.

 

Glad you had a good time and I am glad to hear that the Canadians treated you guys great.

 

Anytime you can find the time to get away and want to come back give us a call.

 

PS HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

 

Brad

[Marcarl]

Good wright up and good story, should have followed the route through the center of the Peninsula though, the rain may not have been any better although it usually is, but the ride might have been bearable at worst. We did have a good dinner on you two at Green Acres, talked about you some and then just went ahead and enjoyed our food. Next time through you could stop in at our place to put on your rain gear and fine out what a pepperette really is, after all, that's what we like to do here, welcome folks, get them lost, give them a reason for a good shower and feed them peperettes and ICE CREAM.

[BradT]

feed them peperettes and ICE CREAM.

 

Do not ever remember getting Ice Cream ? ALso when you give pepperettes to my daughter and tell them not to give me any I do not get them either

 

Brad