Canada Crossroads The Journey North
Canada Crossroads: Day 1
The Journey North (Niagara Falls)
By Giles Kennedy
Family and Travel Columnist
Let’s be honest. Traveling with the family can make or break a road trip.
No matter how epic the destinations come.
Our drive from Metro Columbus was rather hassle free.
Until we got into Niagara Falls proper; the locals, tourists and resort employees made Stanley Avenue, Ferry Street and Victoria Avenue seem like NASCAR on legal roads.
The three main takeaways from driving on decent roads and relatively decent traffic come to this.
- Laugh
- Have Fun
- Don’t take yourself or others seriously until needed
Upon our drive to Niagara Falls; we took I-71, I-271, I-80/90, then the Buffalo Interbelt aka I-190; then the Queen Elizabeth Way.
We had lunch in Mentor, Ohio at the local Outback (Hannah’s suggestion, by the way).
It gave us time to stretch our legs, have a great lunch with great service and joke a little.
One of the TV’s showed the PGA Senior Tour event. Veejay Singh was playing.
My comment to my darling wife, “Veejay, playing the Senior Tour?”
She’s goes, “You are getting old”
We had a chuckle.
Random radio stations, songs we all like, etc made the miles go quickly.
If you have the ability to have a streaming music service, CD’s or MP3 files; this makes the on board juke box more tolerable and enjoyable.
Don’t fret about gas prices, etc. Just top off and move on. Your rewards programs may do great at home; but if regular outlets don’t populate along your route…just roll with it.
If you have no major plans once to your hotel or resort; just chill.
My daughter took a well deserved nap after me driving into Canada successfully.
Tanya explored Clifton Hill, grabbed some pizza for the room, and made it an easy evening.
If you stay one, two or even three days in your destination; it is not the end of the world if you do nothing the first day or night.
Less stress, more enjoyment of the trip.
So that being said. Stay tuned. The Falls awaits tomorrow.
Life is an adventure; get out and live it. Or in our case first night, relax.
