Jim & June's Odyssey 091022

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MILTON, Ontario: We had to move out of the campground in Kitchener because they were closing down for the season. There are only two campsites (in Ontario) open now - the one in Niagara Falls, where we stayed in May and this one - the Milton Heights Campground. Although nice, it has very poor satellite TV reception and very sporadic internet because the satellite is too low in the horizon. Overlooking Milton is the Niagara Escarpment, a dramatically sharp rise in elevation that is noticeable for several miles (similar to Pocahontas near Jasper). On that hill, there are several opulent mansions and numerous acreages extend from here to Niagara Falls. The fall colors are spectacular up here, especially the vibrant reds. Places we Visited: TORONTO: · Waterfront Trail - A meandering fiberglass board path through a very long park along Lake Ontario from the QEW Monument to Ontario Place (we walked about 5 km). · Exhibition Park - All of the rides were closed for the season but there was a big skiing/snowboarding trade show going on. Within the park, there are live dinner theaters, convention facilities, exhibit halls, ballrooms (for weddings), music clubs, theme areas, statues, art exhibits, soccer fields, etc. · Downtown - Drove through the financial district and marveled at the tall skyscrapers - TD Tower, CN Tower, City Hall, Roger Center to name a few. · Little Italy - A tightly packed community of homes and businesses. Sadly, we never met anyone named Guido, Pauly, Affonso, Luigi nor Vito and didn't seen any old men playing dominos on a plaid tablecloth outside a pizzeria owned by Giuseppe. Wanted to see a sign "Brunos Easy Loan" but missed that one too. · Chinatown - Over crowded, tightly packed businesses, street vendors, bicycles with shopping cart sized baskets, multi colored and sensational. · Royal Ontario Museum - An impressive 5-story diagonally oblique styled building full of Heritage galleries, Archaeology, Int'l artifacts and civilizations, dinosaurs, birds, bat caves, mammals and, much more. The most interesting display was the personal battle armor of the Samurai, Genghis Khan's Mongolian raiders, Ninja assassins, Romans, Greeks, India, Africa, etc and the similarities exhibited in today's hockey uniforms. · Dead Sea Scrolls - Considered to be the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century, these papayas writings are the earliest record of biblical prophets Abraham, Moses & Noah. All of them are common to each religion. The teachings of these prophets are found in the Judaism (Old Testament) bible, Christian (New Testament) scriptures, and the Islamic Qur'an. Although not overly religious, we found the exhibit to be fanatically biased towards the Jewish beliefs of being "The Chosen Ones." It seems like the fragmented Scrolls (ripped pieces of paper) have been segmented & translated to affirm the belief that the Jewish religion reigns supreme.

Things we Observed: · Taxi cabs have a little yellow light on their trunk that says "If Flashing - Call 911" · The electric powered trolley cars run on railway tracks in the middle of the street so when passengers disembark, they have to cross a lane full of cars before they get to the curb. Amazingly, nobody gets run over. · One really notices the diverse cultures of the people. On one corner there were about six small restaurants where you could choose Japanese, Korean, East Indian, Chinese, European or Italian cuisine. · Near city hall, there was a group of Sri Lankans demonstrating against the genocide of the Tamils and had placards urging Canadians to boycott goods from Sri Lanka. Around the corner there were about eight riot police who were keeping a close eye on the demonstrators. · People park their cars wherever they want: on sidewalks, boulevards, double parked (and empty). Everybody jaywalks: through traffic, in front of cops, it don't matter - it's just nuts.

LONDON: On Halloween night, we went to see the football quarter final of the U of Western Ontario Mustangs vs. Guelph but didn't care who won because our main purpose for attending was to watch our granddaughter Tiffany perform with the Western Mustangs Cheerleading team. She is awesome and an admitted "Over Achiever" by tackling a full course load (towards a business degree), working part-time at a bank, training 15-20 hrs per week and performing every weekend. The team is very talented and has been crowned Canadian Champions for 23 out of 25 years. They are so good that they are regularly invited to demonstrate their skills in the USA. We took Brandon (a grandson of our friends Jim & Della) to the game and after a 37-18 win by the "Stangs" we all went for supper at a Greek restaurant for souvlaki, feta & kabobs. Things we Learned: It's a small world! During a cold snap, I noticed a guy feverously packing up his Jeep and when I asked him if he was bugging out for warmer climes, he said they're headed for Texas. The conversation went something like this: He asked "I see you have Alberta plates, where are you from?" "Bonnyville" I responded. "So am I" he says, "Where do you live?" "On Moose Lake at North Shore Heights." "Where?" "#30 Spruce Drive - next door to Denis", he says. It turns out that Brian Kelleher lived on our lot on Moose Lake then sold it to the person who subsequently built the house that we lived in. His sister was married to another neighbor of ours - Lloyd Hattebuhr. Brian moved to Kelowna in 1984 but still remembers several people in the subdivision. Sure is a small world!

June's Comments: People in the Toronto area drive like maniacs! They never go the posted speed limit and weave in and out of traffic switching lanes and squeezing into the smallest of spaces. Are they always in such a hurry? I am surprised that there aren't more accidents involving a multi-vehicle pile-up! We drove downtown on a Saturday and the traffic was heavy enough for me. I can't imagine what it's like during the week!

We had a very nice walk on a path through parks adjacent to Lake Ontario. Unfortunately, the washrooms in the parks were closed for the winter and there wasn't even a place around where you could get a cup of coffee. We walked about five km so definitely got our exercise. It cost us $17.50 to take a cab back to where our car was parked. I'm sure the area would be much nicer in the summer - lots of empty concession stands, amusement parks and facilities.

Our visit to the Royal Ontario Museum was a memorable one. The building is an architectural feat in itself - five floors, modern décor and lots of room to walk around the displays. There were several dinosaur artifacts from Drumheller on display along with all kinds of other prehistoric creatures from all over the world. The displays from Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Africa, Egypt, Greece and Rome held artifacts that were several centuries old, many dated BC. I particularly like the display of armor used by Samurai, Gladiators and warriors. 05

The American Living displayed furniture arrangements from the 18th century right up to about 1960 and modernistic eclectic styles. There was also a large area dedicated to the native people of Canada and held several headdresses, clothing, war clubs etc.

I dragged Jim to the 4th floor of the museum to see the "Costumes and Textiles" display. I saw 18th century displays of brocades on velvet and silk used for upholstery and draperies, as well as samples of weaving, quilting, tapestry, embroidery and crewel work. The lace making done by hand was unbelievable! Tiny pins held each strand of silk or cotton in place and the lace pattern was created using 12 to 18 different spools of thread at one time. I don't know how they kept it from getting all tangled up!

There was a display of photographs used in "Vanity Fair" magazine from about 1934 to present day. The photos were taken by several high profile photographers and the portraits were of Presidents and politicians, movie stars and entertainers, royalty and ordinary citizens of the US such as the firemen on the scene after 911.