Toronto Zoo.

It’s a misty three degrees Celsius.
It’s beautiful. Ethereal.
A still-frozen pond sets a tail-end-of-winter scene.

Lions laze together, her head over his back. He yawns. She goes to sleep.
Olive baboons huddle in a corner, but observe curiously. Although they don’t miss much, they are not their usually playful selves.
A tiger paces the boundary of her enclosure, her hugs paws padding heavily.
Raccoons doze lazily in their log while the cougar hides in the shelter of rocks.
The lynx is nowhere to be seen.

A pair of bald eagles are nesting: she lines the nest with leaf litter; he watches carefully, making sure no threat interrupts her work.

The she-moose is friendly and inquisitive, but wanders away to investigate the contents of the feed trough.

Grizzly bears, just out of hibernation, relax on large rocks.
An arctic wolf wanders from the pack, sniffing the air and eyeing the newcomers cautiously.

Mist turns to soft rain as the polar bear tries to get in the door that keeps her from her sleeping cub.

Dense mist falls like a late-afternoon blanket as the animal world drifts into its nightly slumber.

Niagara Falls.

Absolutely magnificent.

Last night we saw the American side of the falls under low lighting. 

That was breathtaking in itself.

Today I saw the falls from both the US and Canadian sides.

I saw the American side of the falls in weak, wintery sunshine. By the time I had crossed over into Canada via Rainbow Bridge, it was misty grey. It seemed like a different world altogether, where the falls had created their own ethereal atmosphere

There were still frozen sections of the falls because it’s still wintery even though it’s technically spring.  There are icebergs in the river that flows over the falls. The spray from the falls is icy cold on your skin, then chillingly damp as it melts into hair and clothing. It is wetter than rain, colder than ice, but incredibly delicious for the soul. 

I have dreamed of seeing the falls ever since the first time I saw them on TV.
Today, that dream became reality. 

Words cannot express how it felt for me to be there and witness the power and majesty of the falls. 

I left there feeling as though, in some way, a part of my soul had come home.

Roadtripping #1

We’ve been in the States since Saturday and we have already been in California, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

This afternoon we are on our way across the southern shore of Lake Erie toward Niagara Falls.. Niagara has long been one of my huge bucket list places and I am slightly overwhelmed at the thought of actually almost being there.

Rock and Roll.

Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is amazing.
It exhibits memorabilia, video, audio and documents relating to the history of rock and roll music from its roots in gospel, country, and rhythm and blues to modern icons like Springsteen and Madonna.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit there today.
It’s definitely a highlight of my trip so far.

Megabus dos and don’ts.

The Megabus service is an efficient and very cheap way to get from the Rosa Parks Transit Centre in Detroit to Union Station, Chicago if you book well ahead. It cost $12US each for us to take the bus because I booked a couple of months ahead.
The bus has the suspension of a brick building, but you can overlook that if you are inclined to focus on the positives.
Clean bus, very polite and helpful staff, and some lovely scenery along the way.
Don’t rely on using that little bathroom at the back of the bus, though, unless you are short and thin with thighs strong enough to keep you on the potty while the bus is bouncing and shuddering.