The area around the train tracks in Niagara was one of my fave spots, truth be told. Niagara is kind of obnoxious, really - it's very glitzy and has a Vegas sort of feel to it. Bright lights and big city, far more touristy than any of the other places we had been on the entire trip. This is of course as much a part of the fun as it is a drawback - throngs of people tripping over one another to get to the mini-golf and buy fake Niagara Falls license plates that read: "Gr8 Lay" and "4:20" doesn't really scream "I'm next to one of the most amazing natural wonders on the planet..."
There were numerous rundown buildings in what was originally downtown Niagara,many many moons ago. Left to rot when everything moved closer to the falls, the locals have been trying to revitalize it into something of an arts district, but there are still a goodly number of ramshackle houses and weathered stone buildings, rusting bridges, and several defunct businesses bordering the station. I particularly enjoyed the once-was-a-convenience-store that was filled to the ceiling like a hoarder's paradise - maps, old ledgers, string, a rocking horse and a sled, yellowed newspapers, etc.- and a sign on the front door that said they sold stamps and lottery tickets there, and had free kittens, too...
We rode an Amtrak to Union Station in the t.dot, where we had a couple of hours to kill before boarding the final train. We were looking forward to just sitting and relaxing for a bit, and had been told by a few people that there were showers. Apparently, no, not in steerage, which we discovered the hard way. Having walked through Niagara for an entire super-hot day was a grungy way to start the trip, and after being cooped up for another 24 hours you could identify group odours as you passed the seats. I don't even want to know what our area smelled like - I just know that I can't imagine life without a daily shower.
We passed the time by watching movies, playing cards and Angry Birds, and sleeping. Watching the landscape whiz past us was surreal - the Canadian Shield is so diverse and untamed and achingly beautiful. It was almost a shame to be on a train where the luxury of being able to pull over and smell and touch and explore was denied us - we passed by countless pastoral fields, crazy-looking rock formations, quaint little lakes, and weird sections of land where dead trees stood like stubble in glassy ponds. It was especially eerie being up at sunrise when the plethora of random little bodies of water and partially harvested fields would have a wispy blanket of fog hung over them, the sun not quite high enough above the horizon to burn it off, but high enough to stain the sky shades of red and yellow and pink. We passed through countless dead or dying towns, automobile graveyards and collapsed buildings and abandoned farmhouses sprawled out on both sides of the tracks.
The second thing we found out a little too late was that we were stopping in Winnipeg for a 4-hour layover. This would have been a golden opportunity for us to have had a hotel room booked to take showers and freshen up for the last day and a half on the train, but as it wasn't noted on the ticket and it was 8:00 am, we had no luck finding a hotel room so last minute. However, in spite of being cranky and dirty, we managed to have an OK time anyway. We ended up grabbing breakfast at Tim Horton's then walking around in a sweet little area called The Forks. There was a great skate park and a beautifully landscaped walking trail. There was also a candy store called "Sugar Mountain" which we all laughed at because of the easy connection to Candy Mountain... there was much "Charlie, we're on a bridge" laughter to be had. We went into the artisan market, too, where the girls got cheapie dresses, picked up a few last-minute souvenirs, and bought pretty coffees and locally-grown organic cinnamon buns that were so fresh from the oven they were burning my arm as we walked back to the train.
The last discovery I made is that I don't sleep well on trains. While it was easy to nod off for a few minutes at a time, actually sleeping was impossible. The last night on the train was particularly treacherous for me. Feeling cooped, tired, dirty, and decidedly homesick, I almost burst into tears when I saw a John Deere sign glowing in the night sky just outside of Watrous, SK. When the sun rose a few hours later, my spirits lifted. Wil & Kaelan had slept in the dome car, and I went up to wake them and I darn near peed my pants with excitement when I realized from my GPS that we were going to go over one of my favourite bridges ever - the train bridge over the North Saskatchewan that is just north of Highway 16 on the east end of Edmonton. Since I was a kid I have admired it every time I've headed east of Edmonton, and when we got close enough to see it actually squeals, and I'm pretty sure as we rode over it I was vibrating!
We pulled into the station a few minutes later, jumped in a taxi, and went home to shower, do laundry, nap, get our dog home... and upload the 6000 or so pictures from the trip so we could share them with all our friends and family.
Those will be coming in a few day - I managed to whittle it down to about 1400 images. I'll separate them by location, but won't be adding captions - if you want to know what it is or why I took the picture, just ask...
Thanks for coming along on our journey. I've now been in every province and territoty in Canada except for the Yukon and Newfoundland & Labrador, and all I can say is PLEASE make a point of seeing as much of this vast, amazing and beautiful country of ours. From the haunting beauty of the Maritimes to the plush urban niceties of Montreal, the beautiful architecture in Canada's older cities to the bustling modernity of Toronto, from farms to factories, from rocks and oceans and waterfalls to mountains and fields and caves, from icefields and glaciers to deserts and rainforests, Canada has so much to offer.
I. Am. Canadian.
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