Niagara Falls at last!

FINALLY, we made it to Niagara Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world! It was WELL worth the wait! It’s beautiful in winter! There are large ice formations created by the power of the water, and the mist created by the water roaring over the fall swirls high into the sky! Almost 90% of the water from the Niagara River flows over the falls and the sound of the water dropping 170 feet from the top of the cliff to the base is tremendously loud! Here are the pictures I took at the falls today.



Now, because it is winter, it is too dangerous to go behind the falls but I found a GREAT web site that has a webcam that shows the falls right now and a virtual tour that you can take to see what the falls look like in the summertime. Click here to see the falls right now on the webcam and click here to take the virtual tour!

There is a passenger boat, called the Maid of the Mist that takes passengers right to the base of the falls but that is closed right now. You can see the trip at their virtual tour by going to this site and then clicking on the tab that says “View the Experience.” Click on the link to “Play the video” and you’ll see exactly how the boat goes right into the mouth of the horseshoe shaped falls!

The attraction that IS open during the winter is the Butterfly Conservatory! Beautiful, beautiful butterflies floating around. They are so friendly, they will land right on your finger if you are very, very still! Huge blue butterflies, monarch butterflies, all kinds of butterflies!













It was a full day of exploring and site seeing! And not a moment tooo soon! It’s time for me to slip back into my envelope and return to Caleb in Texas! I will not easily forget the winter fun here in the Niagara Peninsula!

St. Patrick's Day in Canada

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's celebrated with lots of corned beef and cabbage around here and of course, the wearing of the green!

February Adventures!

Wow! February flew by! We are having so much fun here in Canada. First of all, we have LOTS of snow here—at least, we did this year. In fact, one day we had almost 24 inches of snow falling! Whew! Here is my friend, Harold, digging out the car!

Of course, that makes for lots of winter fun! By piling up all that snow, we were able to toboggan down a small hill plus all the other hills in the town!

We haven't been to Niagara Falls yet, but we've been too busy! There’s a lot of hockey—all kids play hockey here or at least skate! Why, when the weather drops below freezing, people run water from the garden hose to fill their backyards. This freezes and turns the backyard into a pond skating rink! Here I am on a neighbor’s backyard skating rink! It’s a good thing I’m made of paper—everyone else has to bundle up to stay warm out here!

Of course, when the family went to New Orleans for three days, I went right along with them—just a few days after Mardi Gras! It was nice to leave the snow and New Orleans had plenty of sunshine!

On Day 1, we visited the French Quarter of New Orleans! We road the ferry across the mighty Mississippi River, watched the riverboats steam slowly past, devoured beignets at Café Du Monde, and visited Jackson Square.

On Day 2, we took a drive down the Plantation Road where many of the old Southern cotton plantations still stand guard! We visited Oak Alley with its row of giant live oak trees (nearly 300 years old) stretching a quarter mile between the house and the river. Here you see me standing at the gates. We also visited Laura Plantation, a working Creole plantation. Here the stories of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit were told by the slaves and recorded by Alcee Fortier who gave them to his friend, Joel Chandler Harris, for publication. We finished the day by visiting Destrehan Plantation, the oldest plantation home in the lower Mississippi River Valley.

On Day 3, we decided to partake of some native vittles—yep, alligator! We found this stuffed gal alligator welcoming us to the restaurant so I had to have my picture made here. Here I am with Aaron and Melanie chomping down. Mmmmmm, good!

We are back in Canada now with nice memories of New Orleans! BUT, we still haven’t been out to Niagara Falls! Soon!

Visiting Brock University

Hello, everyone. . .

Well, I arrived in Canada and guess what, they had 13 inches of snow! It's really pretty here. I went up to Brock University to meet the students who were learning to be teachers. We visited in the computer lab and they showed me how to work with Excel and play videos. We had a great time!
:-)
Flat Stanley

Happy New Year!

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year!

Caleb is sending me off to visit some exciting places and have some great adventures this year! Stay tuned to see where I go and what happens to me in 2008!

:-)

Flat Stanley