So, from our quiet secluded edenic tranquil retreat, we were heading to another big city - Niagara Falls. Have you been to Niagara Falls? I always imagined it to be on the countryside (like most waterfalls are) but this is like a mini version of Las Vegas that just happens to be next to the most spectacular waterfalls known to man. But, how did we get there?

It was 563kilometer drive to Buffalo, NY, where we dropped the car off. Its about a six hour drive.

We decided to stop at ...... McDonalds for breakfast (dont judge). There were some ...... different items on the menu, so being as adventurous as we are, we decided to try them. Kylie tried a McGriddle. Maybe we should have googled what it is beforehand?

She took one bite - 'What is this?' According to Wikipedia (what doesnt Wikipedia know about?) "The "standard" McGriddles sandwich consists of bacon, egg and American cheese served on a small pancake made with maple flavoring. Both the top and bottom griddle cakes are embossed with the McDonald's logo." 

Just WEIRD!!!!!

I had a breakfast burrito.

What is it? I know you are dying to find out. Thanks Google "Spice up your morning with peppers, onions, fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage and melty cheese all wrapped in a soft tortilla." Just weird! 

Back on the road again. I wont tell you about the time when I looked at the petrol bowser and I said "I think we should get petrol" and Kylie said "Nah, we'll be fine" and then shortly thereafter the petrol gauge started flashing because we were so low and there was no petrol station in sight. It all worked out fine ...... JUST!

At about the five hour mark, there is a place along the way called Rochester. Here lives some relatives of ours. We had arranged to meet ours cousin Kate (whom we had never met in person) at her place of work. It was a FLYING visit. What we DIDNT know was that she had arranged to bring Mary (who I met many years ago in Australia) along with her niece Kayleigh (sorry if that isn't spelt right). It was great to see you all!

Of course, Mary is Italian. The first thing she said was 'Why didnt you tell me? I could have cooked for you!!!' Italians are the same everywhere! Mangia, Mangia!!!!! Kate works at Rochester University and its a BEAUTIFUL campus!

It was just like being with Mum! Thanks for making time to see us (at very short notice). One more hour along the way, and we arrived in Buffalo and dropped the car off! Fortunately, there was no issues. We found a shuttle transport that would drive us across the border. I wasnt sure about how the border crossing works as the only border crossings I've ever done are by plane. The driver just said 'They will ask for your passports. Be clear when they ask questions. Be sure of your answers. You should have no problem.' So, we approached the border. Niagara Falls NY is ........ well ........ not a very nice place. Its right on the border and it seems to be quite a run down town. The shuttle driver told us lots of stories about corrupt politicians from the area that mostly end up in prison after their terms end (or during their terms) that have taken lots of money off the town. 

I could clearly see the border and the checkpoints - looked like it was about 100m away. He said 'So, we have about a 2 hour wait now!' WHAT? 2 hours? Are you kidding? Turns out, the traffic moved faster than he expected and it was just over an hour that we had to wait. And, then we arrived in Niagara Falls, Ontario CANADA!

These are SPECTACULAR!!!! These are the Canadian Horseshoe falls. These are definitely the more impressive of the 2 falls. 

These are the American Falls, adjacent to the Canadian Falls. 

We checked into our accommodation. This was the view from our room;

We had direct unobstructed views of the falls. When we checked in, we were offered a $50 upgrade to get a corner room will full views of the american and the canadian falls. We accepted. After a long journey to get there as well as a long border crossing, we ate dinner and crashed.

Next morning, first on the agenda was the Maid of the Mist.

We bought an Adventure Pass. This entitled us to access four of the most popular tourist attractions in town - Maid of the Mist, Journey BEHIND the falls, Niagaras Fury (a cool 4D movie - it sprays water and moves and things like that) and White Water Walk (its a boardwalk down by the rapids). The rapids are Grade 6 - whatever that means.

Here is a sampling of photos from the day;

Canadian Money (like Australian Money) is polymer. Its cool because unlike US money, they are different colours. And, even better than that is that there are $1 and $2 coins. When we were travelling in America, I always felt like I had a stack of money because I always had heaps of notes in my wallett, but in actual fact, I only hd seven or eight dollars.

All ready to go on Maid of the Mist. They give you ponchos because you get fully satched!!!!

Waiting in line. There are Maid of the Mist boats that leave from both the Canadian and the US sides.

Still had the camera out as we hadnt yet gotten TOO wet. That was to come.

 Panorama - its just the most spectacular view from the boat. You get VERY close and VERY wet.

OK, its time to put the camera away. We got the camera its own rain jacket because we (well, Me) were paranoid about the camera getting wet.

OK, one last shot.

American Falls from up close.

Canadian Falls from up closer (as close as i was willing to have the camera out)

A pic taken from inside the cameras rain jacket.

Quick, take the photo

They wouldnt let me keep the ticket for the This and That book! Spew!

Then we went to the journey behind the falls. We had a yellow poncho for this one.

Now, THIS was close!!!!

Us BEHIND the falls.

You can get very close to the top of the falls. This was taken just behind the barricade.

Its just the most beautiful view

We found this cool new setting on the camera. This was taken at the rapids.

My honey at the rapids.

Us having fun waiting to get out of the rapids.

This was the view from breakfast. Just spectacular.

And that was the end of the day. Durung the day, I had something that was a small shadow over us. I tried to not let it spoil my day. We had a to arrange a one-way rental from Niagara Falls to Quebec. I googled, I called - it really was not going to be possible. We were asking Taxi drivers - and one of the BUS drivers said 'There is one just down here - you should be ok with this one.' So, we got dropped off on the corner and we walked. Just a side point - away from the main flashy streets, the city is ...... well, its almost like the US side of the city. Its rundown, its old and its completely not what we expected. Anyway, we walked to the rental place and asked. Like all of the rentals the response was 'Yes, of course we can help.' And then when we said 'Into Quebec?' The response ? No! Then he explained that Quebec was like a different country. So, that idea was discarded. Spew! OK - how are we going to get to Quebec (Brome, in fact)? We looked into flights, train and bus. Bus was the only reasonably priced. However, it was an 11 hour journey with two stops. Just to give you an idea for comparison - it was 13 hours to fly to North America. Here is a map of where the bus took us. 

First leg - Niagara Falls to Toronto

Second Leg - Toronto to Ottowa

Third Leg - Ottowa to Montreal

Then, Grant and Wanda (and Hannah) came to pick us up and take us to Brome.

So we arrived grumpy and smelly after a long journey! But, WE ARRIVED! Yay!

The day started in DC. The time we woke up was just offensive,

Check out the offensive time the alarm went off at the top of the picture - 3:30AM. We sometimes dont go to bed until after that when we get caught up with movies, or working or chatting (not often, but sometimes). So, it just seemed wrong to get UP at that time. Added to the wrongness was that I remember that we were going to Bethel that day and I needed to shave. Note to self (and anyone else reading this) - shaving is not something that you want to do when you are sleepy. 

When I was in the shower, I thought to myself 'I wonder if we need an international license to drive (or even in fact rent a car) in the US? Secretly, I was freaking out. So, upon exiting the shower, I walked to my iPad and googled 'Do I need an international license to drive in the USA?' I wasnt too happy with what I found. So, Kylie noticed that I was 'playing' on the iPad and asked what I was doing. I told her and she said 'I didnt even bring my Australian license!' Oh dear. We may be in strife. She googled something else and came across some discussion boards that seemed to indicate that an international license is not necessary for australians. So, we were hopeful. But, not confident. Our getting a hire car was pivotal for visiting Wallkill, Paterson and our accommodation for the next two nights. 

We pre-ordered our cab for 4:30 - what an offensive time. Poor cab driver had to get up early for us. lol. It was a short 15 minute ride to the airport. I was watching the meter like a hawk. I hate catching cabs. I just feel like they are ripping me off. It was going well. But, then I noticed that he pressed some button five times and every time he pressed the button, the price went up by a dollar. I quizzed him about this and he told me that it was related to ordering a cab carrying a fee and extra costs for luggage. Then, he turned on the light (it was still pitch black outside) and pointed to the terms on conditions that were stuck on the window of the cab. So, for an $11 fare, it ended up costing more than $20. I was not happy. I'm particularly loathed to give tips. Not because I'm cheap. But, I tip people when they do a good job, or are nice or actually deserve a tip. I hate tipping out of obligation. And, 18-20% forget it!!!!!

So, when we stepped out of the cab, it was 4:50 for our 6:05 departure. Kylie was making fun of me for being so OCD by leaving so early. We checked in our bags, grabbed a coffee and then waited in line for more than 30 minutes in security. Domestic travel in the US has the same security as international travel in Australia. There are still restrictions on liquid. You have to take your shoes off every time. There are full body scanners in use at every airport. It's FULL ON. We arrived at our gate and sat down for literally three minutes and then we were called. It was a small plane.

This is a seating layout I came across (thanks GOogle).

It was well an truly the smallest plane that we have flied on (excluding the helicopter). It was just three seats across and I could barely stand up straight without my head touching the roof of the plane. We had a valet luggage service. Most bags were too big to fit in the overhead lockers and so they tagged them all and put them under the plane and then as we were walking on the aerobridge, they were there for us to pick up. It was cool.

So, we arrive in JFK, and went to the Hertz counter. We had made a reservation, but I had been looking for one-way rentals for months and had not been sucessful. But, during dinner the night before, I did a search on the iPhone app, found a one way rental and made a reservation. I was not confident that it would be honored as it seemed cheaper than all the others I had seen. Grant in Montreal was also searching for me and found a few that were cheaper by looking on the Australian site, not the US site. So, I gave it a go. I confidently walked up to the counter and handed my credit card and AUSTRALIAN license and ........ they gave me the keys. It was so cool. Everything I worried about was a non-issue. And, as it turns out, Kylie DID bring her license which was handy as she is doing all the driving.  

The master driver. She is so good. The funniest thing was as soon as you drive out of the airport, you are on a freeway. We typed in the address of Patterson Bethel and hoped it was taking us in the right direction. I vowed to use that as an illustration in an upcoming talk - you have ABSOLUTELY no clue where you are going, so you have to trust the instruments provided.

Question - how can you spot an international tourist?

Answer - they take photos of the 'projects' in the Bronx. 

So, we drove for about an hour and a half and arrived in Patterson at about 10am. It was funny since our day started in Washington DC at 3:30am.

Patterson is just a beautiful setting and a beautiful set of buildings.

We went on a tour - here is a sprinkling of the things we saw;

This is where the family has their WT study every week. Its also the site of the Gilead graduations. 

Beautiful artwork.

Awesome displays. 

Cool photo ops.

An ENORMOUS dining room. 

Yay! Someone took a great pic of us. 

And, another. This is the money shot of the trip so far. Thanks Mark!

Have you been to Patterson? If not, you have got to go. The support services for us in the field that are done at Patterson are just amazing.

Then, off to lunch at.....

McDonalds!!!!! We had to try LARGE, despite what we were taught by Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me. The chips and the drink do not appear larger than they are - they are actual size. Looks bigger than Kylies head!!!! Closeby, we found a place that was similar to The Warehouse, though the receipts said it was called 'Super Drugs?????????'

Hahahahahahaha!!!!

Then, we checked into our accommodation in High Falls. Another place found on airbnb. I LOVE this place!!!

The garden outside.

The pond outside.

The main house.

This was a beautiful place to stay. It is about an hour from Patterson and about half an hour from Wallkill so if you are ever visiting, you should stay here. 

That night, we booked into dinner at a neighbours house. Here name is Jeanette. She cooked a Moroccan feast for us.

The beautiful setting for dinner.

Panoramic view of dinner.

I LOVE all things Moroccan.

It got even nicer as the sun went down.

Then, sleep. Well earned, considering our day started at 3:30.

Next day, Wallkill.

Lobby at Walkill.

Cool photo op.

Here is a sampling of pics from the tour.

Softcover insight volume made specially for prison inmates.

Rolls of paper for bibles. And, before you ask, English bibles are out of stock worldwide. There is no word when they will be available.

Beautiful gardens at Walkill

Yes, another money shot.

Ready to be delivered to tables for lunch.

Expanded dining room.

Our tour group.

This cool  kid in the lobby. Look at his badge. He is deaf. There are deaf bethelites that care for sign language translation.

So, the brother that took this pic was walking from across the road at the meat processing plant. He invited us to return in the afternoon for a behind the scenes tour of the meat processing plant.

It was interesting????? Made we want to be a vegetarian. Lol. Jk.

Mac who gave us the tour of the meat facility. Born in 1994, which was the last year of high school for me. Oh, man. I'm old. Walkill was amazing to see. If you haven't been - you've GOT to go.

Then we drove home and promptly fell asleep for about three hours. Woke up starving. Found a place still open at 9 and had some pasta.

And, that's the end of our Walkill / Patterson tours. Thanks for reading. Next stop - Niagara Falls,