"Spectacular Niagara Falls"

Today was spent viewing and experiencing Niagara Falls all from the Canadian Side. A journey to the falls on the famous "The Maid of the Mist" excursion brought us up front and personal with the excitement of the falls crashing below. Both "Piano Man and "Desert Princess" had a great time with their mom and afterward enjoyed walking around the town of Niagara with their grandpa. A favorite stop was the Hershey store and then getting a photograph next to a "Canadian Mountie."

Niagara Falls we were told is the second largest falls on the globe next to Victoria Falls in southern Africa. Here in Niagara there are actually several falls, the American falls is to the left in the first photo, then Horseshoe Falls and then to the far right, Niagara Falls. Next to the American Falls, there is also another falls called Bridal Falls.

The Niagara river, which forms the falls, drains water from four of the Upper Great Lakes-Michigan,Huron,Superior and Erie. These Great lakes actually constitute one fifth of the fresh water on our entire globe. All the outflow from these lakes empties into the Niagara river and eventually cascades over
the falls.

At the bottom of the falls, the water travels 15 miles over many gorges until it reaches the fifth Great Lake-Ontario. The land between the lakes does not slope at an even grade, but forms a spectacular drop approximately the same height as a 20 story building and this is known as the "Niagara Escarpment"

"Five Beautiful Grandchildren"

Wow! Four beautiful grandaughters and one very handsome grandson. How lucky could any grandfather be!! Their names, computer generated, from oldest to youngest are "Piano Man", "Desert Princess", "Baby Iris", "Princess Petra", and the most recent arrival, little precious "Baby Bella."

"What's on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair?"

Ever since I was a young lad, I've enjoyed my time at the Minnesota State Fair. This year was no exception. Best of all the weather was cool and much more bearable than most years.

Over the years, the Minnesota State Fair has had some changes in both attractions and venues offered fair visitors. The first fair was a territorial fair first held in 1859. It wasn't until the late 1880's that the Fair acquired a permanent site on 212 acres north of St. Paul.

The character of early fairs was dominated by agricultural exhibits and competitions, reflecting its original purpose of encouraging farming in the state. While agriculture is still the primary focus, the scope of activities has broadened to include large-scale entertainment features, technological and industrial exhibits and scores of education and government institutions.

While food has always been a focus at the fair, a recent trend is one of finding food that one can place "on a stick." Here I've documented a few of these. My favorite and most Minnesotean is the Norwegian hot dish on a stick!!!!