Last night I didn't post anything because I was a little sick- just ate something that didn't agree with me. These things pass and all is fine again today.  Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day!  We left Crystal Beach on Lake Erie after a great visit with Marian and Tony Johnson, the day was warm, the sun shining and we drove along the Niagra Parkway which runs right along the Lake.  Canada has an extensive park system all along the Niagra area with park benches, picnic tables and overlook areas.  We had pulled over at one overlook to take pictures when a fellow by the name of Paul pulled in on his bicycle.  We had passed him a ways back and he had hoped to catch up with us so he could see the car up close.  After talking a while, we parted and he cycled on.  Later on while driving on the parkway we again spotted Paul and waved.  I told Joe that if we saw him again, we were going to have to adopt him.

Before long, Joe realized that he had taken the cover off the trunk and left it at the Johnson's house.  After a phone call, we arranged to meet Tony and Marian in the quaint town of Niagra on the Lake to retrieve the trunk cover.  Our visit to that town and lunch with the Johnsons was the highlight of the day.  The town was full of exquisite flowers- hanging baskets on all the light posts, extensive plantings of hostas, iris, geraniums, lantana, variegated canna lilies, petunias - just about every flower you could ask for.  Wait til you see the pictures I'll be posting!

We followed the parkway and country roads lined with vineyards and wineries for miles.  I've seen lots of vineyards in the Napa Valley in CA, but this was much more extensive.  We spent the night with good friends, Karen and Alfred Acres in Beamsville, Ontario.  They have commercial nectarine and donut peach orchards.  The creek running behind their house was teeming with huge trout that you could see coming up to catch bugs.  Their property fronts Lake Ontario and you can see the city of Toronto across the lake - a pretty spectacular sight, especially at dusk when the lights across the lake start to come on - looks like a diamond necklace sparkling.

Joe and Alfred reworked the carburetor and Alfred, a skilled machinist, made a little part to improve the performance of the carburetor and it has been working great today.

Today, we traveled along flat roads with more vineyards, lots of commercial greenhouses and newly plowed fields and some with winter wheat about 2-3 feet tall.  Along the roads were ditches with lots of water.  It looks like the ditches are always filled as there are cattails.  I will also post a picture of the large napping turtle that was sunning himself on the shoulder of the road by one of the ditches.  Joe walked right up to him, got down on one knee and got a close-up.  I wasn't that brave!  He was a good foot long and he looked really mean!

I apologize again for no pictures tonight.  I will have to post a lot when we get back into the U.S. on
the day after tomorrow.  We have stayed with several people who either did not have wi-if service or 3 prong receptacles for my computer so that I could download the pictures from my camera.  I have just been posting from my iPad each evening.

It's late and Joe will have to do "The Steering Column" tomorrow night since he is already tucked in for the night