Buck Visits Niagara Falls

Once Buck had been home for a few weeks he found himself growing bored of watching t.v.

He was relieved and excited to hear the ambassador come home and announce that he had concert tickets and they’d all be hopping into the car and heading to Niagara Falls.   Buck loved geographic formations that had to do with water and he’d seen the horse shoe falls on t.v. during the coverage of the Wallenda tight rope crossing.   Daredevil  antics were a wonder to Buck and brought many questions to his mind.  Why would you want to spend your life practising to walk a tight rope?   Why wouldn’t  you just take the rainbow bridge to cross the Niagara gorge?  There were just some things that didn’t make sense to Buck. 

The car ride was long but the view was extremely rewarding.

and came complete with a rainbow.

You could even take a boat ride on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ which was a bit confusing at first because that’s how the lady jokingly referred to herself as well.   Buck found himself trying to distinguish between which maid they were referring to in conversation,  like when the ambassador  said  ”‘Oh yeah,  if you pay you can ride her and it feels pretty dangerous”  to an inquiring  tourist and ‘She’s been in service a long time,  I think I was on her as a kid” to the lady herself.   Buck thought it best to just be quiet here.

After strolling along the walkway they rode the funicular to the top of Clifton hill to take in the overall view and avoid having to waddle up the hill. 

Buck was careful to keep his body parts inside as instructed by the signage.  No daredevil antics for him.

Although he was unsure of why you’d ever want to have your body parts outside.  

All in all it was a splendid day and Buck was impressed with Niagara Falls and it’s majestic beauty. 

Buck Does A Girls Weekend

Every year they get together for a cottage weekend and the Orillia area is where it happens.  The girls are not really ‘girls’ anymore but on this one weekend every year they let loose and act like they are.   Buck was thrilled to get a peek into this secret world and shocked to discover the depths of debauchery that could be obtained so easily just north of Toronto. 

The first item on the agenda was a concert.  Buck had never been to a concert before and was surprised at how the large auditorium was packed with all sorts of characters from young curvy gals in cowboy hats who seemed afflicted with spine disorders as the music took them away to older folks who appeared  semi-robotic as they were hooked up with varying apparatus to help them move and/or breathe. 

Buck was caught up in the music before he knew it.

A couple in the row in front were also caught up in the romance of the music and blinded by love they didn’t care that their large craniums locked together made viewing the concert from the row behind them impossible.  Buck figured this is where the term ‘blockhead’ came from.    

The next agenda item was a trip to Orillia to enjoy the art history museum.  Now Orillia was home to Stephen Leacock and while we visited he was being honoured with a collection of chairs decorated by local artisans like Toronto had with the ‘moose’ of a few years ago.  These chairs are along the main arteries of Orillia and you can stroll and vote for your favourites.  While many of them were amazing this one was Buck’s favourite …

As the sun set that evening Buck and his new friend Finnegan the cat took in some live rodent entertainment at the ‘chipmunk out the downspout’ show …

And shared a special moment that made Buck feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Buck was also very interested to see the statue that commemorated Samuel De Champlain’s  arrival in the new land,  introducing the natives to the very first ducky in Canada.   Right there in the middle of lake couchiching  park a grand monument to welcome duckies from everywhere. 

Buck liked Orillia immensley and was glad that while the majority of the ‘girls’ have retired from work they have not retired from their annual weekends away.   Buck thought that the lady was very smart about what she retired from and what she did not and he liked her friends.  Mostly he liked the way they made the lady laugh so heartily.   Hearing her laugh just made Buck feel good somehow even when he didn’t get the joke,  like when a strange man at the beach called the lady a ‘good Christian girl’ which they all seemed to find hilarious.   Buck was just glad to be there.