Bonjour Everyone!

Bonjour means hello in French.  I learned that when we went to Canada this past week.  In Canada, they speak French and English, so I learned how to say, “hello” in French.

We went to Niagara Falls, and it sure was amazing.

But before I tell you all about Niagara Falls, let me tell you about what we did before we got there.

We left Matthew’s house on Wednesday, June 14th.  From there, we went to Tom Schaeffer’s RV.  That’s where bought Polly, our house on wheels at.  Daddy tries to get any work that needs to be done on Polly done there because he says they have one of the best service departments in the country.  So, whenever we get back to Berks County, if Polly needs something done to her, daddy takes her up there to get it done.  This time, Polly’s generator had to be fixed, so the people at Tom Schaeffer’s took it out of her to fix it.  Now we had to stop there to get her generator put back in.

While we were waiting, I got to say, “Hi” to most of the employees at Tom Schaeffer’s.  They all loved me.  I got some treats and a lot of pets.  It was great!

After Polly got her clean bill of health, we drove just a few miles up the road to a place called Daydream Farm.  It was a really cool spot!  It was a Harvest Host location, so we were staying there for the night.  They breed thoroughbred horses.  When we were there, there were about 40 horses total between mommy horses and baby horses.  I walked mommy and daddy around the farm and we said hello to most of the horses.  I like horses.  Most of the horses seemed to be pretty curious about me, as well.  It was a neat place for us to stay.  I hope that we can go back there someday.

When we left Daydream Farm, we were headed out to our first trip of two trips to Knoebel’s.  This one was for a FROG Rally.  I thought this was a weird thing for us to go to.  I don’t particularly like frogs and I didn’t think that mommy and daddy did either.  But here I found out that FROG in this case stood for, Forest River Owners Group.  That’s what Polly is.  She is a Forest River Sunseeker.  So, this thing was for a bunch of people who owned Forest River houses on wheels to get together and meet each other and eat lots of good food.  This was a different Knoebel’s Campground than where we normally stay, it was at the Lake Glory Campground.  It is further from the park, and I wasn’t allowed on the shuttle, so I didn’t get to say hello to all of the workers at the park each morning like I do when we go to Knoebel’s with Matthew and Rebecca.  But that’s ok, I’ll make up for that when we go back there with Matthew and Rebecca this week.  I did say hello to a lot of the other campers when I walked mommy and daddy around the campground though.  That was a lot of fun.

After the FROG Rally, it was off to Niagara Falls!

When we first got there, I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I’ve seen some pretty neat water falls in my travels, but nothing these.  These things were huge!  There are actually three sets of water falls there.  The American Falls, Bridal Vail Falls, and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.  So much water, and so powerful.

There is a Niagara Falls, New York, USA.  That’s where the American Falls and Bridal Vail Falls are.  Then there is also Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, that’s where the Canadian Horseshoe Falls are.

We went to both sides.

On Monday, we went to the New York side.  It was pretty cool.  I walked my mommy and daddy all the way around Goat Island.  It was a little over four miles.  We saw so many people and they all wanted to pet me!  One nice man even gave me some bread to eat!  I liked him a lot.  I loved exploring Goat Island.  It was so much fun and very interesting.  I learned a lot.

After my adventure day on Goat Island, we went to Four Mile Creek State Park in Youngstown, New York.  The campground is located right on the shores of Lake Ontario.  With seeing Lake Ontario, I’ve now seen all five of the Great Lakes.  Although I only drove by Lake Superior and didn’t really get to enjoy it, I did see it.  I walked along Lake Huron when we were doing laundry in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan one day.   I did get to go swimming in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan.  I loved that!  I have to tell you though, the sunsets over Lake Ontario are quite beautiful, to say the least!

On Tuesday, mommy and daddy took an Uber back to Goat Island and I stayed back with Polly and listened to music at the campground.  Mommy and daddy did some neat things on their adventure that I wasn’t allowed to do.  They went on the Maid of the Mist boat and walked down to the Cave of the Winds.  They showed me pictures and told me all about it.  They had fun.

On Wednesday, we checked out of the campground and went to ArtPark State Park.  Mommy and daddy were going to see Michael Franti in concert, but we got there real early so that daddy and I could hike the gorge trail.  It was a beautiful trail.  So many incredible views.  Seeing how powerful that water was amazing, too.  That’s one river that I wouldn’t want to go swimming in, that’s for sure.  I wasn’t allowed in the concert, but I could hear the music in the house on wheels.  It was a really good show.  I like Michael Franti’s music as much as my daddy does.  I also got meet his drummer, Manas.  Daddy has done a couple of podcasts with him and he came back to visit me in the house on wheels last year when we were at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.  He’s a cool guy and he and daddy are buddies.

Thursday morning was the big day!  Canada – here I come!  We crossed the border around 10:30 in the morning and found a big parking lot for Polly.

Then we were off.  Our Canadian adventure had finally begun!  Mommy and daddy and me walked 5-1/2 miles exploring and telling everyone hello and bonjour!  When we walked past the Horseshoe Falls, it was very refreshing for me.  I could feel the cool mist from the falls on my face.  It was amazing!  I just sat there soaking it all in.  I thought to myself, I really might just be the luckiest dog on the face of the earth.  I’ve been to 39 states and now Canada, too!  I’ve seen so many amazing things and met so many incredible people.  I truly am blessed.

I hung out at the campground after my adventure with mommy and daddy and they did a lot of the tourist stuff that I’m not allowed to do.  I still think that daddy just needs to get me a vest so that I can go everywhere with him and mommy.  I mean, who would know the difference?

We left Canada on Sunday and took a hike to one of the neatest things I have ever seen.  We went to the Eternal Flame Falls in Orchard Park, New York.  The falls were pretty dry, but the flame was really cool.  It was an awesome hike.  I got to walk through water, and mud, and got really dirty.  I was living my best life on that hike.  I also got a lot pets, too.  That’s always the best kind hike, when mommy and daddy are both with me and we see lots of new people who will pet me.

We drove all the way to Williamsport after the hike and spent the night in a Cracker Barrel.

You know what that means, right?  Bacon for breakfast and then it’s off to see Matthew and Rebecca for our second trip Knoebel’s.  This time we’re in the campground right next to the park, so I’ll be able to walk down and make all of the workers start their days off with a smile.

I can’t wait, it’s going to be great!