Solar Eclipse 2024 - Lake Ontario

The solar eclipse is supposed to take place on April 8th. In April in North America – well, you have to be lucky with the weather.

I've rented a "far too big" car - a VW Atlas, I've never heard of that before - 2 mattresses and 2 sleeping bags in it and then you can sleep in it, because the hotels for the night of April 8th are just sooo expensive everywhere that I'm happy to be so adventurous and finally wake up next to the water again.

The small tour group met in Syracuse to eat at the Cheesecake Factory - where the calories are listed next to the cheesecake. I don't know who is on the marketing team, but they should be fired.

So sobering!

From there we went to the motel (Port Lodge Motel Pulaski) - if you have the 3rd star motel, you also get light and a working shower. That left a bit to be desired. So we feel very prepared for the solar eclipse :-D

But it's really nice that you can park right in front of it and don't have to carry your luggage for ages.

At the weekend we climbed up Lake Ontario towards Canada and landed in Port Sacket. There was a war here in 1812. One of the USA's wars of independence and an attempt to adjust the borders to the north. It didn't work, it was nonsense, like all wars in this world are nonsense!

On Sunday we headed south along the lake with a tipsy climax at one of the stiffest wine cellar doors I've ever experienced, a trip to the waterfall and finally we settled down in the parking lot and enjoyed the icy night there.

Then on Monday it should happen - things will get exciting at 2 p.m. Lots of people have gathered on the beach to watch the solar eclipse. Put on your glasses and cross your fingers that the clouds will clear up and allow you to see it.

What happens is simply magical! Suddenly everything becomes dark and cold. A brief doomsday mood and that must have triggered survival mode in the insects and they immediately mated on the numerous cars.

Then it was time to say goodbye and I continued on towards Niagara Falls. A day's journey back from Syracuse along Lake Ontario and with a detour to Fort Niagara on the US side, and finally I arrived at Martin's uncle's Thorold. Martin and I will be travelling together for the next few days.

It was really enriching to have met such a fun-loving old gentleman!

Niagara Falls - what can I say - how amazing! Here too, the temperature is exciting - so much water also brings a cool breeze. Aside from the water experience, the rest of the city is one big adventure park.

On the way to Niagara on the Lake (from there you can already see Toronto on the other side) there are lots of fruit and wine plantations and on the way back we of course have to watch the spectacle of the waterfalls with their different colours again.

After a week of being on the move, it's time to return the car (to Waterloo, otherwise the car would have been 400 CAD more expensive) and take public transport to Toronto.