Second Workshop, Coaticook Quebec

We left Ontario on the hottest day of the entire month ...so hot in fact that records were broken: 38C / 100.4F with a humidex of 43. The car's air conditioning could barely keep up.
This workshop consisted of the same kits as the first one that I attended so this time, my granddaughter would take it. I merely acted as chauffeur.
Quebec is a lovely province that I've been to several times; one of the differences from Ontario are seeing the houses with their stairs on the outside.
We stopped overnight in Chateauguay and managed to do some clothes shopping the next morning before heading off again.
Of course we couldn't drive past the covered bridges without taking photos.

Even the countryside was greener than what we had left behind. Ontario consisted of strawlike lawns. Not only had we had hotter than normal temperatures but we were undergoing a mini drought as well ...something that Quebec obviously was not.Coaticook, where we were headed, is a village not far from both Montreal and the Vermont border.
This time with only three "students" per class, Natalie and Helena had a much easier time giving individual attention and Dana finally got her long awaited shot of all of us in PJs... We had a marvelous time; the food was delicious and the company exceptional. Mornings and evenings, we sat around the kitchen table; most all of us in front of our laptops. What would people do without those LOL!Our hostess, Louise, has an enormous studio, one that I would love to have. One entire wall was dedicated to doll molds. Unfortunately once again the time went by all too quickly before Jade & I were back on the road.
We had come via Canada, but on our way home we wanted to drive through the US which Jade had not been to. Fortunately at the Vermont border crossing, we were permitted through; although my daughter had gotten a passport for Jade, she neglected to provide me with a letter permitting Jade to travel to the States with me. So we were quite lucky.
For most of Vermont, the Appalachian mountains were shrouded in mist but the rain held off.The fastest route to New York state means taking the ferry at Lake Champlain ...another first time of many for Jade.Once in New York state my GPS decided that we should discover as many single car lanes and rural routes as possible as it navigated us through the Adirondacks.
We stopped overnight in Syracuse where I took advantage of shopping at Hobby Lobby. Unfortunately since we only have a Michaels craft store, I tend to overspend. But finally we reached Niagara Falls, which neither of us had explored from the American side. The Falls are roughly divided between Canada and the US with Canadian Horseshoe Falls being the larger of the two.But you can get closer to the Falls on the American side!
We were told that if someone were to fall into the rapids above the falls, they would have only 3 minutes to escape before being swept over. Of the sixteen people known to have gone over only 11 lived; the youngest was a 9 year old boy who accidentally fell in and the oldest (1901) a 63 year old retired school teacher who lied about her age (why?). Several people have even gone over twice! I was quite happy to see it close up but from land.
It really is an awesome spectacle!

We did the Cave of the Winds, which isn't a cave at all but lets you walk right next to one of the smaller Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist. These boats bring tourists from both sides of the border right to the edge of the Horseshoe Falls.

Then all too quickly the day was done and we headed for home. But not without another lecture from the border crossing guard...