Incident Free Walking

I’ve walked a lot of places in my time, most of them without incident. I’ve walked across the street, to the store, to school, to the library, home from a west side underground bar without a jacket in high heeled boots in the middle of the night, to the loo, and in the airport even when I could have used the people mover. All without incident. Actually, the west side walk did result in a minor incident, but that didn’t occur until I had reached my destination.

My ‘trip’ to and in Chicago, however, changed things. Now, when I’m walking places, I do so with more attention and less ‘Italian.’ Those who know me well, understand the latter. Being that YumYummy was with me in Chicago when I fell (and quite possibly pushed me – I’m still waiting on the footage, no pun intended), she invited me to Canada for a redemption trip. Scratch that, as per Beaner’s advice, a redemption vacation. Tripping is so last year. It will be next year, anyway.

The day before I flew to the East Coast I received a text from YumYummy, “We may need to come up with a plan for the border crossing – wait times are 2-3 hours each way!” I suggested a bus or a train from Buffalo to Niagara Falls and she replied, “Maybe a cab to the border. If you go to the Rainbow Bridge crossing you can walk across the bridge (10 min) then just go to the Customs building.”

A fan of walking, and having never walked to Canada, I excitedly accepted this option. Leaving the United States was relatively easy, although my suitcase made the turnstile a bit of a challenge. The walk across the bridge was a breeze, literally. Winds were strong because a storm was lurking.  The time required to cross the bridge was extended due to my need to document my crossing of the International Boundary Line so I could hashtag it, #walkingtocanada, and share it with my followers – big shout out to the three of you!

Overall, I couldn’t have had a better walking experience. In fact, I’m very much looking forward to the time when I can tell the youngins about the time I walked to Canada.