Canada (Calgary - Banff - Jasper - Yoho - Calgary) August 5-12, 2018

Niagara Falls - Toronto - San Francisco - Los Angeles

January 8-14, 2010

Really? That was what a lot of people said when they heard about my plan. I took my mom and a senior relative couple to travel.  I know it sounded crazy because we flew across the country and the weather was getting worse up North. In fact, the closer to the day we had to leave DFW, the more nervous I was. We heard about the snow storm news and one of my relatives didn't feel good. We even talked about cancelling the trip. However, I am glad we didn't cancel it because it was one of the great trips for all of them.

Friday - January 8
Leaving DFW to Buffalo NY/Ontario, Canada

I knew we would have a delay on our trip because we had snow the day before. The original flight was 6:55 am. The flight was postponed 2 times which were 7:30 and 9:00 am. We were waiting for several hours and really tired. It turned out to be good for us because we slept all the way thru Atlanta (transit) and Buffalo. My mom and relatives said with the surprise/happy tone - we're already here?

It was getting dark even though it was around 4:30 pm. We had a car service picking us up. We got an upgrade SUV as they didn't have a compact car. Nice! I felt safer and of course we were more comfortable.

It had been snowing in Buffalo. The whole town turned white. It made the town look so pretty. All of us enjoyed the view along the drive. It took us almost 1 hour to arrive at the hotel (Embassy Suite) in Canadian side. Fortunately, we prepared all documents and didn't have any problems with immigration.

We were so happy with the room on the 34th floor - a Fall view room. The first thing we did was checking out the window. We couldn't wait to see the Niagara Fall! The light illumination just started.  We could see the American Fall and the Canadian Fall with different color from our room. I could tell my mom and relatives were really excited and looked for the camera!

Falls Light Illumination - from our room view

Saturday - January 9

Wow!  Niagara Fall in Winter
We started the day with the breakfast on the 9th floor. We sat by the window. It was a great seat to see the Fall. It was a closer view than our room. After we were done, the tour bus picked us up at the lobby. I bought a tour from the hotel. I can't believe it. There were only 4 of us in the big bus. It was just like we were in the private tour.

I never thought I would enjoy the Fall in Winter but I did. The snow that covered the town really made the our trip memoriable.

The bus took us to several places in the area. We also went up to the Skylon Tower, Butterfly and Fury.

The bus dropped us off at the hotel around 4 pm. We decided to go to the Niagara Fall again by the hotel shuttle bus. One of my relative (the husband) wanted to stay at the hotel as he couldn't walk too long. We really enjoyed the Fall. It is amazing to see one of God's creations.

We walked from the Canadian Fall to the American Fall. It was freezing cold. I wish I had a better shoes for snow. My feet and my hands were freezing. We didn't want to leave but it was getting colder and darker. We went back to the hotel and sat by the window in our room to keep watching at the Falls until the light illumination ended.

Sunday January 10
Toronto, Canada

I bought another tour to Toronto. Again, it was only 4 of us in the van. It took us almost 2 hours to get there. Toronto is the big and busy city. Fortunately, it was Sunday so we didn't have to be stuck on the highway. We went to the CN tower, China Town and Government Building. The city changed a lot from when I visited 11 years ago.
At CN tower, of course, we visited and glass floor (a view of 1,122 ft straight down).  People who are not afraid of heights need to come here and test their nerves. I was still scared even though it was my second time there. My mom was nervous but she was brave enough to stand on the glass floor.  She was so happy that she could do it.  The couple didn't want to do it and I couldn't blame them!

The Glass floor @ CN Tower - a view of 1,122 ft straight down

The van dropped us at China town where we had lunch.  It was a wonderful lunch especially for my mom and my relatives since they couldn't eat a lot of American food.  They were ready for Asian food.  We also ordered Chinese food to go for dinner.

After lunch, the tour drove us to the downtown.  We passed several nice areas but we didn't walked around much.  They were too tired to walk and wanted to sit in the van and enjoyed the town.

We left Toronto around 3:30 pm because we didn't want to arrive at the hotel in Niagara Fall too late.

It was a great day.  They loved it!




CN Tower

Still not brave enough to stand on the Glass Floor

Mom was brave and walked to the other side of the Glass Floor

Toronto

Monday January 11
Leaving Buffalo to San Francisco

We woke up around 3 am as our flight to San Franciso was so early.  We slept in the plane all the way thru San Francisco.  We arrived there around 4 pm.  Someone from the tour agent picked us up to the hotel (Radission).  I was glad that they had time to rest so they wouldn't be tired tomorrow.  I came down to the lobby and used the intranet searching for Thai restaurants.  Fortunately, I found one and they had the delivery service.  It worked out perfectly as I didn't have a car!  I think this was their best meal of this trip.

Tuesday January 12
San Francisco

The tour picked up us at 8:00 am.  There were 3 more people who traveled with us.

We visited the highlight places included Civic Center, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Fisherman's Wharf, Market Street and Chinatown.

San Francisco is a culturally diverse city.  My mom and my relatives liked it so much.  They loved the way the houses and buildings were built.  They enjoyed the boat to Golden Gate and the Palace of Fine Arts.  The town was so pretty.  I know they had a wonderful time there.

The tour dropped us at the airport around 6 pm.  We were there early enough to change the flight.  Yes, we were flying again.  This was the last destination of this trip, Los Angeles. It didn't take us long to arrive LA.  We took the hotel shuttle bus and there we were around 9 pm.

Civic Center

The boat to Golden Gate



Golden Gate

Alcatraz Island

Cable Car

Palace of Fine Arts

Wednesday January 13
Los Angeles

The tour we chose this time was the biggest group (20 people) of this trip.  We visited the Beaches, Downtown, Hollywood, Hollywood Sign, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, and Movie Star's Homes.  The most exciting home was Michael Jackson's.  He just passed away not too long before we were there so every one wanted to see his place.  The beach was also nice.



Michael Jackson's Home



We flew home to DFW in the morning of Thursday January 14.  We were ready to be home.  What a trip!  My mom and relatives said they were tired but the trip was worth it.  They loved everywhere we've been especially Niagara Falls and San Francisco.

This trip was really special for me.  I had a chance to take my mom traveling.  She appreciated all the places we visited and I appreciated every minutes I shared with her.

Other trips:
- Canada (Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Yoho)
- Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and Venice Beach
- Transit Tour in Hong Kong
- Salzburg, Vienna and Prague
- Southern Laos
- Japan (Tokyo-Hakone-Kawagoe)
- Washington State
- Universal Studios, FL
- NOLA and Bahamas
- Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Antalop Canyon
- Paris, France
- Montserrat and Barcelona, Spain
- Dubai
- Laos (Vang Vieng and Vientien)
- Disney World, FL
- Skiing Red River, NM
- Niagara Falls, Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles
- Western Caribbean Cruise (Jamaica, Cayman Island and mexico)
- Camping Guadalupe River, TX