About the Collage

This collage was composed from 13 photos of butterflies taken at the Butterfly Conservatory in Ontario, Canada. Using Painter 6, the photos were selected and pasted to the background canvas and then each layer mask was edited with the Airbrush. The first publication was with a Raw Silk texture but I am placing it here with a new texture from Photoshop 7. I still have the original Photoshop file with 24 layers!

The Trip

On Wednesday, August 2, 2000, we (my daughter and her family) set out very early in the morning to drive to Niagara Falls. We were scheduled to arrive at the Hilton Niagara Falls between 4 and 5 PM that afternoon. As always, the ride was fun! We had a picnic lunch along the way, and stopped at least every couple of hours to get out and stretch our legs.

The Niagara Hilton was just beautiful. It provides a panoramic view of Niagara Falls. There was a problem only in the fact that the hotel was still in the process of being built. Our worst surprise was when we went to use the pool (with water slides for the kids!). We were directed to a temporary pool...we opened the door to this rather dingy pool. It was the Days Inn Pool! We were VERY disappointed. However, the rest of the hotel was lovely as was our view. We could see the Skylon Tower from one window in our room, the other looking out towards the Falls.

We had some of our meals at varying restaurants in the area and were very disappointed with the quality of the food. Perhaps catering to so many tourists causes quality to slip! We found on our last morning that breakfast in the Penthouse Restaurant was the best choice. For a very reasonable price, we enjoyed the buffet breakfast which included bowls and platters of fresh fruit, cereals, yogurt, breakfast breads and pastries, eggs, pancakes, whipped cream, sausages and bacon. I am sure I left something out...it was sumptuous, plentiful and beautifully presented.

Aside from the wonderful food, the restaurant afforded a breathtaking panoramic view of the falls while dining. I took several shots from up there of the falls which can be seen in the 'slide show' linked from this page.

Niagara Falls does really cater to the tourist. The streets are lined with hotels, motels and restaurants. There is a casino with shuttle buses running all hours of the day and night. There is both a Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood. We visited both, but did not eat in their restaurants. If you don't use the restaurant, they become nothing more than a high priced tee-shirt and clothing store!

The ride down the hill on the trolley was the best way to get down the Falls area from the hotel and was reasonably priced. We enjoyed the Maid of the Mist boat ride which takes you very close to the falls!!! We had to wear blue plastic 'slickers' because of the mist from the Falls soaking everyone. Another exciting view was the Falls lighted at night.

We so much enjoyed seeing the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens located in Ontario, of which the Butterfly Conservatory was part. Try the IPIX view while there. You will see this statue from which I made another collage.

The trip home was so much longer because we drove back through the Catskill Mountains. The scenery was so beautiful. At one point of the journey through the mountains, there was a sign saying 'Narrow Shoulder'. I looked down and WOW! There was a very big drop down the side of a mountain! They could have said "No Shoulder at all!".

When driving on a parkway in New York, after it had grown dark, we saw a deer standing by the side of the road, hypnotized by the headlights of the few cars that were passing. We did speculate as to what could happen if the deer had been a few feet further onto the parkway! We also enjoyed seeing fireflies light up in the woodsy areas along the parkway and had nothing but pleasant thoughts about them.

We arrived back in Warwick somewhere near 2 AM on Saturday, having left Ontario at 10:30 AM Friday!!!!!

Yay, Glenn, you deserve five gold stars for driving all that way and staying so nice the whole time...especially with a car full of 'women'! (your mother-in-law included!!!!)

I LOVED the trip!!!!!Thanks!

Niagara Falls Slide Show 1

Niagara Falls Slide Show 2