Ugh. It is HOT in Niagara Falls. We left the house at 8:30am for a 30 minute walk to the bus station and it was already 27 degrees out. I was covered in sweat when we arrived. I was really worried about this bus trip, as I had no idea how busy it would be. We were originally scheduled to leave on the 10:27 bus, but we instead arrived for the 9:27 bus to give us some wiggle room in the schedule.
Upon arriving at the bus station, I asked a lady, who turned out to be the bus driver, when the bus would start loading, and she said 9:25. At 9:20, the bus drove around from the front of the bus station to the back and I was waiting for an announcement (or 9:25 to arrive) when she walked in, pointed at us and said it was time to go. In an extremely lucky break for us, the bus was basically empty, so there was ample room for our luggage in the tiny luggage compartment, as these are fancy double-decker buses. It also meant that the kids got to sit at the very front of the second level and watch the entire trip down a very busy highway through a large front window.
I asked the bus driver about the lack of people and she said it was just this time slot - apparently the 10:27 bus is usually quite full, so that was a really good choice on our part. The bus arrived at the GO station in Burlington and we got off, while the bus driver griped at all the people going to Niagara Falls that were trying to get on her bus (as it has the same number, but in her words "do you see Niagara written anywhere on this bus?"). She directed us to the third track in the station, and I'm glad she did as the GO station has absolutely no signage indication what trains arrive where. There are three tracks and you have to know how it works to avoid missing a train, though if you do, it's only a half hour wait. In fact, the train didn't even indicate where it was going - definitely not setup for newcomers or tourists.
Once in Toronto (again), we found a place to sit and then I took the older boys out to a nearby Tim Horton's to pickup lunch. After we were done eating, a VIA employee arrived, weighed the suitcase and said it was too heavy for the train, so we would have to lighten it or be charged $20. He fully expected us to move stuff out of it (as all the backpacks are well under 40 pounds), but all the backpacks are full, so we just paid the $20. We'll have to figure some other way to pack things to avoid being charged on the next two trains.
VIA has assigned seating, but limited overhead luggage space, so you have to put all your luggage in a shared rack near the front of the car. There was easily enough room for everything, but we were also the first people on the train, as they preboarded us due to the kids. The train ride was a train ride - slow and late - and we arrived in Ottawa at 7:30pm. There was a line of regular cabs outside the train station, but no larger vans, so we split up into two cabs to get to our hotel.
Once there, we checked in and then found supper and a grocery store. We're in Ottawa for the next three days before we head into Quebec for the very last part of our trip.
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