Day 90: Grand Falls, NB

July 26, 2017

We've had a very good off the bike day today. Grand Falls is an attractive town with a nice, walkable business district.

Bike rack in Grand Falls There were a few of these in town.

Arriving in town yesterday afternoon, we saw this huge hill ahead. Kerry was afraid we were going to have to ride (or walk!) up it, but we turned let at the bottom of the hill. That was a relief.

A view from downtown of the huge hill we thought we might have to climb

The jockey Ron Turcotte is from a small town nearby. I didn't recognize his name, but he's the jockey who rode Secretariat to the triple crown in 1973.

The falls are now controlled by a dam, so the huge torrents of water which previously ran down the falls are regulated by the power generating dam. According to a sign at the Visitor's Centre, the water flow increases from snow melt in the spring. There wasn't much flow today, but it was still a cool thing to see.

Another view of the falls Our hotel is the white building in the top center.

An old photo from 1904 - before the dam was built. In the upper right, there is a daredevil doing a handstand on a tightrope across the gorge

They've installed a zip line over the gorge. We stopped and watched a father and his young son make the trip. It took the staff a few minutes to patiently coax the boy into stepping off the platform, but he finally went. It looks like fun, but I would probably chicken out, no matter how much patient reassurance I got.

This boy was finally convinced to take the plunge!

There's little museum across from the falls with artifacts from local history. They had this permanent wave machine from the 1940's. The things women can be convinced to do to themselves!

The sign said this was a permanent wave machine used in the 1940's

Tomorrow will be our last day in New Brunswick. I hope it will be a dry one!

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