An illustration of Richard's profile. He has dark skin, short black hair and is wearing a maroon collared shirt.

Roadtrip Roadtrip by Richard O. '28

and the Canada trip that resulted from that text message

I think one of the best parts about being in college is having the freedom to virtually do whatever you want, including taking a 12-hour drive to the neighboring country upstairs on a random weekend for the fun of it. It’s even better when you get convinced by some of your friends to go with only a few messages in a group chat.

 

Dark-mode iMessage exchange dated Wed, Jun 3 at 4:26 PM. Jaelynn says “ROADTRIP ROADTRIP”; a blue reply says “Wait I’m down,” with a heart reaction.
Dark-mode iMessage exchange. Spencer, shown with a profile photo and bicycle emoji, says “I mean could go through more of Canada,” with a heart reaction.
Dark-mode iMessage screenshot showing “3 Replies” and a blue message that reads “Canada lowkey fire.”
Dark-mode iMessage thread. Spencer says “Yes and”; a blue reply asks “So Canada?”; Jaelynn responds “Guys…”

So yea. We got a rental car, left campus, and drove to Canada.  At 1 PM on a Friday afternoon. And to be honest…it was definitely worth it. Canada is honestly really beautiful, as I hope the photos below will depict.

 

Pink sunset clouds stretch above a dark field and tree-lined horizon.
Beautiful skies in upstate New York as we avoided the New England Storm
A tall electrical transmission tower and power lines silhouetted against a colorful sunset sky.
Powerlines seem to be the trees of upstate NY and Canada
A smiling young man with glasses holds a camera outdoors beside a road at sunset.
SPENCER!
A smiling young woman gives a peace sign while holding a water bottle beside a road.
JAELYNN!

After a Cane’s stop, a Walmart stop for an SD card for my camera, a gas station stop across from a farm that smelled a lot like a farm, and a Burger King stop, we finally made it across the border at like midnight. From there, we spent the night at one of my relatives’ places in Toronto and planned to set off for Niagara Falls the next morning.

 

A modern city skyline viewed from a moving car on a multi-lane highway.
Don't remember what this city was called but some of the architects in Canada seem to take inspo from futuristic city movies. (Or maybe it's the other way around)
A harvested farm field, white farm buildings, and a power pylon beneath a bright sky.
More powerlines
A cellular communications tower rises above roadside grass beneath wispy clouds.
And towers.
Two street lights tower into a cloudy blue sky with a blurred car dashboard in the foreground.
And streetlights.
A black car drives along a grassy roadside embankment under a clear blue sky.

After about a 90-minute drive that was turned into 2 hours thanks to Siri rerouting us on a path that supposedly had “less traffic”, which doesn’t really work when most people on the highway are probably also using that same detour… we finally made it to Niagara Falls. My family actually came to visit in 2012 to see my relatives when I was like 7 or something, but we only saw it from the US side, and I can now say that seeing it from the Canadian side is definitely so much better. But you can only experience so much from the top. So of course, the three of us decided to get a boat ticket to get up close and personal, which helped me get some fun photos.

 

Two women stands at a railing overlooking a broad waterfall.
A Canadian flag flies behind a metal railing near the edge of a waterfall.
A visitor in a red rain poncho holds a camera up to their face.
Two smiling visitors in red rain ponchos pose on a boat near a waterfall.
A Canadian flag flies above boat hoisting equipment near the falls.
A crowd in red rain ponchos watches a misty waterfall with a tour boat in the distance.
Tourists in red ponchos face a mist-filled waterfall and a boat on the river.
A waterfall drops over a rocky cliff into mist below.
A long white waterfall spans a rocky gorge beneath cloudy skies.

 

 

Oh…and for whatever reason, the entire area surrounding the falls has been transformed into an insane tourist town that seemed to be centered on circus-like entertainment and all-you-can-eat food stations, which was quite the stark difference from the peaceful falls down the road.

 

Busy tourist street lined with colorful attractions and shops, including “Castle Dracula,” “Big Top Maze Fun,” and “Maze of Mirrors,” with pedestrians in the foreground.
A large Ferris wheel rises against a bright white sky.

 

Anyways, after Niagara we decided we wanted to touch some grass so we found this park with a beatiful hiking trail not too far from the falls and did some exploring.

 

A river winds through a steep, densely wooded gorge.
A winding river cuts through an autumn-colored valley viewed from above.
A river gorge is viewed from behind a metal railing on a wooded overlook.
Two people walking along a rocky, sunlit trail surrounded by dense green woodland and a sign that says
Sunlight streams through trees onto boulders in a forest ravine.
A calm river curves past a rocky outcrop framed by leafy trees.
Purple wildflowers bloom against a softly blurred green background.
A layered rock cliff rises above dense green forest in a gorge.

 

We probably spent like an hour and half at the park, before heading back to Toronto in the afternoon to tour the city.

 

 

Crowded parking lot at sunset, with construction cranes silhouetted against the glowing sky
Passengers sit inside a brightly lit subway car on either end with the middle aisle being empty. The lights in the subway are warm and the car features red accented seats and handle bars.

 

 

 

Maybe its just me but…I kinda like Toronto a little more than Boston…

 

The CN Tower appears between illuminated high-rise buildings and a traffic light with the red light on at night.
The CN Tower is reflected and framed by the glass facade of a building at night.
The illuminated top of the CN Tower rises against a pure black night sky.
A historic brick building under renovation is lit at night, with the CN Tower behind it.
A motion-blurred car passes through streaks of colorful city lights at night.
An illuminated statue or sculptural monument stands against the night sky.
A glowing streetlamp stands below a dark high-rise building at night.
Cars and streetlights line a busy downtown street at night beneath a red traffic signal. People can be seen crossing the street on a crosswalk by foot and by bike.
An illuminated office building glows against the night sky with a streetlight directly below it.
A distant illuminated skyline stretches across a dark field at night.

 

We ended the day getting some Thai food in the city before taking the subway back and preparing to drive home that upcoming Sunday morning. While debating what time we would reasonably wake up, we started considering potential detours we could make on our way back to see some other cool places that we could pass by. Eventually, after lots of discussions trying to convince me that a detour wouldn’t result in us getting back to campus at like 2AM, we made a stop at Watkins Glen in New York…and honestly it was so worth the extra time. Genuinely such a beautiful place, and I think some of the photos below will be some of my favorite photos ever.

 

A narrow waterfall descends through a steep, moss-covered gorge.
A layered rock cliff is framed by green and yellow autumn leaves.
A close-up image of moss and ferns that cover a shaded rock wall in the glen.
Hikers descend and take photos through a narrow passage between towering rock walls with green leaves framing the hikers below.
A footbridge crosses through dense green and yellow foliage.
Hikers walk through a narrow rock passage surrounded by greenery.
An upward view of dense green trees and the forest canopy.
A person stands beside a layered rock wall in a wooded gorge.
Towering rock walls rise behind a canopy of bright green leaves.
A shaded forest path winds between steep rock walls. A footbridge can be seen in the distance.

 

 

We were basically like Lewis and Clark.

 

A woman in a quarter zip looks upward surrounded by greenery behind her while a man in a teal sweatshirt takes a photo directly aimed at the camera.
A steep layered rock cliff rises beneath trees and a misty sky.
A small brown frog sits on gravel beside a fallen orange leaf.
A stone arch bridge spans a narrow waterfall in a wooded gorge.

 

So yeah, that was our Canada trip in a nutshell. All this to say that if, on a random summer day, one of your friends from freshman year calculus says they want to take a road trip somewhere up north, you should say yes. Because there are a lot of beautiful things out there to see.