Monday August 5 ... Exploring our nation's capital

Monday in Ottawa started with breakfast at Kay's and Gerry's and then we were off and running!!!  Gerry and Kay live right downtown so it was wonderful to be able to walk out the front door of their condo, and in a few short blocks be right in the middle of where all the action was.  

We began with a city tour aboard a double decker bus and had a prime spot second row from the front up top.  We find a tour like this is a wonderful way to acquaint oneself with a new city.  We saw the Prime Minister's home, several museums, the farm where the RCMP train the horses for the musical ride, various embassies, Rideau Hall, the Byward Market and more!  

We also took a ride on a boat on the Rideau Canal, which was very relaxing.  Our guides on both these tours were very informative...for example on the Rideau Canal we were told that it took 4000 men to build it and 400 of them died of malaria while working on a boggy portion during the construction. 

We walked around downtown and were fortunate to catch some of the acts performing at the Buskers Festival.  Lots of talent and likely many of the same acts that visited Edmonton for the Street Performers Festival I imagine.   

We were entranced by the timeless beauty of the Chateau Laurier Hotel...

We also visited the Parliament Buildings...the only tour left when we went to get our tickets was one entirely in French, the final tour of the day, so we decided to take it just to get inside the building.  We knew we would understand very little with our limited French...but even though we understood next to nothing of the tour itself, it was wonderful to see that amazing building inside.  I was there 40 years ago and wow have things changed security wise...a metal detector and tickets and the whole nine yards worth of security.  When I was there before one just walked into the building and could wander around!  :)  Even Harry, who is no fan of government :), was very impressed with the architecture and we both marveled at those who had this vision so many years ago.  It took 16 years to complete and the intricate carvings, both wood and stone, and the craftsmanship has certain stood the test of time.

Here is Harry pointing to his future seat in the House of Commons...

 

Ottawa is a beautiful city and we will share a few more images with you that we particularly liked...hard to pick the favourites but this will give you a taste for what we saw and enjoyed.  It is definitely a city we would like to spend more time in.

This is a very cool picture I think...a reflection of the old in the new...

Some people...not naming names here...think all politicians are slightly crooked...and perhaps this fish eye lens view of the parliament buildings lends some credence to that theory...:)

Can you see the tulip shape in this building?  We couldn't but it is apparently what the architect's vision was for the new conference centre that is mainly used by the politicians we were told...

 

In the evening we went out to supper with our hosts to celebrate Gerry's 89 birthday.  They got to choose the restaurant and picked the Keg and we all feasted on lobster and shared an enormous piece of birthday cake.  It was lovely enough to sit outside and we enjoyed lively discussion and people watching and very much enjoyed sharing a meal together.  On our way back to their place in the cab we caught a couple of the night show images on parliament hill....a kind of history of Canada light show they project at night on the parliament buildings.  Next time we are in Ottawa it's something we will definitely plan to take in in its entirety.

 

It was a wonderful day - we were tired and foot sore by the end of it but it was such fun!  And sun...did I mention it was a gloriously sunny day, which was such a great after the initial bouts of rain we encountered earlier in the week.

Sunday August 4

Sudbury to Ottawa...

More interesting facts about Sudbury...

Sudbury is the location of a major meteor strike, which has embedded a rich concentration of metals in the ground. This area (very visible on satellite and aerial photos) is now known as the Sudbury Basin. Copper was first discovered by a CPR blacksmith in 1883, and the region was first deforested for its lumber and then plucked bare by prospectors. Nickel is key for manufacturing stainless steel, and copper is essential for conducting electricity. Once nickel was discovered and extracted, the fumes from the refining process caused heavy "acid rain" in the region, killing off many of the remaining vegetation, making the region so barren that I the 1960's NASA used it as a stand-in for the moon in their astronaut training. 

The "Superstack" at Copper Cliff to the west of Sudbury, is 381 metres (1250 feet) high, was completed in 1972 to disperse the pollutants into the upper atmosphere. It is Canada's second tallest structure, behind only the CN Tower. Since then, the Sudbury Region has begun a program of land reclamation & reforestation, and remediation and de-acidification of nearby lakes. Since the 1990s, the waste gases going into the Superstack were processed to remove 90 % of the sulphur dioxide, with further improvements in emissions reduction planned. 

On the road again heading for Ottawa.  We left behind the trees and rock and began to see more rolling hillsides and farms, interspersed with lakes and rivers of various sizes. 

Gassed up just before Deep River and chatted with a couple, a few years older than us, from Martha's Vineyard who were heading west.  The woman told us they had talked about buying a motorcycle and going on a trip like ours but that they had just never got around to doing it.  Makes me glad we decided to just do it!!!

Passed through Mattawa and though we didn't stop I did manage to snap a few pictures of large carved statues that dotted the town.

Our next stop for a break and bit of exploring was in the town of Pembroke.  Lots of old buildings but like small towns everywhere the downtown had lots of empty storefronts...kind of makes one sad to see it.  The town is known for the 30 murals painted on buildings throughout the town.  We wandered around taking photos of them and thought we'd share a few of our favorites...

Time to gear up again and hit the road for Ottawa as we had told my Aunt Kay we would be there for supper.  Took us a bit longer than planned as Harry's GPS girlfriend wouldn't cooperate in taking down the address for Kay and Gerry...think she was jealous that Harry was taking me to the nation's capital for visiting and touring and would be leaving her and the bike parked for a couple of days!

Like every place we have visited, it's road construction season in Ottawa so after a few wrong turns we arrived at Kay's and Gerry's.  They live right in downtown Ottawa and have booked us a guest room in their condo so that was lovely of them. We cleaned up and then joined them for happy hour and a delicious supper of baked potatoes, barbecue chicken and ribs, yellow beans and pea pods, salad and homemade apple pie...all courtesy of Aunt Kay who is 93 years young!  She and Gerry are good role models about how to stay fully engaged with the world no matter a person's age.  It was such fun to hear their great stories and see how they tease and still have so much fun with each other. They certainly are gracious and generous hosts.  Looking forward to more time with them tomorrow after we do some exploring by foot and bus in this intriguing city.

Til tomorrow...

Saturday August 3 ... No rain!!! Yahoo!!!!

Woke in Espanola this morning to clear skies...did the happy dance!  The temps are below normal by 8 or 9 degrees so instead of temps around 28 we had more like 20' weather....but we were not complaining as the skies just had puffy white clouds instead of dark ones.

Spent the day exploring Manitoulin Island...the largest island surrounded by fresh water in the world.  Many Aboriginal bands have land here and the towns and farms were very prosperous looking. Tourism appears to have been well managed and even though it was a long weekend it didn't feel like there were too many people there...which surprised us.  

We stopped at two falls...White Fish Falls which was just tucked in behind the road with a small sign announcing it...

And then onto Bridal Falls, which was more of a tourist spot...and yet for some strange reason it didn't have a commercialized feel in any way.  It was like a little piece of heaven right on the side of the road. Kids were swimming in the water and families were taking pictures and having fun...it was a surprise of the most pleasant kind. 

We walked down the trail to the bottom of the falls and had our picture taken behind the falls...and here is one too of Harry peeking out from behind the bride's veil!!! :)

After a picnic lunch we hit the open road again.  Next we cruised through Gore Bay and then headed south on the island to Providence Bay.  It was a beautiful spot and gave Harry the chance to dip his toes into Lake Huron...do you sense a theme here of him sticking his toes into all the bodies of water we are encountering?

There are long stretches of sand dunes in this bay...apparently deposited here eons ago.  The water had so many beautiful colours in it...and lots of wind was whipping up the whitecaps.

We only managed to see a small part of the island but it's definitely a place we'd highly recommend if you are in the region.

200 kilometers later we were back in Espanola to fill up with gas and head on to Sudbury for the night. 

Stopped on our way into town to take a photo of the big nickel...and managed to capture a rainbow in the distance as well. :)

Indian food at our hotel for supper, a short walk in the park across the street from the hotel and then settled in for the night. On to our nation's capital in the morning and a visit with my Auntie Kay and Gerry.  

Bye for now...

Friday August 2 ... Rain rain go away!

Left Wawa about 9:15 a.m. Showers followed us for most of the day...temps stayed around the 15' mark.

The drive along Lake Superior really was beautiful, despite the less than ideal weather conditions.  Unspoiled wilderness was how Harry described it.  We stopped at Old Woman Bay so Harry could dip his toes in Lake Superior...a chilly dip from the grimace I saw on his face. :) 

Did you know that Lake Superior has 10% of the world's fresh water? Or that it is the largest fresh water lake in the world by surface area and the third largest by volume?

We stopped at Batchwana Bay for soup and to sit out a stronger than a shower downpour. We had read that this spot was the half way point between the east and west coasts but a sign we saw at this rest stop doesn't appear to support that contention....hmmmmm...

When we hit Sault St. Marie we stopped again for a break and the rain eased up a bit so that was something to be grateful for.  Passed through Havilland and a very pretty village and lake.  Farmland began to replace the trees and it was nice to see a variety of different landscapes.  Passed through areas where the Amish people have settled and tried to get a photo of the road sign that warns people to watch for horses and buggies but wasn't able to get a good photo.  Saw a couple of buggies going down country roads...a very different way of life than we are used to that's for sure. 

Stopped at a place outside Iron Bridge for a coffee (does it sound like all we do is stop for coffee and eats?:)) and a lemon mousse...the best we have ever had...maybe that explained the $9.00 price tag!  Yikes!  Missed another downpour while we were enjoying our lemony treat and then back on the bike to Espanola, our stop for the night.  After another yummy dinner (we hope you all recognize us when we get back home) we went for a walk around the town.  Ended up by the cemetery where lots of crows were flying around and caw cawing like mad....kinda gave us the creeps with the sun setting and all!  Seems both of us have pretty active imaginations....ha ha ha!

Felt like a long day on the bike but that was mainly because of the inclement weather.  Hoping for sunshine tomorrow...

Thursday August 1 ... A momentous history making event....and...it's a small world!

Hi again from the road...

Did a bit of a driving tour of Thunder Bay on our way out of town this morning...saw Lake Superior in all her glory plus were awestruck by the grain terminals in the harbor...both by the sheer number of them and also their massive size.  We read that at capacity they can hold 100 million bushels of grain!!!  That's a heck of a lot of grain!!!  

Passed by the local hostel on a country road and came upon a whole bunch of signs of places all over the world...made the assumption that these are some of the places that visitors to the hostel have come from.

Mostly bush and rock lined the highway from Thunder Bay to Nipigon.  Lots and lots of Inukshuks everywhere along the rock outcroppings throughout Ontario thus far. Black and reddish rock, apparently about 2 billion years old, predominated.  Numerous pristine lakes, many with islands i them, were visible from the road...when the sun was shining it sparkled on the water and was very picturesque as we tootled on by.  

Lots of bridge construction all along the highway.  We wondered if all the bridges replacements for the Ontario leg of the journey are on this year's "to do" list as it seems they are all being redone, which means traffic was often down to one lane both ways...which meant delays from time to time.

Now for the historical "first" ... Stopped at Timmy's in Nipigon for a bowl of soup.  since I have never met a washroom I could pass up, headed there after lunch.  To my ABSOLUTE shock I discovered FOUR men lined up waiting to use the men's room and NOT ONE woman lined up to use the ladies room.  Just sailed in there like I owned the joint!  Has anyone else ever had an experience like that?  I was stunned...and am still smiling about it!

Next stop was at Aguasabon River Gorge and Falls...another breathtakingly beautiful natural wonder...and the site of the "small world" comment that entitles this post.  As we were getting ready to get back on the bike we saw a woman I knew from Edmonton getting out of their vehicle!  What are those odds I wonder?

At White River we stopped at the display honoring Winnie the Pooh!  Those of you who are Pooh fans may already know that the local vet bought a bear cub for $20 from a trapper on the train platform in White River.  The vet took the bear cub with him to England as he was in the army during the war...once in England he left the bear at the London Zoo where it became a popular attraction and a favorite of A.A. Milne's son Christopher...and thus the inspiration for the Winnie the Pooh stories.

The weather today was a strange mix of sun and cloud...up and down and up and down went the sunshades on our helmet visors.  Temps ranged from 15 to 24'.  We managed to avoid the rain until about ten minutes from our destination of Wawa...the downpour made it hard to see where our hotel was but after a couple of false starts we arrived safe and sound. Were glad we had reserved this place this morning as there are lots of no vacancies because of the long weekend. 

Just returned from the hotel's restaurant where we had an amazing meal.  The owners of this hotel are from Poland and their cook is Ukrainian....so we enjoyed borscht, cabbage rolls (with a mushroom vegetable gravy...sounds weird but it was delicious) and yummy perogies, accompanied by shredded pickled beets.  We had several mouth watering dessert choices but settled on sharing a fruit and cheese crepe....yuuuummmmmm!!!  Went for a short walk afterward in an attempt to walk off some of the calories!   Probably should have jogged to our next destination instead! :)

Tomorrow we head for Espanola...more later.  Warm thoughts to all ...