Steam Train (9 Passenger Cars) Posted by Picasa
 
Lots of Steam!! Posted by Picasa
 
Wakefield Cover Bridge Posted by Picasa
Saturday – September 2 – Last night an older Airstream came into the park but John was cooking dinner when the couple came by so only talked to them for a couple of minutes. This morning I was just getting out of the shower when he said he had talked to them and they were leaving shortly so he was going down to see their trailer. I put myself into high gear and got dressed, the bed made and the trailer tidied up then also made it down to see their trailer. It is a 1964 and they said it was in really bad shape when they bought it but they have spent the last 4 years restoring it and it is lovely. The outside has been finished to a high gleam - I felt really bad as I figured they would have to wipe John’s drool off it before they could leave - John just ate his heart out seeing the outside!! The inside is really neat and they have done a wonderful job of cleaning it up and redoing the interior.

The weather was okay again today so we drove about 5 miles back towards Ottawa and took a ferry across the river to Quebec. We drove up through the Gatineau Hills and it was a lovely drive. We ended up in a small town called Wakefield and there was an old steam train there, it goes every day from Hull to Wakefield and was stopped there for a bit before returning to Hull. There is also a covered bridge in Wakefield, the original bridge burnt down in the 1980’s so they rebuilt a replica but this one is for walking and bikes only. We walked across and got some pictures of the river it crosses – all in all a real pretty place. We had lunch there then came back down to Ottawa.

We went to Ikea – what a zoo, then drove along the waterfront, up Sussex Drive past 24 Sussex and Rideau Hall, then toured around Rockcliffe – wow the houses there! On the boat tour yesterday they said the average house price in Rockcliffe is 2.5M so you can just guess what the houses are like. It appears that there are a lot of ambassadors living in the area, hard to take!!

It was about 6:30 when we got home and had started to rain so I thought John would get wet doing the barbecue but it stopped right after he got the awning out and hasn’t rained since, wouldn’t it be nice if the forecast is wrong! Tomorrow is the War Museum so if it wants to rain that is fine.
 
River View of 24 Sussex Drive Posted by Picasa
 
Rideau Falls Posted by Picasa
 
View of Peace Tower & Parliament Buildings from River Posted by Picasa
 
Locks from Rideau Canal to Ottawa River Posted by Picasa
 
War Memorial Posted by Picasa

Friday – September 1 – What a beautiful day for weather but the forecast for the next few days is not great so we are trying to make the best of the good days and do the outdoor things first..

This morning we went into Ottawa and did the ByWard Market, got some nice veggies, then went up the Peace Tower, had lunch at an outside cafĂ© then went on a boat tour of the Ottawa River, plus lots of other walking around. When we came back from the boat ride there were some boats going through the locks so watched them go through one of the locks. These are the locks which were built in the late 1800’s and they still open and close them by hand. We then decided it was time to get out of Dodge as being the beginning of a long weekend we thought the traffic would be horrendous so wanted to get out before it got too bad. As it was it was about 4:30 when we headed out and it was busy but not horrendous.

I don’t know what is in the air here but for the last couple of days I have been going crazy with allergies so stopped in Rockland when we got back and got some Claritin, so hope that helps. We are now hoping that tomorrow will still be nice so we can do some more sightseeing and will save the museums for the rainy days.




View from our front door of Scugog River - Double M RV Park, Lindsay

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Thursday – August 31 – Today we headed for Ottawa and it was a pretty drive across Highway 7. The traffic wasn’t too bad so that was good. We saw Ikea on the way into Ottawa so I know where we are going to go one day!

We got set up at our park, Recreationland RV Park, which is located in Rockland, east of Ottawa and we are very pleased with the park, especially after the one in Lindsay. I must say the park in Lindsay was not great but we didn’t spend a lot of time there so not too much of a problem, but apparently the washrooms were deplorable – I heard and didn’t even want to check! This park is cheaper and has cable TV and free internet – HOORAY!! Now I can keep in touch plus get my blog up and running again. It’s a small world, the woman who checked us into the park saw John’s hat (Carl gave it to him the other night and it is from Sarnia) and said she was originally from Sarnia and it turns out she lived on Talfourd Street (the other end from us) and went to St. John’s Church (first thing she said was Cannon Bev Farr). So we went through some names but didn’t come up with much but I think she has about 10 years on me so I will have to think about this and see if I can come up with some more names. (Janet – any help for me?)

After we got set up we went into Rockland and got some groceries, so now we are all set for a few days.
Wednesday - August 30 – Today we did some laundry then drove into Peterborough and visited the Canoe Museum which was very interesting - lots of canoes. They also had an old Hudson Bay Store in there with some of the items they would have sold back in the 1800’s. Al in all it was worth the visit. We had a late lunch (early dinner) at Swiss Chalet then went out to the 4th Line Theatre at Millbrook.

The play was called The Art of Silent Killing and was about a couple who had been at Camp X during the Second World War. Camp X was located in Oshawa and was a very secretive place, people who went there were sworn to secrecy and they trained people to be spies in Germany during the war (Ian Fleming the creator of James Bond had something to do with Camp X). It turns out that Tim’s (our son-in-law) grandfather worked at Camp X, Tim’s mother says as a janitor, but who knows for sure. Anyways, the play was very enjoyable and in a very unique setting. It is on a farm on the 4th line and they have bleachers set up and it is all pretty well outside. We got to sit on plastic chairs as we had the VIP seats and if it rains the show is cancelled, so thankfully it was a beautiful evening. It is amazing what there is out there we don’t know about! We got home about 9 so it wasn’t a late evening (the play started at 6).
Tuesday – August 29 – Another nice, sunny day. We drove back to Bobcaygeon and went to Bigley’s Shoe Store which is a huge shoe store but they also have purses, clothes, jewelry etc. I thought it was very expensive but they had a sale on so John got a nice pair of shoes at 60% off. We then went across the street and John found 2 pairs of the Royal Robbins shorts he has been look for and I got a T-shirt (all at 40% off) so we got some good buys. We then drove over to Fenelon Falls then on down to Port Perry to Kel’s for dinner.

There was a lacrosse game in Peterborough which Carl wanted to go to so Nan came to Kel’s for dinner and Carl, Brent and Derrick went to the lacrosse game. We left Kel’s at 11 and they hadn’t come back yet so it would be a real late night for Nan and Carl, as it is about 1-1/2 hours home from Kel’s, then they had to get up and go to work in the morning. We had a great dinner and a wonderful visit with Kel, Tim and Nan (saw a bit of Cara but like a normal teenager she spent the evening watching a movie and on the computer).

I hooked my computer up at Kel’s and downloaded my e-mail, did some banking etc. It sure is a pain not having the internet in these campgrounds. All in all it was another most enjoyable day.
Monday – August 28 – We woke up to a beautiful sunny day, but a bit cool which I don’t mind. We left about 12:30 for Susan and Dick’s (Susan is John’s cousin & we shared a large house in Toronto in 71-73 at Lansdowne & Dundas – they had the 1st floor and we had the 2nd and 3rd floors) and what a beautiful house and property they have just a few miles north of Peterborough.

We visited for a bit then they drove us into Peterborough by the scenic River route and we saw Sanford Fleming College and Trent University – both very pretty places. We went to the lift lock and were in luck, just as we were going through the Visitor Centre the girl there told us there were boats in the lift and it would be coming down soon. What an amazing system, there are only 8 of these hydraulic lift locks in the world – one in Peterborough, one in Lakefield and the others are in Britain, France and Belgium.

We went back to Susan and Dick’s and had a great visit and a delicious dinner. Their 40th wedding anniversary had been on Sunday and I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and when we called they had asked us to come on Sunday as they had some people over to celebrate their anniversary but because we were going to Marion and George’s we had to pass on Sunday. Probably Monday was a better day anyways as we were able to have a real good visit with them. Tim, who was also in the wedding party, came for dinner so it was a fun visit. Tim is in a play in Millbrook about Camp X and Dick is on the board of directors so they got us tickets for Wednesday night in the VIP seating so we are looking forward to that.
Sunday – August 27 – Woke up to another damp, overcast, dreary day. The people on the site we wanted finally left about 1:45 so we did the move, until then it was just relax and read.

Once we moved it was get ready to go to Bobcaygeon as George and Marion Arnold had invited us for dinner and John and Fran Wylie were also coming. These are people we have met through Can-Am at the shows (George & John) and we have got to know George & Marion as they come to Green Acres for a week each year to visit with George’s sister. They have an absolutely beautiful home in Bobcaygeon and we had a wonderful dinner and a good visit. George & Marion had hoped to take us for a boat ride but the weather was not good for boating, plus we were late getting there because of having to wait to move the trailer. We were disappointed in being so late getting there as we didn’t even have time to check out Bobcaygeon
Saturday – August 26 – Today was another mainly overcast day with the sun coming out in the afternoon for a while. We arrived at the park in Lindsay about 2 p.m. I had called and reserved a site but when we got there we were informed that the site she was going to give us she had given to a regular transient but they were leaving on Sunday so if we wanted to take another one without sewer hook up we could then move on Sunday – again wonderful!! Anyways we got parked and John washed the trailer and truck and I did a good clean inside so it wasn’t a wasted day. We also had a number of people come by and admire our Airstream and stay for a chat. It started to rain in the early evening but at least John got the barbecue done without getting wet.

This is our first time traveling with A/S in Canada and so far we are not impressed with the parks. As far as wireless goes they just look at you like you are crazy when you ask if they have wireless.
Friday – August 25 – Happy Anniversary Mike & Franneca. Well, today is the start of our fall trip. We left Kincardine about 8 a.m. to head for London and get a couple of things fixed on the trailer before heading out. As usual it was an all day affair and was 6 p.m. before we got away from Can-Am. The weather was overcast with just a couple of sun breaks but it didn’t rain.

We went to Golden Pond RV Park which is east of London on the 401 and on the phone the lady assured me that they had large pull through sites – what she didn’t tell me on the phone was how narrow they are and that there is a large tree on the corner of every site – wonderful. After quite a bit of messing around it became apparent that we weren’t going to be able to fit in there so they gave us our money back and we went back to the London KOA. I have a problem with KOA’s as they charge a huge price for mediocre services (on the site we were on the grass was ankle high) but at least the trailer fit in and by this time it was getting dark and we’ve had enough and just want to sit back and relax.
We have been in Kincardine since we arrived back in early May. We now are on the road again so I am starting to record the blog of our next trip.