Rolls Around the World 2007: 4 - North Bay to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Miles for the day - 264 (425 km) Miles to date: 3,207 (5,161 km)

Today started off freezing cold on bad roads. The first 27 km of the North Bay to Ottawa road was under construction. The road improved somewhat as we went along, and eventually a little sun peeked through the clouds. It is amazing how the weather turns from scorching hot to freezing cold and back in a short period of time!

We made it to Ottawa far earlier than expected. By 12:30 we were driving around Hull looking for the motel we stayed in some years ago, finally giving it up and finding our way to the Mongolian Embassy where our passports and visas were ready for pick up. We drove to the CAA office to try unsuccessfully to get Marilynn an international drivers license, but they can only issued them to people with Canadian driver's licenses. In Hull we purchased a first aid kit and fire extinguisher at Canadian Tire - both required items for entry of a vehicle into Russia.

We found a motel for the night, and had a superb meal in the adjoining restaurant. The desk clerk promised wireless internet, but that turned out to be a myth, however it was convenient to finish the manifest of items to be shipped with the car and get reorganized.

Friday, June 29, 2007

After a late start we drove to the Westin Hotel. They allowed the car to be parked outside the lobby entrance. We were supposed to attend a BBQ with Richard Beliveau of the Department of External affairs, who we knew from when he was posted in Costa Rica, but were unable to contact him.

I called Lori Coreveau, another friend from her time at the Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica. She met Marilynn & I at the Elephant & Castle in the Rideau Shopping Centre, connected to the Westin, after work. This led to many beer, dinner and a good talk. When we parted I took the mall entrance into the hotel, where I heard the sounds of good jazz. Brian Browne on piano and Kelly Craig on trumpet were playing to a near empty lounge, so I ordered a scotch and called Marilynn to join me - she had taken a different route back to the room. We sat, drank, listened throughout their performance and chatted during the breaks. At the end Brian presented a CD of one of his concerts before we stumbled back to our quarters.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Breakfast was late - almost noon - in the Elephant and Castle again. It has been awhile since I had beer for breakfast! Lori came by and picked us up to take Marilynn to a shop to buy camera accessories, and then to the new war museum. It was really well done, but involved miles of walking.

We were all due for a drink when we left, so Lori drove to the Market area of town and introduced us to a great pub - actually an accumulation of half a dozen pubs in the same building. We dined on superb appetizers washed down by more beer. When dropped back at the hotel we made an early night of it.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Canada Day started out with dark clouds, but the rain held off, and in the afternoon the clouds opened to warm sunshine. Our floor to ceiling window on the 11th floor of the Westin overlooks the Parliament Buildings and Rideau Canal, allowing a view of streets, closed to traffic, swarming with people. We walked to capital hill, only a block away, to see the changing of the guard. Martial music could be heard in the distance, but we could see only the back of thousands of heads. Two giant screen TV's gave an idea of what we were missing.

We had better luck from a different viewpoint when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police horsemen performed the musical ride. I could see most of it because of my height, and kind people allowed Marilynn to climb up on a curb to take photos from time to time. The entire area was a sea of colourfully turned out people of all nationalities, many decorated in Canadian flags, face paint, pins and so on, with equally well decorated children, celebrating the 140th birthday of their adopted country. The streets were filled with entertainers, musical groups, marching bands and food vendors.

Sore feet eventually drove me back to our room, where we watched the fly past of the Canadian Air Force aerobatic team (the Snowbirds) right outside our window, followed by a parade of mounted RCMP horsemen in their dress red tunics. In the afternoon Richard phoned, so we met for a few beer and he decided to join us for a cruise on the Ottawa River to watch the fireworks. He picked us up at the hotel before driving to the Hull (Quebec) side of the river, where the boat was docked. We couldn't get within blocks of the marina, as the police had all access roads to the river blocked off in anticipation of huge crowds to watch the fireworks display.

Once on board we met up with Lori and her son Alex, quickly staked our territory and located the bar. The line-up for the food buffet was enormous, so we stuck to liquids until the cruise was well underway. By then many of the greedy lot who had taken two or more heaping plates of food the first time around had been back for seconds, and the pickings were fairly slim. The owner of Paul's boat lines, from whom the Elephant and Castle had chartered for the occasion, was on board, and he felt badly that quite a few had missed out on some of the food, so he gave vouchers to everyone for any meal on the menu at the Elephant & Castle, and a ticket for one of his Rideau River cruises. When I mentioned to him that I thought he had been exceedingly generous, he said that his was a family business, started by his father in 1936, and that he would sooner overpay than have someone leave unhappy. A great attitude not often found!

Our position to watch the fireworks was amazing. The clouds had blown over, the night was clear and a huge moon hung over the Peace Tower of the Parliament Buildings. The display of fireworks was the most spectacular any of us had seen, with many of the explosions of colour being designs we had never seen before.

When we returned to shore Richard drove us back towards the hotel, but the city was grid locked with traffic. We tried a couple of main streets but nothing was moving - it would take 10 minutes or more to go a block. As our hotel was in the opposite direction Richard needed to go home, we decided to walk, and with Lori as our guide we soon emerged into the Market restaurant and pub area. It was crawling with people and alive with the sound of music. The police were either expecting trouble, or turning out in force to prevent it, but there were clusters of 6 to 8 of them on each corner. After Lori had guided us back to the hotel entrance we said goodbye, and she and Alex undertook their next hike to a bus stop.

Tomorrow we drive to Montreal, completing phase one of the expedition - the crossing of North America.