In spite of Bill’s concerns, crossing the border into Canada was a breeze, they barely looked at our passports. I guess he had heard stories of long lines, being boarded, and questions about insurance or medications (What I had heard is that it could go one of 2 ways. A quick welcome to Canada or a pull over for a ‘cavity’ search of your vehicle depending on who we got at the gate. If we got pulled over then they would be expecting several things so in good Boy Scout fashion, I was prepared).
We had already had some excitement on the short drive to the Blue Water Bridge when a guy on the freeway waved at us to pull over. As soon as we got stopped it was obvious why… there were large clouds of smoke coming from the passenger side trailer tires. Bill grabbed a fire extinguisher and we stood in the grass hoping it was not about to burst into flames. Fortunately, it cooled and the smoke dissipated after about fifteen minutes. Bill discovered that the safety connection between the truck and the RV had disconnected engaging the trailer brakes. Our best guess is that it happened as we were leaving the RV park which means we had been driving about twenty miles with the break engaged. It is surprising that we would not be able to feel that, but it is way back there, and our truck is a beast, strong enough to overpower the electric trailer brakes. We stopped and had the brakes checked, which was its own ordeal, and got a clean bill of health so we went on our way. It happened again as we pulled into our site in Kitchener, but this time we were watching for it, and more importantly figured out the cause. Sharp turns to the left pulled the safety line far enough to cause it to pop out.
Bill’s family lives in (and around) Kitchener, about 60 miles northwest of Toronto. We stayed in a nice campground only about five minutes from his parents. The campgrounds in Canada seem to be much more family oriented than in the US where they are more senior focused. This one had a nice pool and a large pond with giant floating toys for kids, a shady picnic area, and a playground. It was nice to get to see family, and we were excited to be in one place for two weeks. There were several chores we planned to do around the RV (very few of which actually got done).
Horseshoe Falls, Niagara
Niagara Falls is only ninety minutes away and Bill’s mom got tickets to a Carnival show at Fallsview Casino. Not wanting to drive there and back in one day, Bill found a very nice Airbnb for us. We did not have high expectations but were very pleasantly surprised when the show was fantastic. Having been to Niagara Falls before we had no real plans for sight seeing, so other than a brief walk down to the falls, we only went to the show and of course played a few slot machines (we always lose our money pretty quickly but they are the only ‘video games’ Dessa likes to play). We took the scenic route back to Kitchener along the Niagara Wine Trail and through Niagara-On-The-Lake, a lovely little town I would like visit next time. It was a nice relaxed trip.
After a few more days of visiting family, we took the train into Toronto (parking the truck for 3 days was going to be a big problem) to stay with Bill’s sister Cathy. We had flown into Toronto many times, but had never stopped to do any sight seeing. The apartment was perfect. Located downtown right next door to the St. Lawrence Market. We did one of our Big City Hunts with Cathy and dropped in on a couple of festivals. Both the Indigenous Arts and the Redpath Waterfront Festivals were mediocre, and the gray (that would be grey in Canadian) weather didn’t help. We had a nice dinner with Bill’s niece Dana and her fiancé and then walked down the street to get a Beaver Tail for dessert. I first enjoyed these delicacies on an earlier trip to Ottawa with Bill and I had been looking forward to having another one. I was very happy to discover I could get them in Toronto and had more than one during our visit. For those of you that have never had the privilege, a Beaver Tail is a kind of flat donut, shaped like its namesake, which tastes more like a funnel cake but is served covered with cinnamon and sugar (you can also get one with Maple, this being Canada).
City Hall, Toronto
Before we knew it, two weeks had flown by and it was time to head to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Along the way we came across “The Big Apple”, a bakery, restaurant and roadside attraction where you can find everything apple, plus free outdoor activities such as mini-golf, ping pong, and lawn bowling. It was another gray rainy day so we didn’t get to enjoy the outdoor stuff, but we did buy some delicious apple bread that weighed about four pounds per loaf, and contributed to their statistics of combined pie and bread sales – 6.5 million.
We turned our 5 hours drive to Ottawa into a two day trip with stops to visit friends. The first was in Campbellford, to have dinner with friends from Bill’s work at Cisco. Before dinner we enjoyed a musical performance at the local church. The next morning, we toured their newly purchased 100-year-old farmhouse that will be keeping them busy renovating for years. From Campbellford we headed to an even smaller town, Snow Road Station to have dinner with a friend of Bill’s from Nortel. She and her husband live in a beautiful home over-looking the Mississippi River (no relation to the one in the US). Before dinner entertainment this time was a scenic boat ride along the river. Both evenings were wonderful (the company, the entertainment and the food). After arriving in Ottawa, we dined with one more of Bill’s ex-Nortel friends at one of his favorite restaurants “from back in the day” – The Glen. Bill was looking forward to Fish and Chips at the Glen almost as much as I had been looking forward to a Beaver Tail. I now know what all the fuss was about. It was probably the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten (in my case it’s probably a tie with a small neighborhood restaurant that was just down the street from my house in Wollongong, Australia).
Being in Ottawa for Canada Day, held on July 1st, was a target we planned parts of our trip around. We had been looking forward to experiencing the big celebration and it was big. Several streets and one of the main bridges were closed to traffic to allow lots of space for attendees. After parking the beast a few miles from downtown, we rode our bikes to Parliament Hill for the main festivities. Our route followed a bike lane down a one-way street and just as we reached the closed roads, Bill almost got smushed by a bus. Since we were riding the wrong way on the one-way street, there was no street light facing us. With the roads closed to traffic, Bill could see the intersection was clear and rode straight through the cross street. Unfortunately, this road was still open to bus traffic and there were several buses heading straight for him, at speed, with horns blaring. He barely made it across, and if I had not heard the honking, I might have followed him without stopping.
Canada Day
There were three main venues, with lots of performers. Our favorite was a group doing tricks on a trampoline. They were jumping off a platform about 20 feet high and doing acrobatic tricks on the way down and back up. Across the Ottawa river, the Canadian Museum of History was free for the day. The temps were near record-breaking highs at about 96 with a humidex of 116. It was so hot we bounced from one air-conditioned location to another, first lunch, then to the history museum, then to a bar. Even with avoiding the outside temps, the ends of my hair were dripping wet. At about 8:30 we decided we could not stay out in the heat any longer, and headed to the truck, foregoing the fireworks scheduled for 10:00pm. We had traveled more than 1600 miles North to escape the Texas heat, only to suffer extreme hot weather. We were a little disappointed in bailing out on the Fireworks which were expected to be extravagant but we knew we would be seeing some at the International Fireworks Competition in Montreal so we chose to pack it in. Our disappointment was short lived as the Greely Fireworks show which we watched from just outside the trailer was at least as good as anything we have seen in the Dallas area.
The next day we got up early to go hiking in Gatineau Park. It’s a beautiful park and we thoroughly enjoyed our walk and the views along the King Mountain Trail. After the hike, we went to the Mosaiculture gardens. This is an annual display, where they have 45 larger than life sculptures made entirely of plants. They really were huge and beautifully done. I’ve never met a garden I didn’t like and although there weren’t many flowers at this one, I loved it and we of course took lots of pictures.
Mosaiculture in Gatineau Park
On July 3rd, we flew home for a week with family (and Dr’s appointments – we are old after all). We decided when we left on this 7-month RV tour that we would go home to visit our grandkids every few months. Flights from Ottawa to Dallas were not cheap and it took a whole day to get home (including an extra 4 hour weather delay). It was a hectic 9 days but also some wonderful family time.
Hunter
Elderly
Maverick
On July 12th, we flew back to Ottawa and the next morning we pulled up stakes and headed east to Quebec and a little French culture…
See all of our pictures here
