Ottawa and Quebec City

September 2, 2010
Left the falls early and headed for fuel stop in St. Catherines, small problem with fuel , so Jerry decided to get it checked out at the Freightliner place. After changing filters ( I think that is what happened, but the exact scenario is probably different, me being mechanically challenged) Stayed at a Walmart lot in a seedy part of town, woke up the following morning to find the front wheel of my bike gone. (Some watch dogs we are feeding, Going to have to do a training session I guess) When I arrived at the “Townie” dealer, was told that mine was the third “townie” to be stolen that morning. I asked the guy if he was paying people to target that particular bike.
On to Ottawa, where we would be connecting with my daughter Kim again. Arrived early, about 1 pm and pulled in to a Walmart, thinking that parking in such a tourist area may be a problem. The manager of the store basically said “Stay as long as you want, but please not a month” So we parked for two nights. It was close enough to be able to get into town easily.
Driving around Ottawa, I discovered a patriotic side of me, All of a sudden I felt “Canadian” and proud to be one. Of course that meant that poor Jerry had to be dragged around the parliament buildings several times, (inside and out). A light show at night was well worth seeing (from my point of view) and the visit with Kim was great too. The following day we toured the parliament buildings (inside) and then visited the Museum of Civilization, across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. The displays at the museum were excellent, One of the highlights for me was the display of opening of Northern Canada, where a replica of the Wildcat Cafe, from Yellowknife was. It was here that my parents met back in 1940 or 41.
From Ottawa we headed for Quebec, intending to bypass Montreal. As it happened we went almost through the centre, but on freeways so it went fairly quickly. Of course in Montreal, there are allowed no English signs, everything is in French. Now I haven’t had to use French since 1967, so what was rusty then, was almost non existent. Surprisingly some stuff came back.
We camped at Un air d’ete at Pont Rouge, about ½ hour from Quebec City. Using Passport America, it only cost $14 per night for full hookup. It has a swimming pool, which was very handy, since the temperature hovered around 90F and was humid. Almost unbearable. The dogs are very lethargic as well.
We did a bus tour around the City on Tuesday, Old Quebec is a walled city, established in 1608, and has been very well maintained. The city is lovely, and reminds one of France, with outdoor cafes and narrow streets. The blocks of buildings are all joined together and usually made of stone or brick. In the old city, all of the workers are bilingual, which is very handy. Last night we went back to the city for dinner and a free outdoor concert by “Cirque de Soleil” Quebec is their home city, and they give free performances throughout the summer. The costumes and the performances were amazing, but standing for 60 min for the performance, plus ½ hour before was a long time.
Today we head for New Brunswick, hoping to dodge Hurricane Earl who is threatening the provinces of Nova Scotia and PEI. We have reservations in Amherst NS for the weekend, but we may have to hunker down before then in NB.