Week 26

Monday, September 23, 2002

My campsite, on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, was so nice, I decided to stay and spend another night here. This is across the border from Watertown, NY and the Thousand Islands. The Thousand Islands is one of the prettiest parts of the east coast. I drove around the Canadian side for most of the day, and then crossed the bridge and the border to the northern end of Interstate 81. I thought I would drive into Watertown to pick up a few things at the grocery store and get some gas & propane. Watertown is a little farther south than I thought it was. Turned out it was 26 miles from the border, so I drove 52 miles to save a couple of dollars on a tank of gas.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

I Left Ivy Lea Campground this morning and drove to Ottawa, the capitol city of Canada. I drove around in the city trying to find the visitors information center. I saw plenty of signs pointing to it, but never found it. In fact I couldn’t find a place to park at all. I eventually went to the Nepean campground on the edge of town. There I found that I should go across the Ottawa River to the town of Hull, Quebec. There I found the visitors center which provided me with a parking pass to park on the street all day for 3 days, at any parking meter, no charge. What a deal. Only problem was that the first of my 3 days was almost ended. I parked and had dinner, then returned to the campground.

Wednesday, September 25, 2002

After the great parking deal that I got yesterday, this morning, I found that there was a bus that takes me from the campground into downtown Ottawa. This made more sense than driving into the city in the princess. Today I went to the Parliament building. This is Canada’s equivalent to the U. S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Every thing that I see in Ottawa, I am comparing to D. C. I saw the House of Commons and the Senate chambers in the Parliament building. I learned all about Canada’s election process and how it compared to ours. After touring the house and senate chambers, I took an elevator up the “Peace Tower” which provided a spectacular view of the city. This afternoon, I went to a large city market for lunch, and then passed by the United States Embassy building, then on to Notre Dame Cathedral. This beautiful old cathedral dated back to 1820. It was renovated in 1999 and it is very pretty, but it is the first time that I’ve ever been charged to go to church. There was a $2.00 admission charge. SHOCK!!!

American Embassy National Gallery of Canada

After touring the church, I went across the street to Canada’s National Art Gallery. This spectacular glass building was a joy to go through. With a wide variety of art and a very interesting architecture, I wished I had more time there, but the building was closing. I caught the bus back to Nepean, for dinner, a little TV and bed.

Thursday, September 26, 2002

Today I spent the day at the National Museum of Science and Technology. This huge museum covered everything from the founding of Canada and the First Nation’s peoples to the space program and everything in between. I really enjoyed this place.

Friday, September 27, 2002

I left Ottawa this morning and headed East to Montreal. I stopped at the Quebec visitor’s center and picked up information about Montreal and especially about the towns of Boucherville and Twin Rivers. These two towns, right outside of Montreal, were the homes of distant ancestors of mine, and I want to see what I can find out there. I found that there is a library in Montreal that should provide a lot of information. I had previously selected a campground south of Montreal called Camping Gregoire and so I drove there and figured I would spend the weekend there.

Saturday, September 28, 2002

Today, I went back across the border to Champlain, New York to pick up my mail, and then back into the town of LaColle, where I had an appointment to get my oil changed. These two things kind of shot the day, so I figured I would wait until Monday to do my family history research. What little daylight I had left in the day, I used to wash the princess.

Sunday, September 29, 2002

I slept in a little late this morning. By the time I got going it was after noon. I drove into downtown Montreal, crossing the Mercier Bridge on the West end of town, then following LaSalle Boulevard along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River into the downtown area. Montreal, like most major Canadian cities, is very clean and economically vibrant, but parking is a problem, especially when you are driving a 30 foot motorhome. I continued East across the city past Olympic Stadium and on to a very interesting 6 lane tunnel under the Saint Lawrence. This brought me back over the Isle de Boucherville to the South shore of the St. Lawrence. Boucherville is the town that I am anxious to visit, but I decided that I would wait until tomorrow when more things would be open.