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Canada 
DAY 151
Ottawa
Layover Day
Ottawa
is the capitol city of Canada but I’ve seen the Parliament Buildings only on
postcards. The Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River are other sights I didn’t
see. I didn’t go sightseeing! I didn’t even get to the Canadian Museum of
Civilization which Doctor Sharon had visited on a previous trip and highly
recommended. Rats! I will just have to put Ottawa on my to do list.
What
did I do? I slept until nearly seven, had breakfast, and went to a bike cleaning
class/session. It was because of that that I didn’t get to see anything. I had
decided that I would clean my bike on the next layover day because the chain had
become sticky. Maybe it was sticky because of the combination of oil that the
mechanic used and the wax lubricant that I use. Whatever, it was black, sticky
and icky. The class was to be a 2 hour session but started late and actually
consumed 3 hours. Now my bike is very clean, but there went the entire morning.
I still had to do laundry, repack, and write for the web page. By then it was
dinner time. Phooey!
We
are staying in a dormitory at Carleton University, two to a room. The dorm looks
well used but is a giant step up from our NYC lodgings in the Park View Hotel.
We were given meal tickets on arrival and eat in the cafeteria in this building
which is very convenient and the food is okay. There are many choices, a salad
bar, and all the ice cream you can eat. School is out and the dorm is filled
with groups besides ourselves, including groups of children. I think tour groups
can arrange to stay here.
Some
of the people who did go out sightseeing had some very bad luck. One was David
Porterfield. He had fallen and broken a hip in a bicycling accident just
before the Odyssey began last January. He had only just joined us in Washington
D.C., recovered enough to do some riding. Today he rode into Ottawa, parked and
locked his bicycle, and left it outside a restaurant where he went for lunch.
When he came out his bicycle was gone and so was his bike bag, containing among
other things, his camera. That is just too much bad luck for one person.
Ed
and Willma had bad luck too. They had just rejoined us in Ottawa, having taken
some time off to go home and visit family. They rode their bikes into the city
and locked them together with two locks to a bicycle rack outside the Art
Institute. When they came out of the Art Institute both of their bicycles were
gone. Fortunately they didn’t have their bags on their bikes, but they had
just spent $700 upgrading them while at home.
David,
Ed and Willma now have to decide what to do about having a bike to ride. There
are no new Odyssey bikes available until we reach Paris and anyway they are way
overpriced for what they are actually worth. It is bad enough to have paid for
the bike once let alone a second time. But they may have no other option.
Rod
had bad luck too. When the gear truck arrived yesterday, Day 150, it was
unloaded in front of the dormitory, the bags laid out in the open unguarded.
Lots of people were milling around there and Rod’s bag containing his tent and
other camping gear went missing. It is said that another group was leaving at
about that time so perhaps Rod’s bag was inadvertently loaded then and taken
by mistake. Whatever, we camp again tomorrow so Rod has a problem.
But
some good things happened here too. Several riders returned after being at home
to visit family. And Dickie is back, looking much better, after having been left
behind in a NYC hospital with pneumonia.
One
or two military groups are here, the ROTC and the Navy. They are a band or
at least have a band with them. This morning the whole band practiced together
in a large room on the main floor. Later in the morning the 6 bag pipe players
in the band went outdoors to practice very near where I was cleaning my bike,
which was a treat for me.
Early
to bed, early to rise...
Alice
DAY
152
Ottawa
to Chute-a-Blondeau (Hawkesbury)
The
sun is setting, a big hot pink ball, lighting the clouds and reflecting off the
water of the Ottawa River. This is a beautiful, wooded, peaceful campsite. The
only ones here besides ourselves are the birds who sound as happy as we are.
There are no other attractions or distractions, except maybe the mosquitoes, so
everyone is content to just relax and hang out. We seldom if ever have had a
similar situation. It isn’t even raining! The ride today was relatively easy,
along the wide and placid Ottawa River for much of the way, and best of all we
had a tail wind! That turned a 90 mile day into a do-able day; Elbert finished,
riding the entire distance, very remarkable considering he is 79 years old. One
of the sag wagon drivers told me that Elbert has never asked for a ride but
always keeps trying to go the distance until he is forced to sag because it is
getting dark. Many a time I have seen Elbert arrive late into camp, having a
cold dinner of whatever is left, and pitching his tent in the dark. When he rode
in tonight someone handed him the rubber chicken to carry tomorrow. I don’t
know why a rubber chicken or who started it, but Lillian was the first to get it
and now Elbert. Perhaps it is if you are the last one to ride into camp. Better
late than never! Of course it’s already 8:30 p.m. and Elbert still has to put
up his tent while many people have been here for hours, reading, napping,
relaxing.
Shar
is in the doghouse, or at least ought to be. She’s the one who took Big Rod’s
bag of camping gear, mistaking it for her friend Else’s bag. Else has broken
ribs so Shar was carrying all their bags to their room. It wasn’t until time
to leave the room this morning that Else discovered what Shar had done. Luckily
Big Rod had not left yet and he was able to return all the camping gear to the
store and get a refund. He is a strong fast rider so even though he didn’t
leave Ottawa until 11 a.m., he reached camp at 5 p.m.
Checkpoint
was idyllic today. The DRG said the folks at the Patati-Patata Restaurant were
excited that we were coming and that turned out to be true. The restaurant was a
tiny take-out place, eating was done outdoors at picnic tables. Next to the
restaurant was a fruit stand offering strawberries and raspberries along with
other wonderful fruits, and next door to that was a tiny ice cream take-out
shop. Most of us hit all 3 places. I ordered a BLT and fries from the
Patati-Patata, bought a pint of strawberries and apples and bananas to eat later
at the fruit stand, then picked up a chocolate milkshake from the third shop. By
the time I had washed my strawberries and eaten them my BLT and fries were
ready. I had a heavenly picnic along with everyone else who were doing much the
same thing. The fruitstand folks kept the picnic tables supplied with platters
of fruit including wedges of cantaloupe and grapes.
We
had a gorgeous dinner tonight, catered by Craig, whose slogan is ‘Catering
Anywhere, Anytime’. He cooked for us at Ivy Lea and we loved it so TK&A
asked him to do this campsite too. We had 3 delicious salads, boiled new
potatoes, and broiled steaks served with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Dessert
was luscious lemon bars and brownies. I am wondering if he brought those
delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast?
The
mosquitoes have won! I am taking refuge in my tent!
Canada
Ottawa
Rideau Canal Parliament Buildings
Odyssey
Riders and Staff
Today's Music
"Country"