Heading West

When we left Pohick Bay I discovered that I could ask Garmin Gertie to find us a route that avoided traffic so I used that setting and although we made a slight error in choosing an off ramp that saw us practically drive up the backside of the Lincoln Memorial, she recalculated our error and with a left turn at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had us back over the Potomac and cruising along the scenic George Washington Parkway

until it was time to join up with the first of the interstates of the day. At one point the road signs offered us the alternative of the I-68, the National Freeway, rather than the I-70. A check of the map saw that this routing we eliminate the tolled stretch of the Pennsylvania turnpike so we choose this option and were pleased to discover a beautiful, green, mountainous, countryside of Northern Maryland (much of this territory had been the scene of civil war battles noted by highway markers).

Once we did get back to I-70 we were reminded of a more recent hostilities, as the opposite side of the highway was blocked for several miles as hundreds of motorcyclists (many wearing colours as Vietnam Vets) paraded by carrying US and POW/MIA flags.  Once through West Virginia (actually our route took us through two different parks of West Virginia separated by Pennsylvania) we made it to our campsite at Barkcamp State Park just over the Ohio border. This would be the first of several successive state parks of this leg which were remarkably under-utilized. 

The next day was a long slog all along the I-70 (dominated by truck traffic) through Ohio, Indiana, and just across the state (and time zone) border to Lincoln Trail State Park in Illinois. Here fewer than 25 of the more than 200 sites were occupied. The camp hosts who did the check in were decidedly laid back (no book of rules given out with the receipt), the sites were spacious, treed, with power and close access to water, the shower building clean and well maintained for a cost of $20 per night. We found the similar site for the same price at Pere Marquette State Park on the other side of Illinois – although given that it was a Friday, perhaps about half of the 80 sites at this park on the banks of the mighty, muddy, Mississippi were occupied. We are not sure if it’s the economy or the lack of interest in this mode of camping that has resulted in this situation but it works for us although cell or wifi coverage is iffy or nonexistent in these locations.

This was a short travel day which allowed us a relaxing afternoon and the opportunity to give Mazy another shower (the first had been at Barkcamp) having discovered she had been chewing away at a hotspot and had much matted fur that had to be cut out and cleaned to try to dry out the sores. Poor girl. 

 

Washington DC

Our campsite at Pohick Bay Regional Park in suburban Lorton, Virginia, just south of Alexandria put us in reasonable commuting distance to the major sites in the heart of Washington DC. The drive to the metro parking garage was still hairy even without the trailer and after the worst of rush hour but from there it was about a half hour metro ride some of it elevated, some subterrainian on very long multi car (15 - 20) trains. Stops included Ron Reagan Airport and Arlington National Cemetery but we exited at Capitol South and embarked on our exploration of the many historic buildings in this vicinity. The Library of Congress was the first of these.

The Supreme Court building was shrouded in scaffolding. (Many of the buildings in DC seemed to be undergoing repair - some related to last year's earthquake).

The Capitol itself is a very imposing structure.
 I nipped into the Visitor's Centre briefly.

The area on the east side of the Capitol was surprisingly uncrowded, but the west side, facing the mall saw a considerable increase in the number of tourists, including numerous bus tours of many different nationalities. We wandered up the mall noting the various government buildings and then the chain of remarkable Smithsonian Institution national museums. Of these we had the longest tour of the National Museum of Air and Space.

By this time (lunch) the overcast skies were being burnt off and the sun was out with temperatures rising into the low 80sF. However, with a breeze it made it reasonable for an afternoon of walking from site to site, far better than the hot humid weather with temperatures up to 100F that you can often expect in August in DC. A tour through the Hirschorn Sculpture Garden was a pleasant reprieve before continuing on to the Washington Monument (closed due to the earthquake). 

We walked on and over to Pennsylvania Avenue (passing Homeland Security enroute) for a view of the gardens and rear of the White House, then around the block and past the East Executive Bldg to the front entrance. (President Obama, however, was not at home. This being an election year, he was out showing the flag, in New Hampshire, I think.

We took what I thought would be a short cut via the Metro but the walk after we got off at Foggy Bottom (yes that’s the name of a metro stop) seemed just as long passing George Washington University and the Department of State as if we had walked directly from the White House to the Lincoln Memorial.

We took in the memorial from the base of the steps, deciding the view of Lincoln in his chair was just fine from here and made our way past the Vietnam War Memorial

(where National Park rangers were assisting visitors making rubbings of the names of their fallen family members. On past the lovely fountains of the World War II Memorial and back to the Washington Monument, we gazed at the Jefferson Monument but did not have the time or stamina for an upclose viewing. Back to the Smithsonian Metro stop and back to our car about 5:00pm. I managed to coax Garmin Gertie into finding us an alternate route back to the campsite that did not involve the I-95 at rush hour and we were pleased to find that Mazy had not done anything requiring repairs on her long day alone.

We were just settling down to relax under the trailer awning prior to dinner when the raindrops started to fall and we barely had time to take the tablecloth off the picnic table before a real downpour started that lasted several hours – no campfire tonight.

We used the next day to relax, tour the park down to the marina area (Pohick Bay is one of several bays off the Potomac) do chores (laundry, trailer cleaning, and shopping). I found a corner of the campground close to the office that let me access wifi and sat at a picnic table and tried to plan out our route home.  A quiet day with no touring and no driving that we both appreciated.

By the Time We Got to Woodstock...

It seems that this phase of the trip has old classic tunes running through my head. When we left Salisbury Beach under overcast skies we were heading for Kenneth L Wilson State Reserve in the Catskills in New York. I had booked this site as it was the only public campground I could find that was available and allowed me to book one night arriving on a Saturday. As we travelled along the Mass Turnpike the weather gradually improved and by the time we reached the Berkshire Mountains the sun was out and continued to shine as we passed over into New York state and the beautiful Hudson Valley. This area of the state is remarkably beautiful, forested hillsides, glimpses of the Hudson river, and soon we were in the Catskills. Little did I know that the route that Garmin Gertie would lead us on to get to the campsite once we left the NY Turnpike was through the infamous village of Woodstock, which just happened to be having their annual town picnic in the afternoon as we tried to make our way through the narrow, congested streets lined with galleries, craft shops and everything crunchy granola. When we stopped for a few groceries I did find that being exactly of the age of the “Woodstock Generation” had its privileges and netted me a discount in the natural foods store. We continued on to the very well hidden park (how would anybody but locals find these places without a GPS?) and set up on what we decided as our most spacious well treed site of the trip so far. The lack of services wasn’t a concern and was well compensated by the privacy and quiet the site afforded. On our evening walk with Mazy we ran into one of the park staff and had a long conversation that touched on geography, politics, medicare, and the resident brown bear that had wrecked havoc earlier in the day when a camper had been less than cautious in their food storage. Turns out the park ranger had seen said bear about four sites away from ours just shortly before we met him. Maybe it was Mazy’s presence but we never saw him through our visit.

The next day required an early departure as we knew it would be a long arduous drive to get us to our destination in Virginia just south of DC. Little did we know that our route would take mostly along toll roads and end up costing us over $50 in tolls.  But considering that we passed through five states (well 6 if you count DC {New York, New Jersey – our longest stretch and very poorly laid out service plazas, Delaware - $15 in tolls for the about half an hour’s drive???, Maryland (including negotiating through Baltimore) DC – awful traffic along the Beltway, and finally Virginia to our campsite at Pohick Bay Regional Park in Lorton I guess we should not have expected less. I picked this site as it was only about 20 miles south of DC, and with semi-serviced sites it was about half the price of the commercial option in Maryland. Pete did an amazing job of piloting the van and trailer through the heart of the Eastern seaboard. At one point we even got a distant view of Manhattan and the Empire State Building but were too slow to get a camera out to take a picture. And this leg had Springsteen running through my head except for Delaware where I kept hearing my mother singing “What did Dela Ware boys, what did Dela Ware “. (Barry, Andy do you remember the rest of that?)

Two National Parks - one Canadian, one US

Leaving PEI via the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick (thanks to Don and a fellow we met at Wheatley Provincial Park in Ontario) for advising that it is cheaper to leave the island via the bridge than the ferry). Here we touched on the Acadian coast before travelling through Moncton and then on to a long and not very interesting drive along Hwy 1. After leaving the highway we ended up on a smaller road with a long stretch under construction so it was a bumpy/dusty ride on gravel for awhile. We arrived at Fundy National Park early in the afternoon, took a look at and rejected the Headquarters Campsite, toured the nearby town of Alma, right on the Bay of Fundy,
for essential supplies (gas and beer) as the fog lifted off the shores, home to the highest tides in Canada. We found a much better campsite at the Chignecto North Campground with well spaced, treed sites with power and water. It was nice to have made an early arrival and be able to spend a lazy afternoon in the quiet campsite reading and spinning.

In the morning it was back up the dusty, gravel road to Hwy 1, through the surprisingly large city of St. John and then an uneventful drive to the border just past St. Stephen's. However, here we found that all the RVs were being given a thorough inspection for contraband fruits and vegetables or firewood by Homeland Security. Fortunately the line up was not too long and we were glad we had finished the last of our grapes at lunch before heading to the border and deciding to throw out the carrots we'd bought in Indiana on the previous American leg of the journey. We stopped in the small Maine town of Calais for gas and to replenish the groceries and then made our way on Hwy 9 as the rain began to fall. It teamed down most of the afternoon(a terrible drive for Pete) and in the town of Ellsworth, as we were getting close to our destination, I saw a sign giving a temperature reading of 68F, certainly our coldest afternoon of the trip. Fortunately at this point, the rain let up so we continued our way into Acadia National Park under cloudy skies but with the hope we would not be setting up camp in the pouring rain. We found navigating through Acadia to our campsite at Blackwoods Campground challenging and despite my best efforts we ended up travelling through the narrow streets of the crowded, tourist town of Bar Harbour. However, we were pleased that we persevered as the campsite itself was excellent;

an easy drive-through, well treed and equipped. It was still quite damp, though so dinner was inside the trailer for a change. In the morning, the sun was out and it was warming up so we took in some of the sites of the park (twice actually - our navigation challenges from yesterday continued)

 

and then it was back through Bar Harbour, a stop at the LL Bean Outlet in Ellsworth (only new socks for Pete, Mora) before we connected with I-95 for a long stretch of interstate driving, broken by a side trip to the historic town of Bath, the home of Halcyon Yarns. Primarily an online vendor of weaving, spinning, and knitting supplies they still maintain a large storefront and I picked up some top to supplement my supplies for my locker hocking rug. Back on the interstate we went through four toll booths and could not figure out why we were charged different rates at some of them and why some are so close when others are many miles apart. (Well after the roads of PEI, it was worth it!) This was another three state day (alright we were only in New Hampshire for about half an hour) and we ended the day at Salisbury Beach State Reservation (don't know why they call it that) in Massachusetts. This is a beach destination for the locals from
New Hampshire and Mass. and the people at the next campsite have a real Boston accent. When we arrived it was hot and humid but true to the forecast a thunderstorm arrived about 10pm but we were shocked that Mazy has ignored this one and did not leave her den under the trailer table to let us know of its imminent arrival.

PEI

We had a foggy climb up Mt. Kelly as we made our way off the island of Cape Breton and through Pictou county to catch the ferry to Woods Island, PEI. Unfortunately due to road construction near Antigonish we missed the 1:00pm boat and had to wait until 2:45 for the 75 minute passage. These ferries reminded us of some of the older BC Ferry vessels on the shorter runs, like the one between Comox and Powell River or to the Gulf Islands. There was not enough seating inside for all the passengers but that was OK because by this time the weather had cleared and we had mixed clouds and sun so many people spent the crossing outside listening to the fiddle music on the deck.

We even got an escort by small whales (Minke?) into the harbour.

I decided to take the scenic Points East Coast Drive to our campsite at Red Point Provincial Park near the northeast corner of the Island. The route jigged and jogged and although it afforded many views of small villages, harbours, and seashores, it was very slow; made even slower by the condition of the roads. We were to discover that PEI has the worst roads we have encounter anywhere so far, the side roads especially but even the Trans Canada was awful in sections. So after Montague, as the rain began to fall, we decided to forgo the scenic route and take the more direct. However, given the roads, even this was slow so it was close to 7:00pm and teaming with rain with the wind blowing when we pulled into our campground and got soaked setting up. Our site for the night was right on the bank overlooking the red cliffs and the sea. Our first impression of PEI was brought to you by the letter R: Rain, Red dirt, and Rotten Roads.

Although it rained sporadically during the night, we had the sound of the pounding surf to lull us to sleep (just like Maui) and in the morning we woke to improving skies and a walk on the white sand beach.

We had to change sites ended up in the predominantly tenting area a bit further from the bank but still with a front row view of the sea and with some trees for privacy and clotheslines.

In the afternoon we drove the rest of the way around the Points East Coast Route and then over to the Central Coast route. Again the roads ranged from fair to awful but at least we weren`t pulling the trailer over them. The province is known as ``the gentle island`` or ``the green province``. Considering the condition of the roads, I think the latter is more appropriate.

There are farms and lush green hillsides (not very high hillsides, mind you) everywhere you look and then there is the sea. You are never very far from the ocean anywhere in PEI. Every few kilometres you come to a signpost announcing another town or village (which may be no more than a handful of homes/farms) a white church with a steeple and a graveyard. We toured through the PEI National Park but as dogs are not allowed on the beaches in the park we just had a brief walk down to see the dunes and walk in the sand as we could only leave Mazy in the van momentarily as the temperature had climbed to 27C. This area is one of the most touristy with signs advertising cottage rentals all along the route. Cavendish is the centre of this area with the Anne of Green Gables site and Lucy Maud Montgomery's home.

When we returned to the campsite for dinner, we managed to enjoy a campfire until the thunder and lightening forewarned us and we retreated from a short rain shower.

After two nights at Red Point we left the north east and drove down to the village of Belfast so I could visit the Belfast Mini-Mill and Fibre Store. I was able take a tour of the mill which walked through the various processes from washing the fibre, picking it with an automated picking machine that then blew the picked fibre into an adjacent room, to de-hairing (the employee explained this using qivuit), carding, spinning, plying and setting the twist. They also have a felting machine and offer classes in felting that can produce large felt "pictures" as a souvenir of PEI. I didn't manage to leave the store without some mixed batts that included some qivuit. While I was inside, Pete and Mazy explored the farmyard that included sheep, alpaca, chickens, guinea hens, dogs, etc.

From Belfast we joined up with the Trans Canada and had a quick view of Charlottetown and then on to Summerside (in the middle of a power outages- forget about filling up here) to our campsite for the night at Linkletter Provincial Park.

Again this park was right on the ocean with a distant view of the Confederation Bridge and when the tide came in far enough Mazy and I got our PEI swim in some of the warmest water I have experienced. Here even the sand is red. We were surprised to find that our neighbouring campers in a big fifth wheel were from Vancouver and on our evening walk we also met a woman room Victoria.

Cape Breton

 After weeks of hot sunny weather, we found ourselves with clouds and the ocassional shower on Tuesday. However, this did not discourage us from taking a short road trip to the some of the small coastal villages near Sydney. We first stopped at Port Morien

and had a wonderful lunch at a seasonal restaurant and gift shop called Dock Your Dory. After a great lunch of fish chowder for the ladies and smoked meat sandwiches for the bros, we continued down the road with a diversion through an old cemetery to a very authentic non-touristy fishing village of Main a Dieu.

By this point the fog had rolled in but we still enjoyed our walk (or roll for Mora) on the board walk and the obligatory dipping of the foot in the Atlantic.

On our way back along the scenic shores of the Mira River we stopped for a short visit with an old school friend of Mora's and her husband pointed out two eagles on nearby trees and he was able to coax them to swoop down and fly past for a photo op.

On Wednesday Mora had a couple of medical appointments (which unfortunately did not result in her being released from her cast) so it was a good opportunity for Pete and I to drive down and tour the historic Fortress at Louisbourg. This Parks Canada site is an exceptional well done re-creation of one quarter of the original fortress complete with both static and live exhibits of costumed characters explaining their role in the 18th century fortress. We arrived in light fog but shortly after we passed through the gates the sun started to burn it off and the afternoon was hot and sunny. We took a guided tour for about an hour and a half which included an excellent short history of fort and the two battles in which the French Navy lost the fort to the English.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon touring the buildings and gardens and touring the grounds

before driving back to Sydney to commiserate with Mora who faces another three weeks in her cast and after dinner we made a short visit to the Square Dancing/Concert at the Big Fiddle which was part of Sydney's Action Week.

Thursday morning was taken up with chores, but in the afternoon we set off for another road trip in the Subaru and left the animals to entertain themselves.

Today was even hotter than yesterday. Our destination today was Baddeck on the shores of the beautiful Bras D'Or, which are more like a inland sea than a lake.

They actual cover about a third of the island of Cape Breton with many islands, bays, and isthmuses. It was sailing regatta week in Baddeck so we were entertained by sail boats competing in the regatta races as our view while we enjoyed another delicious seafood lunch.

After a quick drive through the town we went up the hill to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum for a tour. Bell had had a summer home in Baddeck and it was here that he successfully collaborated in the first manned, motorized flight in Canada as well as developing the first hydrofoil. The museum included exhibits related to his interest in flight as well as those his early achievements with the invention of the telephone and aids for the deaf. And did you know he also did genetic engineering with sheep? The drive back to Sydney completed a loop around the Bras D'Or and a very brief ride on a cable ferry to Little Narrows. Then back to a warm greeting from the dogs and a wonderful dinner of enchiladas accompanied by Margaritas.

Friday was a lazy day around the house. Well not so lazy as it included a number of repairs to door and window screens due to her ladyship's escape attempts. Apparently she did not like being left in the trailer when Cleo was in the house and this was her way of showing her displeasure. At least the dogs seem to be cohabiting better including eating out of each others bowls and waiting for their masters to return together.

The day's highlight was a wonderful lobster supper, even the dogs got a little nibble although Mazy wasn't too sure about lobster.

Saturday, our last full day in Cape Breton started cloudy as we got an early start on a trip around the Cabot Trail. This is truly one of the highlights of any trip around Cape Bretion and it was great that we had such experience guides in Mora and Ross to show us lead the way. And lead the way they did as we made the trip in both vehicles so both the dogs could come along as this was a 10 hour trip. We started with a visit to the Gaellic College (couldn't talk Pete into getting a kilt) and then had several stops to visit a number of the artist studios that dot the trail. There are many opportunities for scenic viewpoints along the trail, especially in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

It was a lovely long day but I think we were all spent when we drove home in the light rain showers. We had a wonderful visit and many thanks to R & M (and Cleo and Gus) for being such obliging hosts especially given Mora`s hopeflly very temporary disability. The dogs seemed to have actually bonded a bit by the time we were packing to leave under overcast threatening skies on Sunday morning. Gus, I am sure, was happy to see the trailer (and Mazy) disappear down the driveway.

WE MADE IT!!!

After a very long day on the road we pulled into Ross and Mora's driveway just after 6:00pm on Sunday August 5th. After the causeway from the mainland of Nova Scotia we took Hwy 4 with many lovely glimpses of the Bra D'Or Lakes. Even on such a hot sunny weekend there were suprisingly few people on the lakes or the beaches.

It was great to see them as its been a couple of years and our first time seeing their new Nova Scotia home and meeting Cleo, the canine addition to the family. She and Mazy had to made their introductions but Mazy was more fascinated with Gus, their older one-eyed cat.

The next morning we had a visit with Mora's sister Marie and her partner Don and a great fish and chips lunch at a cafe in Sydney followed by a drive around some of the historic sites of downtown Sydney and then a stop at the cruise ship terminal for a look and listen to the world's largest fiddle.

La Belle Province and on to New Brunswick

After a quick walk with Mazy we bid adieu to Ann on Thursday morning and set off to pick up the trailer from its resting place in the mom and pop campground south of the city. From there it was a quick link over to the 417 and onward to Quebec. Thanks to Michel for his suggested route that had us avoiding most of the Montreal traffic by diverting north of the city. We had made a reservation for two nights at Camping de la Joie which was billed as the closest campground to Quebec City. We were set up in a slightly awkward (the slope had the water in the shower running away from the drain) and narrow but adequate site in the midst of the seasonal campers.

This campground which includes the usual facilities of pool (but with lifeguard here), playground, volleyball court, small camper's store, iffy wifi, etc. also features a small restaurant (yes poutine was on the menu), internet station, games room with wide screen TV. What was particularly attractive about this option was that they offered a shuttle service into Old Quebec city. So after a quick swim for me, dinner, and a walk with Mazy we made reservations for the 9:00am departure. The $14 per person fee seemed well worth the price for another non-driving day for Pete.

It turned out that we were the only passengers on this trip for the mini van shuttle, driven by the genial campground owner. We were able to have an interesting conversation on the history and background of the campground (about half the sites in forested hillside site are seasonal with most of the occupants wintering in Florida or Mexico and returning to Quebec in May) politics, (the Quebec election had been called the day prior), and BC (his daughter had spent 4 yrs in the orchards of the Okanagan).
He dropped us off at the Chateau Frontenac and confirmed our 1:30 pick up time. We headed off along the Dufferin Terrace in front of the Chateau and up to the Citadelle but opted not to bother with the hour long tour and changing of the guard ceremony given our short time frame and instead headed off and walked around the Plains of Abraham




 and then over to the Quebec Parliament buildings which were already edged in election posters.

Our walk took us back past the Chateau and then we made our way down the steep steps to the old town. Our visit happened to coincide with the Fete de la Nouvelle France which saw this UNESCO site decked out with many costumed characters in period costumes, street musicians, and demonstrations of life in Nouvelle France.

One of the demonstrations was a group of lace makers from a local guild.

One of the storefronts also featured a number of local fibre artisants and I was able to chat, albeit haltingly with a couple of weavers and knitters displaying their work.

We had a quick lunch at Le Cochon Dingue (a recommendation from our neighbouring campers) sharing a Croque Monsieur and a piece of Sugar Pie and a tour of some of the many shops of the crowded quartier before braving the even steeper climb back up the hill in the sweltering temperatures to the Fort and Eglise before resting by the Chateau taking in some of the street performances as we waited for our return shuttle ride. When he arrived and six people exited the van we were happy that we had decided on the early departure and the privacy it afforded. We got a bit more of a tour from our driver and were back to the relatively quiet campground by mid afternoon for a relaxing afternoon puttering around the trailer and van, having a swim, and reading.

The traffic leaving Quebec City on Saturday morning was reasonable and soon we were over the Pierre LaPorte bridge and travelling along the south shore of the St. Lawrence. I was now in new territory, not having ventured further east than Quebec City previously. We were suprised at how close to the wide river we were at times as we travelled on to Riviere du Loup. From here we headed south and after a short stop for groceries and a bite of lunch we passed into New Brunswick and lost our last hour due to time changes as we hit Atlantic time. Once we hit NB, the highway improved dramatically and the scenery became one of rolling forested hills as we followed the St. John River Valley route. Just past the border we had stopped at a very well appointed rest stop/information centre and picked up brochures and travel guides which proved very useful as a phone call to the provincial park confirmed that they were full on this long weekend. So I called ahead to the Sunset View Campground in Hawkshaw (just outside of Nackawic, home of the world's largest axe - who knew?) and shortly after 5pm we pulled into a grassy well spaced pull through site in this neat and tidy campground across the road from the St John River.

Niagara, Toronto, Prince Edward County, Ottawa

I had originally hoped to visit one of my favourite online weaving providers, Camilla Valley Farms, while in south western Ontario. Sadly their summer vacation coincided with mine so in checking the map for alternatives to explore I looked at the map and said why don't we take a quick jaunt down to Niagara Falls before heading up north of Toronto to camp for the night. That would put us in the vicinity of another fibre vendor I had seen online and on Ravelry. Well the quick jaunt ended up being a  long drive on the 401 and the QEW through heavy Sunday traffic. Then getting parking in Niagara Falls for the truck and trailer meant we were at a distant parking lot and had to take a shuttle up to the falls.

However, the falls themselves were an impressive site, even though it seemed a pretty hokey tourist trap of a town.

We watched the Maid of the Mists boats going under the rainbow of spray between the two sets of falls. The Canadian ones are certainly more spectacular.

Back in the van and Pete had soon to start negotiating Toronto traffic as the spot that I had reserved was in the town of Caledon, north of Kleinburg which I had remembered visiting in the early 70's during my short stay at York U. What a change in 40 years. The malls and mosques are now stretching into what I remember as rural landscape. We stayed at Albion Hills Conservation Area and had one loop of the campsite to ourselves..

 Here we had both power and water at the site. Its a somewhat strange set up in that there are both seasonal, semi-permanent sites and others for more transient a day or a week at a time campers. There is a lake and pool and a series of hiking trails (which I assume are cross country trails in the winter as there is also a building designated a chalet). Oh and the fibre vendor I was going to visit near here - turns out they were on summer vacation, too.

The next morning we drove the 401 to just outside Brighton and Garmin Gertie took us on another circuitious route to Presqu'ile Provincial Park where we secured the last serviced site. We quickly set up the trailer and then Pete and I got back in the van for a tour of the quaint Prince Edward County which is now a trendy wine route through Loyalist country. We stopped at a winery and passed through a couple of other small towns filled with antique shops and B&Bs and made our way to Picton where we visited the shops on Main Street and I actually got to shop at an Ontario yarn/fibre shop Rose Haven Fibre Arts.

 I have been on their email list for years so it was great to finally get to the shop and be able to purchase some fibre (Icelandic pencil roving and some mugga silk). We got back to the campsite in time for Mazy and me to have a quick swim in Lake Ontario before it was time to make dinner.

On Tuesday morning we got a later start and headed further along the 401 through (suprise) another thunderstorm just outside of Brockville. We took a less direct route, the 31, into the Ottawa area so we could store the trailer for a few days at a campground that offered this service in the town of Greely just south of the city. From here it was a half an hour drive into Ottawa to the home of one of my oldest friends, Ann (we actually attended the same preschool at the Marpole Community Centre). That's the other benefit of this trip being able to reconnect with old friends and family who we haven't seen in too many years.
Ann prepared a wonderful dinner and it was great catching up with her and Michel. It was also a treat to be able to spread out in more than 100 sq ft.after more than two weeks in the trailer. On Wednesday morning after taking Mazy for her morning promenade we separated with Pete taking the bus to tour the War Museum (which had been reopened in a new building since his last time in Ottawa) and Ann and I walking to the National Gallery of Canada where she treated me to a visit to the Van Gogh. While the exhibit was crowded, tickets were issues for specific reserved admission times due to the demand, it was extremely well mounted and brought back memories of a visit 9 years ago to St.Remy and Arles.

 We meandered through some of the permanent exhibits, stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat before visiting the market to pick up some fresh local fruit. We took a longer, more interesting walk home that took us past Ann's last office at what used to be called Old City Hall and has recently been renamed the Diefenbaker building. A lazy afternoon reading and chatting on the deck in the shade before heading out for a quick dinner at a neighbourhood cafe for a indulgence in fish and chips followed by a stroll for dessert at the Dairy Queen - a great end to a hot, summer day