CROSS CANADA MOTORHOME TRIP 2019 – MORE ONTARIO

Off to the 401 freeway next morning and we pass another Amish family in a covered buggy pulled quickly by two horses. Sunday morning so off to church I am sure. Tempted to follow them as their church service would be interesting and I bet I would have the most modern vehicle in the parking lot. Reading about them, their population is on the rise in Canada and Pennsylvania as they have 7 to 8 kids and the kids get baptized at 14 with 90% accepting the faith and the lifestyle. We were thinking that Alex and his video games would be bad news around that group.

The 401 is a very major freeway and the speed limit is only 100 but vehicles are travelling 120 and up. Going thru Toronto even on Sunday morning was busy.

Another warm day at 27 degrees and I think we escaped the bugs as the windshield is clear.

We stopped at an Onroute that is a one stop food, fuel and reststop with huge parking lots. All have Canadian Tire gas and 3 or 4 of the most common fast food outlets in a food court atmosphere and free WIFI. Cool idea

Our stop for the afternoon was Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a very old city with lots of history and the buildings to prove it. It is located on the eastern end of Lake Ontario and the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. It dates back to 1673 and was known as Fort Frontenac at the time and today is coined The Limestone City for all the historic buildings built from limestone. The limestone was used as a result of a major fire/explosion in 1840 that destroyed most of the city, so no wood was allowed to rebuild. Limestone is still a major industry in this area.

Kingston was the first capital of The United Province of Canada in 1841. This city could be a visit for a week with all there is to do, but we had one afternoon to do a hop on hop off.

Sir John A’s house that was constructed on the outskirts of town as his wife had a respiratory issue.

Sir John A is revered in this town, according to our tour guide, and as I asked him if his statue was coming down here as well. We won’t wade into that but he is the guy that engineered confederation for our country and despite the indigenous issues in the news, he has his place in history.

A couple of more pics of this beautiful historic cityAs we are leaving, I am thinking this is a very cool town. We parked in a paid lot and when we got back, we discovered that the cover was removed from our bike rack by prospective thieves but were foiled by my multiple bike locks. I guess when they moved the inmates from the penitentiary they left some behind.

Another KOA tonight just outside Kingston, so a short drive.

The Canadian perspective! Love it

Off to the current capital of Canada in the morning.

We decided to stop at Brockville, another historic city along the St Lawrence River. The city again has very old buildings but we came to see The Brockville Tunnel. The tunnel was constructed in 1860 and allowed the steam engines to get thru town to the waterfront. The last train used it in 1969 and the city took it over from the CPR for $1. They redeveloped it for tourism and now has laser lights and music amid the groundwater above dripping thru the bedrock. This tunnel was built prior to dynamite so black gun powder was used to blast the rock.

The tunnel is 1/2 km long and as we came back Hallelujah by KD Lang was playing. Awesome!

We got to our campground about noon and enquired about getting downtown Ottawa and availability of parking for a motorhome. Not advised, they said, but we were here to site see so off we went and found 1 hour parking in a residential area about 1 km from Parliament Hill. Took a chance on a parking ticket and went for a walk. As we left, I met an older guy walking 5 dogs and enquired if that was his job. He said that he was a professional dog walker and had his 5th group of dogs out that day and charged $20 for 45 min walk. He showed me the large ring of keys to the dog homes and said he was booked up for months. I asked if he needed an assistant and he told me that you had to do it at 30 below. Forget it! Quite the business though

Centre Block with the Peace Tower

Monday was a night of rain which was the first rain in 3 weeks other than some drizzle in Manitoba but has cleared up for the morning. Lots of standing water in Eastern Canada so a lot of rain earlier in the spring.

We went back downtown to take in the War Museum which is an absolutely amazing place. The archives are astounding with the number of items and the exhibits well laid out with a ton of info. Exhibits cover info from our Highland beginnings, the War of 1812, our service abroad in the Boer War in South Africa, the two World Wars and our service in Afghanistan We spent 3 hours which was much too little to give it justice.

We paid a dear price but Canada, thru two wars established a legacy of service and bravery that is recognized around the world

The Rideau Canal was opened in 1832 and it’s original purpose was a supply route to Kingston if the Americans cut off supply thru the St Lawrence River. It’s length is 202 kilometres and has a series of locks in operation seasonally now. Before the St Lawrence had locks installed to eliminate the rapids, The Rideau was used extensively for transportation of goods. Now it is a UNESCO Heritage site and is used mostly for pleasure such as the iconic ice skating in winter.

Off to Quebec!