Sonya's Blog - Day 51 - Exploring Gatineau and Ottawa

Sonya’s Blog - Day 51 - August 12th - Exploring Gatineau and Ottawa

Blake had looked at all the information and the maps and decided that it would be great if we parked at Lac Leamy and biked into Ottawa. As we were driving in last night you could see the great bike pathway system and Blake got a map of the pathways when we were at the campground. We managed to find a parking lot near Lac Leamy that was free and we set out on our bikes. We had to turn around a couple of times to get going in the right direction, but then we were on the right path (and the only reason we knew this is not because of Blake’s masterful map reading skills, but because of a large sign that pointed us in the direction of the Parliament Buildings:). We would have brought up the map on our phones, but it just tried taking us on the roadways, which we did not want to do.

It was a beautiful pathway system along the lake and then a river, not sure which one. The woods around it were very dense and lush and smelled fantastic. It was still wet from the rain the night before so it had that wet, woods smell going on, which I love. As we were biking along, there was a lady with a tent set up and some information. She called out to us and we stopped to have a chat. Blake’s french was put to the test, the kids mostly just listened and were happy to let Blake do the talking, although Natasha did help him with the word email since he didn’t know it. There was an archeological dig going on not far from the pathway and we were welcome to go and check it out. The lady gave us some information and we went on our way to find the dig. It was really easy to find, and within 10 minutes we were at the dig site, which was along the Ottawa River.

Someone talked to us when we got there and then directed us to another lady and she was going to give us more information. She had a number of artifacts that they had already found at the site, like arrowheads, scrapers and pottery. They had also just found a hearth, and that was still in the dig area. We were allowed to hold the artifacts and she gave us some information. She then grabbed some buckets and trowels for us and we were allowed to try our hand at digging, after some brief instruction. She pointed out that the Prime Minister’s house was right behind us, across the river.

Pictures of the dig site and 24 Sussex Drive from the back:

We did some digging for about 45 minutes, it is hard on the hands. The soil is has a lot of clay in it and you have to scrape the dirt towards you slowly and then sweep it up to discard it. You slowly make your way down layer by layer until you uncover something. We did not find anything. However, the lead Archaeologist came over and had a chat with us and it was all very interesting. Everyone on the crew could switch between English and French without even thinking about it, so we had some conversations in French and others in English. We decided it was time for our lunch and to head on our way, spent 15 minutes scraping the mud off of our shoes and then departed and wished them well. Isaac managed to get mud all over his clothes as well, so he was a complete mess. We hiked back out to our bikes, had a quick lunch and continued on our way.

We biked right past a statue of Maurice Richard, so we stopped to get a picture:

Right across the street was the tourism office for Gatineau and stopped in there for a quick look see. After the tourism office it was just across the bridge and we would be in Ottawa (the Ottawa River is the dividing line between Quebec and Ontario). We biked right past the War Memorial, which we see every year when we watch the Remembrance Day Ceremonies. The Parliament Buildings are right behind it. Isaac was getting pretty whiny by this time and he was hungry again and we had no more lunch. He had packed the lunch, but it was more of a snack. There was an Irish Pub across the street from the War Memorial so we stopped in there for a bite to eat. We then walked over to the Parliament Buildings to check it out. First we walked by a statue of Terry Fox, picture here:

There was a student employee working in that Plaza, and her job was to talk about Terry Fox and to talk to tourists (later we discovered that all the major monuments have students working at them to share information with you). We got some info from her and continued on our way, which was across the street to the Parliament Buildings. I wanted to go up to the entrance area and find out about tours. All the tours were given out for that day, they were usually gone by 11. She told us where to go and said we should be there between 9 and 10 in the morning to be guaranteed a spot on a tour.

Isaac in front of the Parliament Buildings - Centre Block:

We then sussed out the tour busses, headed back over to the War Memorial for some pictures and then decided to head back to the campsite. It was at least a 1/2 hour bike ride back, if we rode pretty fast. At least we knew where we were going this time and the ride went pretty fast. We got everything loaded back into the truck and then headed back to the campsite, which was another 20 minutes or so away. After a quick stop of the grocery store, we were back at camp and walking Kizmet. She was so happy to have us back!

There is an international fireworks festival going on right now and Brazil was doing their display tonight. We thought about going out again, but they didn’t start until 9:45 and that would make it a late night for the kids. We wanted to be out relatively early tomorrow so we could get tour tickets, so we skipped it. I finished my Ready Player One book instead after we had had supper.

Ready Player One was really good, it is about the future when we run out of energy, but also about 80’s video games and pop culture. Most people choose to spend their days in a simulated world called The Oasis, instead of in the real world because the real world is awful and has nothing to offer. Oasis on the other hand is fantastic and a much more preferable place to spend your time, plus you can go to all these cool places and even take your whole school program there. The book is about trying to find The Easter Egg that was left somewhere in The Oasis by its creator. In his will, if you find The Easter Egg, you inherit his fortune. So it is about our heroes adventures and misadventures in his quest for The Easter Egg, which has been going on for 5 years. The main characters knowledge of 80’s video games and pop culture far surpasses mine, but he has been studying it thoroughly as it is very important in the quest for the Egg. It was a very enjoyable read. Natasha wants to see all of the 80’s movies mentioned it it, so we will be having a bit of an 80’s revival on our tour, if we can get the movies.

That’s it for me,

Sonya