As the weather was particularly dark and rainy in Ottawa, rather than the large panoramas I like, here are some animal bits. For your trivia and you may already know, the $1 Canadian coin is called the loonie because of the loon on the reverse side. The relatively new $2 coin is then referred as the toonie (twonie) just to be cute. Well here is a threenie ... mama loon and two babies on her back paddling around the dock in the RV park in Perth. Cool!







And then as we were sitting in a park in Ottawa on the Ottawa River we had to wait for the goose procession as they did the perfect ... ok here goes ... goose step. Hup, two, three, four.

Ottawa is a truly beautiful city of 750,000 with Canada's Parliament and other government buildings. I came to Ottawa in 1972 looking for work and instead found Jo-Anne who was working for the government at the time. Here she is in front of our first apartment house some 37 years later. It still is a 1920s brownstone imposing building and other than a bit more landscaping, not much different than when we had our place here. It is on Elgin Avenue and literally a short walk to the Parliament buildings or the Rideau Canal.

Then, being hungry, we popped over to the By Ward Market area on the northeast side of Ottawa and where the Obamas recently stopped for a bite to eat. There are literally hundreds of eateries and shops in the old city market area. We checked out this one and it seemed pretty good.

Inside, I had a havarti/chicken wrap with mushroom soup and Jo had a ham/brie with salad, which we shared ... and of course a glass of local cabernet ... all for about $32.

While in Ottawa we went to the National Military Cemetary. The Department of National Defence has just recently opened a cemetary very similar to Arlington for the veterans of the Canadian Forces. We went there to check it out as Bill Martin retired as a Major in the Army and is possibly interested in being interred there when the time comes.

Then we went over to Pinecrest Cemetary where the Martin plot is. This is where Jo-Anne's grandparents on the Martin side are buried.

Perth, Ontario is a very beautiful town, founded by the Scots from the original Perth some 7,000 miles to the east in the early 1800s. They even named the river that runs through town, the Tay, which we stayed near during our venture to Scotland in 07. Here's the river and a restaurant on it in Perth. The tower is from the 1830s fire house and was used to dry the fire hoses ... never want to leave your hose wet overnight ... ahh, those Scots!




I showed you a picture of the interior of the pub we had a great meal at called O'Reilly's and here is an exterior shot.

And this shot of an old grain mill really looks like its counterpart in Scotland. Perth, Ontario is well worth a visit, especially if you are visiting Ottawa, about fifty miles away.

OK a bit of text now to catch up. We are doing absolutely super but need a bit of time to catch up.

Jo-Anne's ankle is much better; probably weak but ready to walk the streets of Paris and Germany.

It now is in the 80 degree range here, which in the big, dark, plastic bus, starts to get toward the upper limit of comfortable. Combined with only a 30 amp service; ie, only one of two AC units, it is warm. Two weeks ago on Sunday it was 48 and raining and we had to fill up the propane for the furnace. Although we do open up at night and if it gets to 60 or so that is good.

Last week we took Bill Martin over for 5 days in the Ottawa region, actually staying in Perth, which is a really pretty town. We hit the national cemetary and a bunch of places that he and we were familiar with and it was a great trip.

Right now we are making our final plans for the European Adventure of 2009. Sunday the 28th of June we drive down to Toronto and stay at the Doubletree near the airport. We will leave the car there and fly out the next day for Paris. As you lose a day going east we will arrive around noon at the CDG aiport and spent the night at the Hilton there. On the first of July we rent a car and will head for the Heidleberg area and our friends' place. I'll fill in more of that trip later.

At the ATM machine here I got 100 Canadian dollars for $89, so it is about a 10% savings for all we do here ... a big change from last summer when it cost us at least 10% for each transaction. And the gas has averaged just less than 1.00 CDN per liter which again is much better than last summer.

For many months now, Jo-Anne has talked about an upgrade to the Flying Scotsman with different amenities, physical features, and layout for our adventures. Dilligently I've been looking and finally I came across a possible contender here in Perth, Ontario. The price was almost too good to be true. Almost the same color scheme as the present one, all fiberglass, probably a little less space, economical, and a pretty efficient recrecreational vehicle though.

She wasn't impressed with my new find ... I even offered a tour of the new RV but she wasn't ready to take the plunge ... go figure!

On Monday we packed up the sewer pipe and shoved off for Perth, Ontario, which is about 50 miles southwest of Ottawa. We figured this would be super opportunity for Jo-Anne's dad to see the place he grew up and where Jo and her brother Rick were born. We are staying in Perth because it is where George and Ruth Moore, friends of the Martins lived and Ruth as a widow is still living. Bill Martin is staying with her in Perth rather than in the cramped quarters of the Flying Scotsman. Actually the park, McCreary's Beach Holiday Resort, that we are in is very nice and located on Mississippi Lake just to the north of Perth.









I'll have a bunch more pictures of the Ottawa and Perth area when I get the time to sit down and compose them a bit. In the meantime here is a nice one of Jo and her Dad at O'Reilly's Pub in Perth where we had lunch today. Tonight is Chinese food in Smith's Falls with Ruth.






And finally, after two years of resisting the urge ... we have flamingos ...?! They reside back at our permanent site in Meaford and didn't make the trip here to the Ottawa area ... too much competition from the Canada Geese, eh.

When you have a nice 55 degree day and are out shopping some photos beg for presentation. We go over to Owen Sound for a lot of our shopping and dining as it is a town of 16000 versus Meaford at about 5000. This is a shot of the Owen Sound harbor with a grain shipment in port.

In the harbor is the Rusty Gull restaurant, famous for its very extensive Sunday buffet and view ... better known locally as the "Dirty Bird" eh.

And the coastline north of Ownen Sound. Actually we are still in the city limits about 5 blocks north of the last picture ... really pretty scenery and water views.

On one of our missions we went down to Base Borden where the Martin family was stationed several times over Major Bill Martin's career. Here is Bill explaining a monument to the apprentice program for the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps. This monument and a bunch of memories were at Base Borden where Jo-Anne and her brother Rick grew up while their dad was running the base logistics branch there. Base Borden is about 30 miles west of Barrie and about 30 miles southeast of Meaford.

OK, we are going to clean up some stuff I haven't mentioned or have just neglected or were too dumb to mention before. In the catagory of really important and that we have talked about is Jo-Anne's foot ... here bandaged with ice and an oblivious cat present. The foot is much better and the cat hasn't changed at all ... go figure.

Speaking of the feline, he really does like asparagus, and he really does not like tuna ... some sort of brain miswiring present here.

As this was outside a schoolyard I assume it has something to do with the drop off of kiddos for the school day ... but the concept leaves a bit ....

And finally ... ohhh aliens ... no, just the car wash ... I know, Bruce needs something to keep his mind more busy!

This past weekend was exciting. Because the lows have been near freezing every night we needed to unhook the RV and go get propane. Getting out of our nice tree-lined spot was easy but getting back in proved to be a challenge. As JoAnne was walking backward guiding me between the trees she twisted her ankle resulting in a very bad sprain.

As she was a casualty of the operation the neighbors rushed to help me back the Flying Scotsman into its berth, with Jo sitting in a lawn chair.

Once the bus was parked, with several new scratches from the trees, I administered first aid for the wrecked foot.

Because of all of the above we now have moved to a new spot ... with NO TREES, where I can easily back the RV into without problem. And we will need more propane soon.

It's now Friday and with rest and Ace bandages Jo-Anne is much better ... doesn't want injuries now to keep her from hiking through Paris, eh.