Day 98 Travel N Toronto to Thessalon, ON

Sun., Aug. 25

Travel Cookstown to Thessalon, ON

Travelling on Hwy 400 northwest to Sault Ste. Marie.  There are no stops, pull offs or rest areas but there are En Route which are exits to gas station and a travel centre.  Of course there is road construction north of Barrie but being Sunday no one is working but there are lots of signs and cones.  Along the highway are rocky marshy ponds and the rock cliffs have a lot of Inukshuks.

Looks like a nice place to visit, maybe next time.

We stopped in a truck stop for lunch and due to the thunderstorm their credit/debit machines weren’t working, so no gas for us.  We stopped a little farther down the road to get gas and they were crazy busy with customers since their machines were working.  I ran next door to get Tim’s coffee but the line up inside was almost out the door so I went back to the gas station to get coffee. 

We decided to start looking for a campsite about 4 pm and this little campsite was pretty nice on a small lake.  Once we got set up, and I got a load of laundry in, it started to pour.  Waited for 45 minutes for it to stop to get my laundry into the dryer.  By 6 pm the sun was back so a quick walk around the campsite.  It was buggy.  A lot of the sites here were for permanent sites.  By 11 pm it started raining again.  Our radio went off at 1 am with a severe thunder storm alarm.

Brownlee Lake

 

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance: 130 km
Diesel:  $1.289
Weather:  Cloudy to Thunderstorm; High: 20 degrees; Lo: 18 degrees
Wildlife: Ross saw bear bum disappear into trees, Heron, Vulture, Geese, frog
Campsite:  Brownlee Lake Park $38.50 full service no Wi-Fi
Walking: 2 km around campsite

Day 97 Toronto Visit Casa Loma & Harbour Tour

Sat., Aug. 24

Toronto Visit Casa Loma & Harbour Tour

Second day back into the city is a lot easier.  We got our tokens and took the subway to the DuPont Station then walked a block to the Casa Loma.  This 98 room castle was built in 1914 for Sir Henry Pellant.  It took about 2 hours to do the audio tour through this castle.  Amazing!

 

Solarium, loved the size and stained glass window

Tunnel under street, castle to stables and green houses

We caught the trolley to Stop #13 then we walked to the harbour since the trolley was taking a 10 minute break.  We got to the harbour stop just as the trolley arrived.  We made it on the 2 pm tour around the inner harbour and Toronto Islands.  We stopped for a late lunch on the wharf at the Amsterdam Brewery. 

Toronto Islands

Postcard picture

Coming in over the harbour to land

We walked to Kensington Market through China town.  Big celebrations and street vendors set up with partial streets closed.  While the guys grabbed a beer to cool down Marg and I had a crepe with fruit and ice cream.  Back onto the subway, to the truck and to the campsite without incident.

 

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance: 130 km 
Weather:  Sunny; High: 28 degrees; Lo: 16 degrees
Diesel:  $124.2
Campsite:  KOA Toronto N/Cookstown $45/night W/E
Walking: 6 km

Day 96 Tour Toronto Hop On Hop Off Trolley

Fri., Aug. 23

Tour Toronto Hop On Hop Off Trolley

A bit of an adventure getting into the mall parking.  The entrance Garmin told us to take was closed and we couldn’t get into the mall without driving around a neighborhood and recalculating!!  Once at the subway station we parked for free under cover so it kept the truck cool.  You need tokens to ride the subway or $3 one way but we got 4 for $10.60 from the ticket window.   

This subway is soooo long!!

Across from Eaton Centre to get our Hop On Hop Off tickets

Young St. was closed to traffic to set up booths and entertainment for a Scotia Bank sponsored event including a stage in the square with buskers and other live entertainment.  We found seats on the top of the trolley and were on our way by 11 am.  It is a two hour tour with a narrated guide, Danielle, she was very good.  There are 21 stops.  Your ticket is good for 3 days and one 45 minute harbour tour. 

Starting our tour

ROM (Royal Ontario Museum)

Danielle, our tour guide

After lunch in the square we watched some buskers then walked to the NHL Hall of Fame.  After an hour we headed to the CN Tower for a view of the city.  We also saw a 12 minute 3D video in the CN tower.  It was great.  As we were heading to Union Subway people were heading to the Rogers Centre to see Toronto and Calgary play football.  We got on the subway but realized we were traveling N but should have been on the S side so got off at the next stop ran around to the correct side.  Whew, we made it through a day in the big city!

2014-2015 Vancouver Canucks Cup, 100 years later





 What a view but the game hasn't started yet!

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance: John drive to Yorkdale Subway station 160 km return 
Hop On Hop Off Trolley:  $71 for two incl Harbour Tour and good for 3 days
Weather:  Sunny; High: 26 degrees; Lo: 15 degrees
Campsite:  KOA Toronto N Cookstown $45 W/E
Walking: 5 km

Day 95 Travel Day Ottawa to North of Toronto, ON

Thurs., Aug. 22

Travel Ottawa to North of Toronto, ON

During the night we had a down pour.  Then it would calm down and start up 10 minutes later.  When we got up it wasn’t raining so Ross ran out to hookup and the rain started at 8:15 with thunder.  It took us ½ an hour to get through Ottawa past Kanata and under the Valour Bridge.  We crossed the Mississippi River twice on Hwy 7 West.

Lots of small ponds along the way covered in lily pads.  Mostly deciduous trees and after Peterborough more farms and lots of corn fields. The rains stopped after lunch and the rest of the way was warm and sunny.  The KOA is a little smaller but very nice and clean.  We were told there was a family reunion going on this weekend but it shouldn’t be too noisy.

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance:  443 km 
Weather:  Pour over night light rain during day some sun; High: 26 degrees; Lo: 19 degrees
Diesel:  $125.9
Wildlife: Beaver house and raccoons along road side
Campsite:  KOA N Toronto/Cookstown $45/W/E nice and clean
Walking: 2 km

Day 94 Visit Ottawa area

Wed., Aug. 21

Visit Ottawa area

We drove to Kanata Legion Command.  Marg needed to get some Legion materials.  The Bridge of Valour is right beside it. 

Bridge of Valour

Next stop across town to the Aviation Museum.  There was also a Star Wars event going on but we didn’t do that part.  We watched a demonstration on the procedure for ejecting from a plane.



Hard to believe where we've come from!

No stop in Ottawa is complete without driving by 24 Sussex Drive.  Of course the Prime Minister wasn’t home but a lot of security sure is.  Across the street is Rideau Hall and the changing of the guards was just taking place.  We walked the property but did not take a tour of the Governor General’s Residence.

Entrance to 24 Sussex Drive

We drove by the Canadian Mint but it was getting late so we didn’t go in.  That would have been interesting.  We probably should have checked it out.  Besides we hadn’t had lunch so we headed to Byward Market place at 3 pm for our lunch.  After walking around the market and buying a bag of 3 types of corn; peaches & cream, white and caramel.  That was another great day!

Art Gallery 

Beaver Tails

 

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance: 107 km 
Weather:  Sunny; High: 32 degrees; Lo: 19 degrees
Diesel:  $1.259
Wildlife: Vulture, chipmunk
Campsite:  Hither Hills Campground $35/night
Walking: 5 km

Day 93 Drive into Ottawa and Tour Parliament Buildings

Tues., Aug. 20

Drive into Ottawa & Tour Parliament Buildings

From our campsite we just had to drive about 20 minutes to the Walmart parking lot.  Loblaws sold transit tickets by the sheet.  Then we just had to wait for the #97 to come and pick us up at South Keys and head downtown for $3 each way.  After getting off the bus we got turned around and took the long way to the Parliament Buildings.  At the National War Memorial the changing of the guards takes place every day at 10 am.  We just caught the end of it.  Tours of the Parliament Buildings are free but you have to get tickets for a scheduled time to go inside.  The info centre to get tickets is right across the street.  The tour of the grounds was already all filled up but we got an inside tour for 1:30 pm.  We started to do our self guided tours but one of the helpful tour guides told us there was an outside tour just starting in English and that we could just join them.  Excellent so we did.

The Library, only original part after the fire of 1916 built 1859-1876

Art Museum getting face lift

After the outside tour and our history lesson we walked past the Confederation Building and then past that is the Supreme Court of Canada.  We decided to check it out.  We had to go through security but were allowed to walk around the main floor.

Time for a cold one before our inside tour

After going through security like we do at the airport the inside tour of the Parliament Buildings started with our tour guide, Marten (he was French but did the tour in English).  Very impressive building!  The library was amazing but no pictures are allowed in there.  It even smelled special.

Stained glass windows of each Province’s flower

Senate ceiling

After our tour we returned to the 3 Brewers Pub for a late lunch.  Its a great place to people watch since we sat outside.  We walked to the Rideau Canal along the locks.  By now it was almost 5 pm and there was a bag pipe player getting tuned up so we followed them back to the War Memorial for the changing of the guards.

Dessert for me

Daily Stats: 
Today's distance: John Drive down Bank St to Walmart then we hopped on bus 
Weather:  Sunny; High: 30 degrees; Lo: 20 degrees
Wildlife: Chipmunk
Campsite:  Hither Hills Campground $35/night
Walking: 7 km