Sorab Again and Ottawa!

Aug 21,2019

Lightning flashed throughout the night and light rain continued to fall until about 4:00AM.  I woke early and Debbie wanted to sleep in so I quietly slipped out of the bed, grabbed a granola bar and stepped outside. 

The sun was trying to break through the light mist that hung over the lake and it was a perfect time for taking those early misty photos. 

I stalked a blue heron, fishing on the edge of the lake and watched as several paddlers left the river to go camping at a remote wilderness campsite.  It was just a perfect quiet morning to see nature waking up to the sunrise.

When I returned to the trailer, Debbie had started breakfast and I began to dismantle the campsite.  Today we were headed for the nation’s capital, Ottawa.

We finished breakfast and headed out.  We had been on the road for about fifteen minutes when the phone rang!  It was Sorab calling and he said, “Hey Bill, I just passed by you, pull over and I will turn around!”   What a coincidence!  He was driving from Ottawa to Huntsville.  The three of us stood on the side of Hwy #60, laughing about how strange it was and how coincidental to meet again in Northern Ontario!  We caught up on each other’s news since last seeing him and Victoria in Thompson. He was on his way to meet his son in Huntsville so we said goodbye again, took a selfie and headed out.

Debbie set up Miss Taken to take us to our campsite in Minatock, just on the outskirts of Ottawa, and we wanted to take the secondary roads there.  We had a wonderful trip passing through the countryside and rural towns.

Our campsite is the Long Island RCMP campsite on the Rideau River.  This campsite is situated on the Parks Canada Historical Site grounds of the Rideau Lock systems for the Rideau Canal.  It has been in existence for over 50 years and is available to RCMP and police officers serving and retired.  There are cabins, swimming pools, docks and large tennis courts and play areas for children.  Gerry, the campground host set us up in the overflow sites.  

We set up camp and I started the barbeque, just as the thunder started and the rains came down.  That black cloud found us again.  We enjoyed the rain sitting under the awning, I set out a series of blogs and we planned for for tomorrow in Ottawa.  Unfortunately, our time here is somewhat limited as our reservations for our cargo ship trip on the St. Lawrence had been moved forward by one day.