On to Ottawa 6/30/08

Hello All:

We are in Montebello, Quebec - about 50 miles east of Ottawa and are planning to go into Ottawa tomorrow. July 1st is Canada Day - the Canadian version of July 4th. And Ottawa is the capital of Canada - so, we'll see how it goes. We can't get reservations at any of the marinas so will anchor out with 2 other boats. There are 11 locks right in Ottawa before we enter the Rideau Canal just west of Ottawa. Nine of those are a "flight" of locks - as in a flight of stairs.

We hiked through the woods today to visit the Montebello Chateau, the largest log structure in the world, (they say). The woods were nice after so much water. We took this picture of ourselves having a good laugh!

Again, the restaurants here are wonderful. Canadians must NEVER cook at home - there are restaurants and cafes everywhere and very few grocery stores.

See you out there somewhere . . . .
Rob & Ann

On the water again 6/27/08

Hello All:

We are in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellvue on the Ottawa River - staying on a delightful town dock or lock wall- they sore of run into each other. The dock is lined with restaurants and cafes all with outdoor seating. We had a Greek dinner tonight, Thai last night in Montreal and Lebanese the night before. The food is quite wonderful !!!

Today we left Montreal fairly early in light fog and arrived here around 3PM after going through 3 locks. We'll be Ottawa in a couple of days. It is doubtful that we'll find a place to dock there and Canada Day is next Tuesday. We're trying to rent a car in Montebello (about an hour from Ottawa) but no luck yet.

Note the picutre of the REALLY big boat that was docked in front of us. We moved when they left. DUH!!!

We've been traveling with a couple of boats - Woody and Ellen on "Double SS" and Rick and Peter on "MoJo". We love having company and more eyes to watch the navigation are always better. We are seeing more loopers now than we saw a few weeks ago. We have been moving really slowly and more are catching up. I expect we'll see a lot more when we get on the Trent-Severen - those who took the short cut through the Erie Canal will be on the same route as we are.

See you out there somewhere. . .
Ann & Rob

Montreal 6/23/08

Hello All:

We have been in Montreal for a couple of days. We are docked right in the middle of the old city - it is a very old city. Many of the building around us were built in the 1700 and 1800s. There was a lot of activity over the weekend - As I said before, Quebec is celebrating it's 400th birthday this year. There was a fireworks display on Saturday night that we could see from the boat. We are going to do a city tour later today.

Note the picture of the boat with the tug. It is one of the old boats that was used in the historic canals and was pulled by oxen or mules. It is being moved (by a tug boat and an inflatable boat) from a maritime museum to Quebec City for the summer, quite a process to go through a 100 foot lock.

I've also added a picture of the one lock on our trip with a floating dock inside the lock - the easiest lock we've ever been in. The strike here in the Canadian national parks evidently not happen. Good news for us. The rest of our trip will take place as planned - barring any further problems.

See you out there somewhere.

Rob & Ann

Chamblee, Quebec 6/19/08

Hello All;

We transversed the Chamblee Canal today. The canal is extemely narrow and shallow. No problem with water depth for us but many boats may have a problem. This canal is very interesting in that it is so narrow and the 9 locks are so close and so small that the staff not only must know every boat on the canal and what that boat's schedule is so that boats can be instructed where to pass each other. They also operate the locks by hand. We are traveling with "Double SS", a boat exactly like ours. We are each about 47 feet in length (including anchor and dinghy) and almost 19 feel in width. The locks are 100 feet long and as small as 20 feet in width. Interesting to try and fit both boats into the lock and not hit each other or either gate. And 8 of the locks are within a little more than 1 mile. So. . . no time to even sit down. Whew - I'm glad we're done with that. We do have power and water for the first time in a while - so we are taking the opportunity this PM to do laundry and cook a couple of meals.

We really liked St. John. It's a very pretty little town with good restaurants. Last night we ate in one that had the menu in 2 languages, French and Italian. We figured it out and had a wonderful meal. There are several other loopers with us in addition to Woody and Ellen on Double SS. That's always fun. Tomorrow we'll be on the St Lawrence heading towards Montreal.

See you out there somewhere. . . .

Rob & Ann

Lake Placid 6/15/08

Hello All

Note the last picture of Quebec City as we crossed the St. Lawrence on the ferry.

The boat is still in Plattsburg NY. We went to Quebec City - waiting for friends to catch up with us. When we finally met them, Ellen was having a tooth problem - and we had a car - so we took her to Lake Placid for dental work. We're sorry she is having a bad tooth but greatly enjoyed the trip back and forth and the evening we spent there. It is a beautiful place in the Adirondacks where the Winter Olympics have been held twice.

Note the picture of Woody and Rob - with Ellen's and my reflection in the window behind them. Just for fun. . .

We're leaving in the morning - heading north into Canada. We'll be crossing the border in less than 30 miles and plan to stay on the lock wall just south of the first lock on the Chamblee Canal.

We're hoping for the best on the three canals we plan to travel in Canada. There is talk of a strike by the Canadian national park workers - which will close the canals. The AGLCA meeting has been cancelled for July due to a lack of interest. We suppose the high fuel prices and worries about the economy has prevented many boats from traveling this summer.

See you out there somewhere . . . .

Rob & Ann

Quebec City 6/12/08

Hello - we are leaving Quebec City this morning - heading back to Plattsburg, NY. We did a city tour yesterday and love this historic city, which is about the same size as Nashville but much much older. The building our hotel is in was built in the 1700's. This area was first settled in the 1600's and has changed hands between the French and the British several times before finally becoming Canadian. The old city is so much like European cities that you would swear you were in France, Belgium or Switzerland. Most people spead English in addition to French so it is easy to navigate.

There is lots of news here about a possible strike by the Canadian National Park workers, closing the Richleau and Trent Severn Canals. I'm beginning to think finishing this trip is not in the cards. Don't know what we'll do if we cannot use the canals. None of the other option are great.

See you out there somewhere. . . .

Ann & Rob

St Lawrence River (by car and ferry) 6/10/08

Hello All - The boat is in Plattsburg, NY (we could not get docking space in Burlington for several days stay) and we rented a car and drove north to Quebec. We crossed the St Lawrence River and followed the river to Quebec City. This is a beautiful drive and Quebec City is one of our favorite places in North America. It feels (and sounds) like Europe.

We'll be returning to NY on Friday and hooking up with Woody and Ellen Sutton on Double SS.

I'm attaching a couple of pics from the ferry crossing and will add a few from Quebec City later today. This lighthouse pic was taken just south of Plattsburg. It is a private home built from a historic lighthouse.

See you later today - we're off to explore the Quebec City.

Ann & Rob

Heading North 6/9/08

Hello All - We are in Westport, New York, about half way up Lake Champlain. We stayed at the Lock 12 Marina on Saturday night at the end of the Champlain Canal. It is a very eclectic place with a wonderful restaurant called Finch & Chub - not to be missed. We put our nieces on the train back to Albany where they rented a car and are now at Niagara Falls.

Lake Champlain is beautiful, with clean water and a gorgeous shoreline. We're going on to Plattsburg, New York today, assuming the fog clears up. We're going to rent a car and travel on to Quebec City. By the time we get back to Plattsburg, Woody and Ellen Sutton will have caught up with us. We'll be able to visit Burlington by car - we cannot get marina reservations for the several days we'll need them.

Note the picture of Fort Ticonderoga - do you remember that from your American history?

See you out there somewhere . .

Rob & Ann

We've been to Maine 6/6/08

Hello All,

We loved the time we were able to spend in Maine. We explored the Freeport area (LL Bean store and all the outlets, of course) and spent a day at Acadia National Park. We especially loved the back roads we took through Vermont and New Hampshire to get there. This is a really beautiful part of the country. We tend to think of the Northeast as all urban, which is not at all correct.

We are on the Champlain Canal, which is partially Hudson River and part canal, connecting the Hudson with Lake Champlain. The locks on this canal are cleaner and easier to manage than those on the Erie.

My brother and sister-in-law were with us for a week. We took them to the airport in Albany and picked up two nieces for a few days. What a joy to share part of this adventure with family.

See you out there somewhere . . .

Rob and Ann