Canada Day 1 & 2

In September we embarked on our biggest senior bus trip for six days to Canada. Four days would be actual sight seeing and two days of traveling there and back. 

We have gone on shorter bus trips before but this one had some inconveniences we didn't expect. First was having to have a separate overnight bag for the first night and leaving all our other bags on the bus. I hate being separated from our stuff and deciding the night before what I wanted to wear. The worst part was George had to keep all his medication in the original bottles and not use his weekly container to get across the border. This was a huge nuisance and took up a ton of room in our overnight bag. 

It turns out they were not very stringent with seniors on a bus. We merely only had to present our passports. No questions asked, nothing checked, smooth sailing. 


Our first scheduled stop was for a dinner buffet at the Bridgeview Restaurant in Prescott, Ontario. There was a nice view. The food was good, however, walking from the table to buffet included uneven floor and steps. You had to watch your step. We shared our
our table with our bus driver, Roger, who was a very nice guy and we learned to admire his well-experienced driving in narrow roadways and seemingly impossible turns when we never hit a curb and his great attitude to please (too much so, as you will hear) and still smiling though a little less with the major hiccup we encountered on the way home. Again, more about that later. 










We arrived at our first hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in Napean, 
Ontario around 8 pm. Our room was enormous! Rooms seemed new and so clean. Lovely stay at that hotel. A serve- yourself breakfast buffet was enjoyed departing at 9:30 am. 

Our first day we had a guided tour of Ottawa with a historic, character step on guide. He was a very good guide, but now everything has become a blur as to all we saw and the overload of information received. I also apologize ahead of time, taking pictures from a bus doesn't result in very good pictures, but I still wanted to save the memories.

Our tour guide

Huge spider

Spider with person so you can see how big it was. 

Statue of Elizabeth II

Our tour guide and some of our group.

We were told black squirrels were very common in Canada. There is one to the right of the picture. 

Tree planted by John F. Kennedy

Tree planted by Jacqueline Kennedy.

The branches of the trees planted by John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, now reach across the path and touch.

Being a rock lover, I loved this rock creation symbolic of the rock messages that the Inuit would leave for others--could mean could good hunting, or directional information for the traveler or danger or a place of reverence. 

Back on the bus with our tour guide:

Some of the traffic lights were sideways. 

Then we got off the bus to have lunch and to see the beautiful 

Byward Market in Ottawa. 

Our tour guide told us of two Canadian specialties that we should try. One was poutine, which we had previously tried in America. It's French fries with cheese curds and gravy. We didn't care for it then and so didn't try it in Canada. The other suggestion was Beaver Tails, he described them similar to our Elephant Ears. These were awesome. They are a light crispy dough covered with your choice of topping. We had a maple cream with pecans. Yummy!

This was a lovely street to sit and hang out in the colorful Adirondack chairs. 

Then it was time to get back on the bus for 1 1/2 hour to our dinner destination, "Sucrerie de la Mongtagne", an authentic "Sugar Shack" in Riguad.  As we got closer, we realized we were out in the boondocks going on winding, hilly roads that we were in awe the bus made it. We turned onto a dirt road and there waiting for us was a wagon attached to a trailer to take us up to the restaurant. What a fun experience.

This was our snug ride up, but it was not uncomfortable. 

 First we had a tour of where the maple syrup was made.

This was the restaurant. The food was served family style. Chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables and pancakes. There were homemade ketchup, beets, pickles, and of course, delicious maple syrup. The happy looking guy in the corner of this picture was Roger, our bus driver.  

Our table mates.

Some of our group became the entertainment playing wooden spoons, as we awaited the dessert included in the meal. I wondered since they weren't clearing our dishes, if perhaps dessert was not included. When I asked the waitress, she told us the pancakes, that they served with the meal was the dessert. We may have sat there all night, not realizing that. :)   

Then it was back on the bus for over an hour ride to the motel and bed!