Sunday, January 5, 2014

Ivy Lea to Ottawa, 160km: To the Grand Capital!



I awoke early to get breakfast up and running with my galley crew. As we were packing up breakfast I was surprised with a visit from my brother. He had run from home to the campsite. I was so happy to see him; it was great that he came down to say one last goodbye.

Louise and I puttered our way to Ottawa. We met up with Mike en route to Merrickville. In Merrickville we stopped for ice cream and quickly headed out again as today was a 160km ride so it was a bit of a long haul.

We cycled on the North Grenville Route which was beautiful. It was right along the Rideau Canal which brought back memories of kayaking the canal the previous summer with my brother and Dad.

It was a relief to see signs indicating we made it to the outskirts of Canada’s capital, Ottawa. It was a beautiful day, but it was getting long and I wished to be at Carelton University, where we would be spending the night and our rest day, which meant sleeping in beds! :)

Mike, Louise and I reached Carelton University just after 6pm. We changed quickly and went to the common room as we were having a pizza party. We were also meeting the son and two daughters of Bob and Irene. It was nice seeing Bob and Irene’s children. My first impression was that Bob and Irene were incredible parents because their children displayed the same kindness and generosity as they did. We shared stories to Bob and Irene’s children to give them insight into what their parents had experienced on the tour. I was glad to have been given the opportunity to share what Bob and Irene had meant to me during the tour.

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