Ontario

We entered Ontario by northern Lake Huron which we followed for about sixty miles and then headed due east through Ottawa and on to Hawkesbury where we crossed into Quebec.  At first the terrain was much like Minnesota and Michigan; flat, wooded with mixed forest and heavily sprinkled with lakes large and small.  As we neared Ottawa, we traveled over rocky hills.  I have missed hills and mountains and am enjoying seeing them again.

Lake Huron

In Western Ontario, you couldn't see beyond the trees at the edge of the road.

I love the names of lakes, rivers, towns and other points of interest which I assume were named by the native Algonquin people; Matinenda, Wakonassin, Nipissing, Wanapitei, Petawawa, Shawanaga, etc.  I would love to hear a native speaker.  The language must have a very musical rythum with all of the multi-syllabal words.

Like the rest of Canada, most traffic signs are in both English and French.  The farther east we traveled, the more we saw other signs in French as well.  When we neared the Quebec border, more and more signs were French only.  We noticed that houses in the many towns we passed through and also along the highway were built very close to the road, more so for older homes but true for the newer ones as well.  On one detour, we passed between two houses, both close to the road and I felt I could join a neighborly conversation from the truck.  Also the barns were located very close to the houses and many had enclosed passageways between the two.  I can only imagine how thankful the farmers must be when feeding the cows during a blizzard, that they do not have to go outside!

Kioshkokwi Lake in the Algonquin Provincial Park

When we approached Ottawa, we were suddenly in the middle of town on narrow streets pulling our huge trailer.  Oh, the looks we got on the narrow streets!  I think they do not see many fifth wheel trailers in town ( and I don't recommend following our example).  We had to resort to the GPS to get us out of town.  Ottawa is very clean and compact.  You go from skyscrapper apartments to country fields very quickly for a city of 700,000 people.  There are many greenbelts running through town, and many mansions along the Ottawa River.  The national parliment building and grounds are stunning and look very old. 

Parliment building

I thought this building looked interesting.

We stopped one afternoon at a small park on the Ottawa River for lunch.  I walked out onto a dock and Bernie, our dog, followed me out and kept walking right off the end of the dock.  While he doesn't see well, he usually can smell that water is near and is more cautious.  I fished him out of the river and he was fine but very wet!

Ottawa River

Dock where Bernie walked into the river.