Going Home

Woo Hoo! We made it back to New York! As you can see I was snapping right through the windshield. I'm guilty of doing this a lot even with the bug splatters! ;)

I don't know how to pronounce where we were but it was on an Indian Reservation and was a cute little town. The greatest part of this stop was filling Kiki up with diesel at a very affordable price! That's always a good feeling. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Driving through the Adirondacks we decided to go through Lake Placid as we'd never been there before.

 Just a darling place and it was hopping with tourists!

 Now just gaze on the beauty of this area!

What do you think? We want to come back some time and actually camp.

 The drive on home was absolutely gorgeous! The town where we live is nestled in the Hudson Valley. We live between the Adirondacks and the Catskill mountains and the Hudson River, needless to say - it's beautiful around here.

 Of course I needed to get a picture of George and then he wants to turn around and snap one of me...

 so here I am!

Hope you've enjoyed our little three day trip to Ottawa. Gotta get home now and wash all of the dirty clothes! ;) My job is never done.

Happy trails,

Shelia ;)

Crossing The Border

Okie dokie! We've been in Ottawa for three days and now we're heading back to the US! So you just have to follow the signs - Bridge To USA.

 Oh, I guess we couldn't washed Kiki so she would be sparkling clean as she made her appearance into the United States! :)

 There's the bridge!

 Here we go!

 Doesn't seem to be too many folks leaving Canada at the moment so we won't have to wait in line very long.

Almost there! I must say, we do love Canada. The scenery is lovely and the country is so clean and well kept, the folks are so nice and kind and we have always run into someone from the US! The Immigration guards at the bridge were so nice, looked at our passports, asked why we had come to Canada, smiled and said, "Have a safe trip home!" 

I'm sure we'll be back since we're not very far from the border!

Happy trails,

Shelia ;)

More Museums

Well, we did go through a couple more museums while in Ottawa! We were amazed when we saw this huge, and I mean huge spider outside of the National Gallery of Canada. Glad spiders don't really grow this big!

 I was curious and had to find out something about this spider.
"The bronze spider statue called Maman, it is the last of six spiders cast by renowned Franco-American artist Louise Bourgeois as a tribute to her mother. The statue carries 26 white marble eggs in its underbelly. It was created in 1999 and cast in 2003. Bourgeois was born in France in 1911 and has been working as an artist for nearly 70 years. She immigrated to the United States in 1938"

source

The gallery is filled with a varied collection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photographs, mostly Canadian, but has some from American and European artists. Now the museums building is just gorgeous with its shape and glass.

 Then we headed to the Canadian War Musuem. The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history and one of the world’s most respected museums for the study and understanding of armed conflict.

" The Museum’s exhibition galleries and public programs have been designed to emphasize the human experience of war. It presents the military history of Canada from earliest times to present day, as well as Canada’s history of honoring and remembrance. Each gallery highlights defining moments in Canada’s military history and the ways in which past events have shaped the nation."

source

I was very puzzled why Canada would have Hitler's car! So, again I had to do some research to find out:

"Captured as war booty by the US Army in 1945, this Mercedes Grosse 770 was one of six armored limousines used by Adolf Hitler, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Canadian War Museum (CWM) in Ottawa. Originally thought to be one of Herman Goring's staff cars, subsequent research revealed that Mercedes had delivered this vehicle to Hitler's personal staff in 1940. Interestingly, when a researcher from the CWM contacted Mercedes in 1970, the company did not reply to requests for information about the car. "I have noticed a reluctance in many Germans to admit they were around at all during the Second World War, and have a feeling that the same is true of this company", he wrote. The CWM had to get the Canadian Ambassador to Germany to make a formal request before Mercedes would cooperate. The US Army took possession of the car, and later shipped it back stateside to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, where it sat in a warehouse for 9 years, eventually to be sold at government auction to an American collector, who later sold it to a businessman from Quebec, who in turn donated it to the Canadian War Museum (for a healthy tax write off) in 1970. It is unknown if Sergeant Azara was rewarded for his efforts - if not, at least he had a great war story to tell" 

source

Please know I'm not trying to glorify this car on exhibit, I was just shocked that it would be here in this museum. That's enough of that.

Well, if you'd stayed with me this long I know you're tired of museuming and need a little bit of rest! I'm almost finished with this trip and until tomorrow...

Happy trails,

Shelia ;)

Canada History Museum

Well, we did stumble upon the Canada History Museum and we loved it!

 Come on in with us. We didn't take a picture this time, but I rode a little electrical cart through the museum. It made it so much easier for me.

 No, you don't have to get a ticket as I have one for you.

This museum took us through 20,000 years of human history. I did read that this was the world's largest indoor collection of totem poles!  Then there were many life sized displays of Canadian settlements from the past 1,000 years!

 Look up at the glass ceiling - so beautiful!

 I'm sure there is a very good reason why this gorgeous church is enclosed here in this museum but I can't tell you! Don't you just love me as a tour guide? :) Don't shoot me!

 The ceilings! Most gorgeous!

After our time in the museum, we stopped in the little cafe and bought some lunch, soup and sandwiches and took it outside in the gorgeousness of the day!

 Just look at the view around us!

 Lots of activity on the water.

See this little birdie? Well, he came around and was begging me to share some of my bread with him. Well, he didn't have to beg me long because I started feeding him tiny little pieces. Some folks at another table were giving me dirty looks and I looked up and read a sign right in front of me that I hadn't seen. It said: PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS!  'nuf said! :)

Happy trails,

Shelia ;)

Downtown Ottawa

After breakfast we hopped into Itsy and headed off to downtown Ottawa! Now we didn't know what we were going to see.

 What a beautiful city and so clean!

 This was a beautiful church and the sky was so lovely.

I didn't do any research about what we should see while we were here. Hey, no expectations and then when we stumble upon something, we're surprised! So I can't tell you what these buildings are but aren't they pretty?

 So just look as we drive around.

 I believe in angels!

Here you can read the sign so we know what we're looking at.

 Are we in the UK or Canada? :)

 George loves to find the US Embassies in other countries and we found this one! So many of my snaps are taken right through the windshield so if you see some reflections or bug guts - that's why!

A very pretty town and we said repeatedly that we felt we were in Europe, not Cananda!

The trip will continue.

Happy trails,

Shelia :)