Ottawa - August 17 to 30, 2015

We arrived in Ottawa via Iceland at midnight and went off to bed at the Hilton Garden Inn.  Grant picked us up in the morning and we moved to an AirB&B on Argyle.  Nice to be able to unpack our suitcases into drawers.  Jet lag seems to encourage us that we take sudden naps so that is what we do.

Here are a few things we learned during our 9 months as Meanderthals:
1.  There is so much world....

2. We learned this one a long time ago but it warrants repeating:  If you want things to be just like at home, stay there.

3. Travel light

4.  People are generally proud of their country/city and love to tell you about it.  Listen.  Then be proud of your country all the time.

We are reconnected with family and friends here and have long to-do lists of things in preparation for the next chapter of this journey.  We saw various medical people, arranged for medications for me and actually did a bit of tourist stuff, like walking down Elgin, visiting East Block with a guided tour, having lunch with a friend of Grant's who just returned from Portugal, sitting and reading by the canal, dodging bicyclists while walking beside the canal, having coffee at TAN, (me) seeing the Alex Colville exhibit at the NAG and just enjoying Ottawa.

Oh, yes, we voted.  I was told and read online that if you will be away on election day, you can vote at any Elections Canada office nearby.  So off we went.  Arriving at the office, we had to be buzzed in where we told two young women what we wanted.  They looked shocked and said they would check and went off upstairs.  We suspect they told their colleagues upstairs that there were two old geysers downstairs who thought they could vote there, today!  So in due time, two others came and said it was true we could vote.  So they took our IDs, went back upstairs, returned in 10 minutes with applications for us to fill out, left again and returned in another 10 minutes with voters' kits which they explained to us very thoroughly.   We could have voted right then and there but as the candidates were not confirmed the ballot was blank.  Better for us geysers to take them home and confirm who our candidate is, write the name on the ballot and either bring it back or mail it.  So we did all that and decided to mail the series of envelopes that contained our filled out ballots.  Now at the post office outlet, I was waiting to buy two stamps which I might mention cost $2.25, while George was parked and waiting as we had a bit of a deadline.  Well, this couple in front of me seemed to have some complicated business to do which involved not VISA but their debit card and two Canada Post workers.  Finally this was done and our votes are winding their way to Elections Canada as I write this.

Soon we leave for Oak Island so today, we will pack our stuff in the car, (hopefully it will all go in), leave some with Grant, organize the leftover food, and see Grant, have dinner with friends and..... then on Sunday, we will breakfast with my sister and her husband and then drive off into the sunshine.

So we are on our way--driving, driving, driving.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a "Bones" audiobook--that should make the trip less boring.