May 16, 2017 - After George figured out the puzzle of fitting all our stuff into our car and having one last look at the ocean, we were off to Canada. Our first day ended in Fredricksburg, Va. but not until I accidentally dropped a Lindt chocolate on my seat and sat on it. The result was a brown stain on the back of my shorts. Yike! Anyway, I spent most of the time just sitting in the car so it wasn't a huge problem. The next travel day, took us to Binghamton, NY to another Hampton Inn and it happened to be a night where they were serving a pizza dinner which included salad, drinks and cheese cake. We had huge suite so we spent the evening watching TV, well, I watched many episodes of NCIS as it was a night of back to back shows. Yay. We used the Blue Tooth Speaker that Sheryl and Neil gave us and listened to an audio book and podcasts using my Ipad during our drive. It made the time go much quicker. The book was written by a journalist who was raising a baby and caring for her father who had Alzheimer's--the baby was gathering words and ideas and the father was loosing words and ideas. Interesting! We had a ft session with Brienne and Claire both nights which was lovely. I also sent texts to Sheryl and Grant updating our progress. Love all the technology that helps keep us in contact with special ones.
GPSes. I remember the days when I thought they were dumb. I also remember when it was my job to be the navigator on road trips. Me, who has no sense of direction! Anyway, hurray for GPSes. Our "Carmin Garmin: got us 1600 kms back to Ottawa with only a couple of blips. One blips was three geese trying to cross the I-81. George honked and they turned around, just in time for one to be hit by the car beside us.
Wellington West is where we are staying. Our host is delightful. This house is his pride and joy and we are relaxing carefully in it. This area is great. We are taking many walks and discovering coffee shops. Took the car to Tony Graham to have a battery replacement and had breakfast in Nepean. Got a couple of boxes for Sheryl and Neil's parcel and shopped for Shreddies. Back on Wellington, we walked to the DQ for ice cream and a poke around at the Superstore. Had brunch with Grant on Saturday to celebrate his first year anniversary of being a House of Commons Procedural Clerk on May 26 (Gladie's bd.). Time does fly and his confidence has soared as well. We also picked up 9 months of mail from his place as we haven't been in Ottawa since last September. We will need to change our address come July. Had a telephone chat with my sister. We discovered that Stella Luna had opened on in Westboro, YUM.
Today is Sunday of the long weekend and the day started with a ft call from Claire and Brienne. Delightful. After breakfast, it was coffee time and another walk and a stop at Stella Luna for gelato. Had dinner with friends from Kanata--great to connect with them. Monday morning, we headed downtown to the Rideau Centre--lots of new shops and new look. Checked out "Simons" which is a new department store. Also the roof top was dressed in tulips. The Market opened a space called "Inspiration Village". We took photos of us by a huge sign that read "Stand for Canada." There was a cellist performing. We stopped at the Second Cup on Dalhousie. I met with a friend for hot chocolate while George poked around at Chapters and then we met Grant for ice cream. We headed back to Rideau Street to the Shawarma Palace to pick up dinner for us and Karen. It was so fun to see her. She is our "Corner Gas" friend.
We must conserve our energy as we have millions of appointments next week.
Tuesday, started early for George as he had to take the car back to Tony Graham to check a warning light. I went to the dentist to get my tooth fixed. It had broken a month ago but I didn't want to see anyone but our dentist. Wonders of wonders, he was able to repair it in one visit. I was delighted even though I really dislike going to the dentist. George and I had a lovely walk to Tunney's Pasture and got home in time to see NCIS. Yay. We had a ft session with Claire and Brienne.
Wednesday, George took the two parcels to send to Sheryl and Neil while I had an ECHO at the Heart Institute. I can never understand why they press to hard. I always expect to see bruises when it is over but don't. English was not the first language of this technician, so when he asked me to raise my knees, I had no idea what he wanted me to do. Anyway, soon it was over and then, I had a blood test and George was back to pick me up. We went home to relax briefly and then had lunch with some friends. What a delightful afternoon--our dessert was like eating green air--lovely, a bit like a grasshopper pie with lime instead of Creme de Menthe. Finally, we met some friends from church at Costco. It is our practice to have hot dogs there together. We had a great time catching up with them. We bought Vitamin D pills and a fan to keep us cool on our first night in our apartment in July.
Thursday, we met with our financial adviser who is new to us. Seems fine. Our plan is to die broke so..... we sorted out our money needs. George had lunch with his friend from the Travel program who is a great traveler so they always have lots to chat about. I went downtown to get a haircut--used the number 11 bus which used to be the number 2. Quite efficient. Next we visited our new apartment and signed a million pages which is the lease for it. Somehow, it seemed less spacious than I remembered but we checked George's scale drawing with all our furniture and we think it will all fit. However, when all the boxes arrive, we will feel overwhelmed, I think. We then, had a ft session with Claire and Brienne and spent a quiet evening and had a chat with Roy and Lois about Newfoundland. Watched a bit of the seventh game of the semifinals that our Senators lost. They had a good run. We also did laundry using some lovely new appliances and detergent the resembles a piece of paper. Yay, clean clothes.
We need a sleep in and that is exactly what we did on Friday morning. I had lunch with three women who are always fun and George had lunch with a friend at Perkins. We are home for a bit and then picked up some lovely food for Sheryl's friend who has been diagnosed with Colon Cancer. We met her in Sheryl's Vimy days and at the airport a while ago. She is very upbeat and is in her last round of chemo and then more tests.
Claire has finished her Linked in process. Yay.
Saturday was the first time we attended the Great Glebe Garage Sale--it is like a fair that covers about five or six blocks with lots of stuff for sale. We enjoyed strolling around, had a hotdog and then headed home. Had dinner with Grant at the Carben which was lovely. We chatted a bit about the Indigenous concerns and I usually think there should be a quick fix for things but there doesn't seem to be one. We had churros and cinnamon ice cream. Lovely evening.
Sunday, 28, we skipped church as it is the race weekend and it is impossible to get there from here. We watched finish of the race online. I wonder about the strain that must be on the bodies of those who run. Running anywhere is no longer in my job description. Martin and Claudette met us at Petit Bill's Bistro for chowder and then we went to a concert which was a fund raiser for Matthew House. Seems like the choir should focus on singing fast moving songs. The director had written one which was wonderful. It was called "I Love the Life I Live". I must look for the lyrics because they were great.
Monday, George did some errands. I stayed home and walked in the rain to the Metro for food. Hurrah for umbrellas. In the afternoon, he had a doctor's appointment and I had coffee. Then more errands at Billings Bridge. Ottawa is really a great city and we are enjoying becoming reacquainted with it I will need to think about getting a cell. Mostly when we are away, we do everything together but when we are settled we will spend more time doing our own thing. I was having a ft session with Brienne and Claire this morning and B asked for Grandad. She was disappointed because he was out. So later they called back and B wanted to talk to Grandad by herself and she said to her Mama, " Mama, right back." so Claire went away and B. told him about her recent dr. appointment.
Tuesday, our second last day, George went to get his glasses adjusted and I met Sheryl's friend for coffee. She is so brave.
We got home for lunch and then walked to the Heart Institute for an EKG and to see the cardiology. Dr. Marquis who had been my cardiology since before Grant was born has retired, so I saw a different one who was OK but I was glad when he said there is now a Heart Valve Clinic who will follow my heart health and I won't see a cardiology unless I have an issue. So that sounds fine with me. Anyway, my heart is strong and doing what it should and I am delighted. To celebrate, Grant joined us at the Keg. Yay. It was a rainy night.
Our last day--a day to pack and do laundry, which was finished by noon. We had a lovely lunch at the Chocolate Creperie--a savory and a sweet to share. Yum. We stopped at the Cube Gallery to look at the paintings and continued our walk. We hadn't been to the Hill so we went downtown--I think is my favourite place in Ottawa. Many years ago, George proposed on the lawn in front of the East Block. Then we went to the cheap theatres which are now called Imagine Cinema. We saw a movie called "Maudie" which was set in Nova Scotia and filmed mostly in Newfoundland. It was moving and engaging but it was difficult to know the timeline--how many years had passed. It was based on a real life artist.
Thursday, June 1, we packed the car, left half of our stuff at our AirB&B for a month and headed off to have breakfast with Len and Carol "Ronaldo". She looked wonderful in her t-shirt. Had a fun visit and then headed off on our road trip to Newfoundland. And so it goes.....
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