Ottawa Part 2: RCMP Sunset Ceremony (June 27)

 We hung out at the campground much of the day on Saturday the 27th.  Admittedly, it was very nice sitting in shade.  But we finally got off our backsides and headed in to town - back to the RCMP training HQ - for the RCMP Sunset Ceremony.  And glad we did. 

The ceremony comprised a variety of exhibitions.  First was horse jumping by RCMP trainees.  Next were the Capital Cowgirls, who did choreographed maneuvers on horseback.  The next horse event were more experienced RCMPs doing even more complicated maneuvers.  Think 16 riders in two Xs, concentric and counter-rotating. Among the horseback events were pipe and drums; Scottish dancers; a ceremony to lower the flag just before sunset; a speech by an Algonquin elder; and several songs by the RCMP band.  They usually get 4,000 or so people at these events.  Many walk in from surrounding neighborhoods.  We were lucky with timing because this was the second-to-last day of this series of shows.  There were food trucks, but we brought a picnic dinner.  It was a really nice time.

Ottawa, ON Part 1 (June 24 - 26)

 We got to the Rolling Hills Campground, about 20 minutes east of Ottawa, on Wednesday afternoon.  We set up camp and chilled for the evening.  Thursday started with pancakes on the griddle for breakfast, and then we drove in to town.  We got an overview of Ottawa on the hop-on/hop-off bus.

The only place we actually hopped off the bus was at the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Training Academy.  Our tour was very interesting.  We learned a little history, but the tour was mainly about the operations of the academy and the training regimen. Back at the main bus stop, we walked over to the Byward Market for early dinner baguette sandwich and beaver tails (kind of like fried flat breads with toppings like sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.).

Friday, June 26, we went back in to Ottawa.  Our original intent was to do the Canadian History Museum and then get a tour of the House of Commons, where Ministers of Parliament work.  Kind of equivalent to the House of Representatives in the U.S.  However, we got a late start and didn’t have time for the museum.  Rather, we walked around Parliament Hill and took in the views of the fabulous buildings there and overlooking the city.  Then the tour.  Whether by skill or luck, we avoided almost all the rain.  Finally, another late lunch, and then back to the RV.

Kingston and Gananoque, ON (June 20 - 23)

 It was about a four-hour drive from our KOA campground in Niagara Falls to the KOA in Kingston.  So far, I like the KOAs. Lots of things for families and kids, clean, well-maintained campground and sites, clean bathrooms, and good locations.  We’ll be at another KOA outside of Montreal in a week and a half.

After setting up camp on the 20th, we drove in to town and had a drink at Jack Astor’s roof top deck, across from city hall, for the good views.  The we walked over to Mango Thai for a little dinner. Drinks good, dinner meh.

On Sunday the 21st we drove over to Gananoque for a bike ride on the 1000 Islands Parkway Waterfront Trail.  The trail is all paved and pretty flat.  It is next to, but separate from, the parkway, and both run parallel and close to the St. Lawrence River. Around mile 14 out of 20 we stopped at the Ivy Lea Club for ice cream right on the river.

We’ve heard “Gananoque” pronounced three different ways, so say it any way you like.

June 22: It was a drizzly day so we just went for a drive and did a little food shopping.

June 23: We did a 5-hour cruise down the St. Lawrence in the 1000 Islands region, leaving from Gananoque, and stopping in the middle at Heart Island to tour Boldt Castle.  The region actually has about 1,600 islands and around 3,000 islets (aka shoals).  The scenery was beautiful, and there are some great homes on some of the islands and along the river shoreline.

The Boldt Castle restoration is mostly done, and done very well.  The grounds are very pretty, too. I leave it up to my readers to look up the interesting history of George Boldt and the castle.

 One interesting tid-bit: Thousand Islands dressing originates from the 1000 Islands area, although there are about three versions of the story behind the condiment.  This was our last full day in the Kingston area. 

Niagara Falls, Part 2 (June 17 - 19)

 June 17: It was another nice day.  First we did a little RV work.  The picture of Jenny reminds me of a scene from The Wizard of Oz. 

 Shortly after noon we drove about 20 minutes to Niagara-on-the-Lake again, parked at a winery and got on our bikes for a ride around the town.  The 12-mile loop included stops at Butler’s Barracks and Fort George, which are both national historical sites.  These military locations date back to the early 1800s, and the Barracks site was used as a training facility as recently as the 1960s.  Now they’re both nicely kept parks.  We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed it at Fort George.  The route back included a scenic trail between the Niagara River Parkway and the Niagara River.

We had a tour and a tasting at the Trius Winery where we parked, and then an early dinner at a brew pub called Silversmith Brewing Company.  Good stuff!

June 18:  We headed to Buffalo, NY today, starting with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. I’ll let you read up on the history of this 14,000 sqft house, but it is magnificent and extremely well restored.  Our group tour guide really knew his stuff.  

After gyros at a Greek restaurant, we went to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.  It was disappointing that the Pollock and Krasner exhibits had already left for their next showing at MOMA in Manhattan, but we did see the Yayio Kusama exhibit.  She’s the “polka dot woman” who also does mirrored infinity rooms.

July 19: Our last full day in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Today we went back to Buffalo to the Pierce-Arrow Museum.  Pierce-Arrow made cars from 1901-1938, but also made bicycles early on. We really enjoyed this museum.  There were great displays of cars, bicycles, miscellaneous automotive products, era clothing, toys, signage, and more.  They also built a gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that never existed anywhere else.

After the museum, we treated ourselves to Buffalo wings at the at the original restaurant, Frank & Teresa’s Anchor Bar.  Yum!

Niagara Falls. Slowly I Turned, Step By Step…. Part 1 (June 13 - 16)

 I struggled with the title of this post, the alternative being “I’m going up the country/Baby, don’t you wanna go?” from the 1968 song by Canned Heat.  But I finally decided on the bit from Vaudeville, made famous by The Three Stooges, and even parodied by Lucile Ball and Sid Caesar.

June 14: We drove to the falls and bought combo tickets for a few different excursions and shows.  We did the Journey Behind the Falls excursion.  This involves walking through tunnels that open up behind the water.  It was interesting enough, although you can't really see much.

Niagara in Flight was a sensory experience where you sit in seats, which move slightly but really make you feel like you're soaring.  That was pretty cool.  We also toured the old hydroelectric power plant and walked the tunnel underneath to a platform out by the river and falls.

June 15: This was Aerocar day.  It's a big cable car that runs almost horizontally over part of the river where the water rotates counterclockwise.  You also get good views upstream and downstream. 

After the aerocar, we drove to and around Niagara-on-the-Lake, a very nice town with lots of vineyards and some really nice properties on the Niagara River Parkway which overlooks the river.

June 16: We did the Niagara City Cruise, which is Canada's version of Maid of the Mist.  You don another poncho, and get on the boat, which takes you right up to Horseshoe Falls.  We got a place to stand on the boat just starboard of the bow on the upper deck. The wind and the mist were very strong as we approached the falls.  The water at the base of the falls was quite the maelstrom, churning chaotically.  This excursion was perhaps the best way to appreciate the power of the falls. 

In the evening, back at the campground, we turned on the outside TV for the second time ever, and watched the second half of Norway vs. Iraq in the World Cup.

Cuyahoga and Cleveland Part 2 (June 11 - 13)

 Well, we enjoyed the drive-in movie experience, but the movie itself was only ok. There were no real big splashy special effects that should be seen on a big screen and, honestly, at 2’20”, it was a bit too long.  Wait until it comes out on a streaming platform or — what’s that thing called again?  Oh yeah — network TV.

Friday was another good day.  Beautiful weather.  We biked on the Erie & Ohio Canal tow path.  This picture is the bridge just after lock 29.  At the mid-point of the ride we ate our picnic lunch and chatted with a couple guys who were doing some long distance trail riding.  

Friday night we went to Kent State University’s Porthouse Theater, a 500-seat covered outdoor venue.  We saw Grease!  We got our tickets late and had to sit way off to the side of the stage, but we still had a very good view of the stage and didn’t miss a thing.  It took me back to my community theater days, except these actors were talented.

Today, Saturday June 13th, is moving day.  Off to Niagara Falls, Ontario!

Cuyahoga and Cleveland Part 1 (June 8 - 11)

 It was an easy drive on Monday to our KOA campground in Streetsboro, OH, which is between Cleveland and Akron.  On Tuesday we checked out nearby Cuyahoga National Park.  It has lots of trails, but it was so hot that we mostly did a driving tour, except a couple short hikes to some waterfalls.  We enjoyed our late lunch at Dave’s Cosmic Subs.

Wednesday was a busy day.  We left “home” around 8:30am and headed to Cleveland.  We parked at City Square, midway between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field, the Cleveland Guardians baseball stadium.  We got to the Hall of Fame about 10 minutes before it opened at 10a, and there were already a good 200 people in line to get in.  The museum was very interesting, although crowded right from the start, and cacophonous with music playing at many exhibits and people talking.  Our favorites were the exhibits with play lists that exemplified music genres or lists from or particular cities or regions.  I liked the Paul McCartney and Wings exhibit on the 6th floor, although I wasn’t a huge fan when they were popular.

An interesting observation was the demographics of the visitors in the Hall of Fame.  A lot of canes and rollators used by people who grew up in the 50s and early 60s when Rock and Roll was born.

When finished, we took an Uber to see the Guardians play the NY Yankees.  We haven’t been to a baseball game in ages, and the last couple were minor league games.  But it was fun, and the stadium food actually wasn’t bad!  Alas, the Guardians were outclassed by the Yankees.  By the end of the 7th inning, the Yankees were ahead 8-3, and we left before the major crowds.

On our way back to the RV we stopped at Staples for an Amazon pickup, Walmart for a sewer hose connector, and Lowe’s for some mouse traps (one or more helped themselves to some bread in a drawer) and male and female garden hose caps.  It was a long day, but a good one.

Today, Thursday, we did some house cleaning and a little food shopping.  Tonight we’re going to a drive-in theater to see Disclosure Day.  I’m not sure the last time I saw any movie in a theater, let alone at a drive-in. 

East Harbor State Park and South Bass Island (June 6 - 8)

 It was about a three-hour drive from the Renegade rally to East Harbor State Park, which is close to the shore of Lake Erie in Ohio.  The park was nice enough, although densely populated with RVs and trailers, as well as a few people in tents.  We treated ourselves to dinner out at Crabby Joe’s.  The food was good, But more memorable was the truly torrential downpour and very leaky roof.  We lingered long enough for the flood to drain off of the parking lot.

On Sunday the 7th we got an early start (for us) and headed to Miller’s Ferry for a trip to South Bass Island.  We brought our bikes on board.  First, we biked from the ferry port to Put-In-Bay on the other side of the island for breakfast. We strolled around the “downtown” area, peeked inside a couple shops, and then headed off on an AI-generated bike tour of the island’s main historic and cultural spots.  And it was a beautiful day for a bike ride on this lush island.  The wood statue is Joseph DeRivera St. Jurgo, an entrepreneur who donated a lot of land but died broke in 1889.

The phrase “Don’t give up the ship!” came from the War of 1812, and was stitched on a flag, which was on a ship that fought in the War of Lake Erie (also known as the War of Put In Bay) in 1813. 

After returning to the mainland we drove around a bit to check out the sites, including another lighthouse. 

The Rally! (June 1 - 6)

This was a get-together in Elkhart, IN for people with RVs similar to ours, which is to say Renegade Viennas and Valencias.  There were about 50 RVs, with people from Nova Scotia, Florida, Arizona, British Columbia, and everywhere in between.

 We started with a nice dinner the first night, and then every day there were presentations about various systems in the RVs.  Levelers, waste tanks, tires, health coverage, and more.  There were also social events, and tours of the Renegade factory and the Amish woodworking shop where the cabinetry is made.  The picture is the beginnings of a 2027 Vienna on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis (we have a 2023 Vienna).

The event was well-organized and successful.  We met many nice people, and I hope we’ll see some again in our or their travels.

Indiana Dunes (May 29-June 1)

 I was a little nervous, at first, because our camp site did not have a water hook-up — only electric. But it turned out fine.  We filled our fresh water tank before leaving the last site and only used half of it during the three nights at Indiana Dunes State Park.  The park is surrounded on three sides by Indiana Dunes National Park and the fourth by Lake Michigan.  Jenny and I did the Dune Succession Trail and the “Diana of the Dune Dare” at the national park, which was a little over a mile with 270 stair steps up a dune with a lot of the hike on soft sand.  

Later that day I did a five-mile hike back in the state park.  The day before I did the three-dune challenge.  While the total elevation gain of the challenge was only 500-600 feet, there was a lot of that deep soft sand to hike on.  Combined with slopes of 30 to 45 degrees, that made for a challenging climb. 

Also at this stop in the trip, we saw some then-futuristic houses from the 1930s. They were moved here, for some reason, after the World’s Fair.  See Jenny’s FaceBook post for some house pictures.  I’ll leave you with some pictures of and from the sand dunes.