After 126 miles of rivers, canals, and lakes, and 47 locks, the Rideau ends in Canada's capital, Ottawa. It's a stark contrast from the rural setting of the Rideau to the urban setting of Ottawa. Horns are honking, sirens are blaring, and bridges need to be raised to let us through. After our quick trip down the flight of 8 locks in Ottawa, we decided to stay across the river in Gatineau. It's a bit easier on Millie as there isn't a constant stream of people walking by the boat whom she feels compelled to introduce herself to.
One more picture of the Ottawa flight of 8 locks, this one from the perspective of a tourist.
"Maman" (French for Mom) is a thirty-foot-tall spider who greeted us upon our entrance to the National Gallery of Canada.
Parliament has been under construction for 24 years and should be finished by 2032 - no rush.
Cheers! From Chapteau Laurier.
Halfway down the Ottawa River, we came across Chateau Monabello, the largest log cabin-style building in the world.
The foyer to the Chateau.
And they serve a pretty nice dinner.
Our first lock on the Ottawa River is a giant guillotine-style door.
We were very thankful that it didn't have a mechanical failure at the wrong time.
Thursday, June 25 was a super long day for us. We had a reservation at two locks on the St. Lawrence River, 4 PM and 6 PM, but before we got to those locks, we needed to transit two other locks and about 75 miles. If we made it through the first two locks, we would have time to spare and could pull over to grab some fuel. As we approached the guillotine lock, they told us the lock was being inspected, and we would need to wait three or four hours. Ouch! We don't have that kind of time. Just as our contingency plans were being finalized, we were given some good news. The lock would be open in an hour. We would need to rush, skip the fuel stop, but we could make it to the reservation. Everything worked well - we didn't make any wrong turns! And, we made our reservation on time.
After our mad dash, we are happy to be on the lock wall of St. Lambert's Lock.
Fun to walk around Old Montreal.
Also fun to have Courtney on board.
