Day 40 – Sun. July 19, 2009

First a little family business - Happy Birthday Keith! We hope your having a great day!

Russ and Mary stored there car at the local hotel and arrived by cab ready to get underway. Thirty minutes later we made our way across the Ottawa River and rafted off a 40 ft. Sea Ray to wait our turn to enter the locks. We had to move the boat a few more times over the next few hours until the lock master gave us the word that we would be in the next group to enter the cell and start the trip up (77 ft.) the flight of eight locks. The ride up tested our skill levels as to driving and handling the boat. Having Russ and Mary to give additional assistance was very much appreciated. It took over three hours to reach the top as we had to carefully exit one lock and enter another lock with eight other boats. It was a little nerve racking but a fun filled experience. The general population could walk to the edge of the lock and talk to you as you were raised from deep in the lock to above eye level. There were always questions as to where we started from and how did we got there! Most people didn’t know that a boat could travel from Illinois to Ottawa, Canada via the route we had taken.

Once we completed the flight of locks we tied up at the wall for the night. The location was in a park like setting a few blocks from the Parliament building and walking distance to restaurants and other entertainment. We went to one sidewalk establish where the staff was having an internal problem and they were completely dysfunctional---- which doesn’t make for a fine dining experience. After an hour or more of frustration and BS we made it clear that enough was enough and just got up and moved across the street! We closed out our exciting day with good food and a little wine.