Riding along the Rideau River and Canal from Hogs Back Falls

 Today Anne and I loaded our bikes on the back of the car, and at 9 45 am left home to drive to Hogs Back Falls on the Rideau River.

 In less than 30 minutes we were at the Falls' parking lot with the bikes off loaded and ready to go.

 The Rideau River, at the Falls , was a raging torrent.

 It is here that the Rideau Canal begins to by-pass the barrier. Our bike rode today took the path by the river to the Rideau Falls, and we then returned via the canal bank.

 On the way downtown we passed under the tressle that carries the "O-train."

 Across the river is Carleton University.

 The riverside bike path has many scenic pathways.

 There are other, less scenic parts too.

 Here the path crosses underneath Highway 417.

 Our destination was the famed Rideau Falls. "Rideau' is French for curtain.

 The Rideau enters the Ottawa River at the Falls.

 "Maman", the scultured spider, guards the entrance to the National Art Gallery of Canada, and also provides a framed picture of the Parliament buildings.

The By-ward Market.

 Once we arrived at downtown, we parked the bikes, locked them up, and searched for a good place to eat.

 Angels helped us in the search. Nearby we found "Tuckers" for a buffet style meal. We needed a good long ride back to burn of the calories there.

 We picked up our bikes here at another spot where we could photograph the Parliament buildings.

 Several canoeists were at Hartwell Lock.

 The useful maps show the many bike trails in and around the Nation's Capital.

 A close up view shows our bike route to and from Hogs Back Falls.

Back at Hogs Back and home by 2 30 pm.

We would like to repeat this ride one Saturday morning in July with "The Wheels of Fortune," Glen Cairn United Church's cycling group. We would suggest stopping for lunch at the "Canal Ritz," a resturarant on the canal.

Winter Wonderland

 34 cm of wet snow gave our neighbours the opportunity to build the tallest snowman on our street.

 The high winds also began to fill in the cleared driveway. It is days of heavy wet snow that we bless our decision to make use of snow-blowing services to clean the snow from the driveway.

 The tree across the road is coated with wet snow too. This is unlikely to melt off for the next week with sub-zero highs forecast.

Even the ladder to the roof (for removing snow from the solar panels, not for Santa Claus access) has its coat of wet snow and ice.

It truly is a winter wonderland today.

The joys of freezing rain.

Today is the second of three days of freezing rain. Yesterday, when we took Adrian back to his group home, the rain had already begun. We took the wise choice of routes, avoiding the 416, the thruway (motorway) and sticking to the city streets. We drove slowly and the 20 minute journey took 35 minutes. Still, it was a safe ride.

Today, Julian dropped by to see how the solar panels were doing with frozen rain and snow on them. The snow rakes just slid over the 1/2" of ice and none could be dislodged. The driveway was a solid sheet of ice too, and only small sections of slush and ice could be removed. I spread some sand over the ice so people would not fall.

Later in the day we drove to the local mall for grocery shopping. As we parked the car, Anne asked, "Is this rain or freezing rain?" My answer that it was rain was incorrect, as, when we unloaded the groceries, I saw that the car was completely covered in sheets of ice.

One bonus of the frozen ice was that as I chipped it off the car dirt and salt were also removed. The car is much cleaner, at least for the moment.

By noon the temperatures hovered around freezing so I was able to shovel the ice from the driveway. Only after several attempts was I able to remove the ice from two of the twenty-one solar panels.

More freezing rain and drizzle are on the way tonight and tomorrow. However tomorrow's high temperature is supposed to be 3C, so there is a chance we can get more panels clear.

Last week's long range forecast predicted we would have knee deep snow this week. That would have been much more easy to deal with!

My brother and my sister-in-law visit from England.

 My brother, Frank, in red and my sister-in-law, Pauline, in red too, visited Anne and I for a few days this week. My neighbour took this photo in front of our house. It was an atypical spring day in Ottawa, raw and cool.

 Frank is my twin brother. I only have one twin brother, but my sisters and other brother have two.

 On their first full day in Ottawa we hit the hot spots of Ottawa: the tulip festival, the Byward Market, the canal and Hogs Back Falls.

The tulips were out in full force.

Later, after a full day out, we met with Adrian and took him out for supper. After supper he asked to go to "Best Buy" to look at various computer gadgets. "Just looking."

Winter woes miss Ottawa again.

Ottawa is cold but bright and sunny again as the winter snows bypass us once more. From the internet we learn that my golf buddies in Myrtle Beach in the Carolinas have had snow. They thought as snow birds they could get away from it all!

Relatives in England are being hit by continued cold and more snow. Travelling in many parts of Europe is shut down once more. And Anne's relatives in Maryland are facing huge quantities of snow.

Friends in Red Lake huddle in the cold and deep snow, while other friends in Nova Scotia wonder where the next hit is coming from, not when. And even just 200 kms away from here in Montreal, snow keeps coming.

The next chance for snow in Ottawa is said to be Friday, but that was listed as only a 60% chance. We are feeling a little guilty about our good winter so far, but not too guilty.

The nearby Trans-Canada trail.

Anne and I are lucky to live within a short distance of the Trans-Canada Trail, a bicycling, walking and jogging trail that crosses Canada from coast to coast.
As I recuperate from my heart attack, we are slowly getting back to using that trail. Today, we got our our bikes and readied for a little longer trip.






Anne is posed in front of some of our perennials.








For some strange reason, my picture always seems to include my Basketry Studio sign.







Today's destination, a return distance of just under six miles, was the park in Stittsville at the site of the old railway station. From here you can ride to the East as far as Bell's Corners and then access other trails and ride as far as the Parliament buildings in Downtown Ottawa. Ottawa has a good network of trails.




Going to the west, we have explored the trail as far as Carleton Place, some 20 kms away. Sometime next year we hope to be able to take that trip again as well as riding to Parliament. For the latter journey, we would book a stay at a hotel downtown (e.g. The Westin) and return the next day.




The local sections of the Trans-Canada Trail follow the path of an abandoned railroad. We are either riding up a long, gentle uphill grade or speeding down a long, gentle downhill grade on such trails. The National Capital Commission Trails are a little more varied.