Trans-Canada road trip: Sabbath in Ottawa

Trans-Canada road trip: Day 5

August 18, 2012

We got into Ottawa rather late on Friday night, and after visiting with my sister, Becky, for a few minutes, we were happy to stretch out on the air mattress she had ready for us. We had planned to make it to church the next morning, but we ended up having a really wonderful sleep and slept in too late to make it to church on Sabbath. After a relaxed morning and breakfast, we got ready for the day and headed across the Ottawa River into Gatineau, Quebec to go hiking around Pink Lake in the Gatineau hills. The lake was beautiful, and the hike was pleasant and not too intense, but gave us good exercise after sitting in a car for the past four days. After our hike, we had a late afternoon picnic before returning to Becky's house to get ready for the interesting evening we had planned.

After changing into warmer clothes, Becky drove us to downtown Ottawa where we parked and walked to the Parliament buildings, the site of the annual Ottawa Mosaika Sound and Light Show projected on the buildings. We arrived early, so we wandered around the lawns watching the large projectors being set up and tested. The show was excellent, giving viewers a history of Canada using projected images, music, narration, and interviews. I had seen a small preview of it once before when my family and I had visited Becky a few years earlier, but this was the first time I had seen the actual production. It was very well done and wonderful to be able to see and hear Canadian history portrayed in this manner.

Once the Sound and Light Show was over, we took the opportunity to walk to a few streets over to a very tasty food stand selling the always-popular Ottawa beaver tails (fried dough). This stand has a whole lot of different options for toppings, both sweet and savoury. We each got a beaver tail, and all three flavours were delicious. We munched on the treats, sharing bites between each other, as we walked back to the car, and then headed back to Becky's house for another good night of sleep before getting back on the road the next day for our final leg of our cross-Canada trip.

- Ali

Daily driving total: 60 km (37.2 mi)

Next up: Ottawa to Brunswick