Lake Ontario, Lake Huron

Niagara on the Lake (Ontario)

North of Niagara Falls, the river meets Lake Ontario.  There is a picturesque and historic town on the Canadian side across the river from US Fort Niagara.  After several days of clouds, rain, and thunderstorms, we drove up to Niagara on the Lake on a beautiful sunny day.

We enjoyed the sun, flowers, historic buildings,

sweet shops,

gourmet shops,

Lucero Olive Oil in the Display Window

Now selling in Canada

quaint neighborhoods,

restaurants, lake walk,

 and ended our day with a George Bernard Shaw play, Major Barbara.

The George Bernard Shaw festival has several venues in town, and numerous Shaw and non-shaw productions simultaneously played throughout the summer.  Our tickets were pricey $130 each.  Can't even imagine what we would have paid for comparable production in New York.

Lake Huron, Killbear Provincial Park, Georgian Bay

When we left Niagara, we back tracked a little to Toronto (looked like LA - big city), and headed north to Lake Huron avoiding another city.  We spent two nights in a beautiful Provincial Park on Georgian Bay.  We biked, hiked, and kayaked.  

Canadian Shield.  Ancient igneous rock pushing upward.  Glacial lakes everywhere.

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Tree hugging

It was relaxing and refreshing.  There are wonderful coves and bays where sailboats anchor.  One could spend endless summers up here exploring.

We are currently on the border of Canada and Michigan in Sault Sainte Marie in a saddle area between Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan in one of the prettiest KOA campgrounds we've ever been in.  We'll do some sightseeing today, including the bush airplane museum, and then head back temporarily into the states to travel south of Lake Superior through Michigan and northern Wisconsin.

My cousin, Jim, lives in northern Wisconsin, and we have made arrangements to visit him before heading back into Canada.  Tomorrow night we will be spending the night in the Hiawatha National Forest....on the shores of Gitche  Gummee.  The Ojibwe call the lake gichigami, meaning "big water."

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Niagara Falls Forty-Fourth Anniversary!

Viagra Niagara Falls

Still Fireworks after 44 Years!

What a magnificent place to celebrate 44 great years.  The beauty and the majesty of these falls are awe inspiring.  Enjoy all the photos on the slide show above or the selected ones below. 

Niagara at Night

Canada - Quebec and Ottawa

We leave Ottawa today, after spending the last week in both Quebec and Ottawa.  The weather has been sunny, cloudy, rainy, sunny, cloudy, rainy, sunny, cloudy, rainy......often within the same 15 minutes.  We stayed outside of Montreal for three nights, but gave this lovely city a pass this time as we had just been here a year ago Thanksgiving.  Instead, we chose to leave the Blaze R in Montreal and truck down to Vermont for a short visit with Garyn and Jess.  We were missing them already.  Jess was back at work, but Garyn had some time off, and we spent an afternoon kayaking on Lake Champlain, and all of us getting together for dinner.

Canada and America are close neighbors, the people and culture seem quite similar, but Canada history and perspectives are different enough that we have learned much while visiting.  As Americans, we are the ones that rebelled against England.  Canada did not, thus their history and ties to the British Commonwealth are still strongly intact.  They have a constitutional monarchy, the Queen of England is also Queen of Canada.  Her representative in Canada is the Governor General who presides over the Senate.  In England, this would be the House of Lords.

Guard for Governor General - Ottawa

Senators in Canada are appointed by the Governor General and are usually selected on some Canadian meritorious act or service.  Their term is for life.  The House of Commons are voted upon by the populace, each member represents a boundaried area and is from one of the six recognized parties, Conservative 163); NewDemocratic Party (100); Liberal (34); bloc Quebecois (5); Green (1); Independent (2).    Currently the the Conservative Party is the majority party.  The majority party selects one of its members to be the Prime Minister and Speaker of the House.   The opposition party is the NDP.

Change of Guards every 24 hours in Parliament Square - very impressive.

Canadian Parliament

Library of Parliamen

Summer Downpour!

Painting of Aboriginals looking across river to Parliament

Today the Museum of Civilzation occupies this spot.

In America, we originally called the indigenous peoples Indians because Columbus thought he had discovered the Indies.

Ottawa

We have evolved in our nomenclature  from Indians to Native Americans.  Canadians refer to the indigenous people as aboriginal or first people.  The Acadians (French settlers) were an important part of the Canadian History.  They were banished, persecuted, shipped back to France  and concentrated in the area of Quebec in the early 1700's.  However, the French influence is a strong presence in Eastern Canada.

Quebec

Quebec City Mural

Quebec

During the War of 1812, Americans pushed back against the British to secure the boarder lands between America and the land held by the British.  In order to garner French Acadian support for this war which the people north of America (not yet a Confederated Canada) considered aggressive actions of the newly formed America, the French were given many concessions (land, language, standing).

It is an interesting and eye-opening perspective.  Canada and America have fought side by side as neighbors because Britain, despite America's rebellion has been one of our strongest allies, and wither Britain goes, so does Canada.  One interesting fact that we learned was that during the Viet Nam War while there were young American men fleeing to Canada to avoid going to war in Viet Nam, nearly 40,000 Canadians came to America to fight in the Viet Nam war against communism.

Beyond governmental structure, politics, Francaphones (French speaking people), and the pronunciation "about" and eh? at the end of sentences, Canadians and Americans are culturally very close.  In many ways, Canada feels like Europe.  Both Quebec and Ottawa have that European flavor of architecture.

Locks from the Saint Laurence River to the Ottawa River

Tomorrow, we begin our exploration of Niagra Falls from the Canadian side of the border.

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