One of the reasons we reversed the direction of our holiday was so that we could possibly link up with some old friends in Renfrew, just out of Ottawa. Bruce taught with Janet in Campbell River, BC back in 1991 and has kept up contact ever since. Tom and Janet visited Margaret River in 1992 and then Bruce visited Renfrew in 1994. Although they are in Manitoba at the moment, we knew they were visiting Renfrew again at the beginning of August so we made sure we were there at the same time.
Tom’s parents own a cottage on Lake Norway and Tom and Janet have five children ranging in age with Skye (15), Liam (11), Alex (8), and the adopted twins Simon and Zenna (maybe 6). We thought it would be great for our Liam to be able to play for a couple of days and we weren’t disappointed.
We enjoyed a truelly Canadian experience of living on a lake where all you had to do was swim, paddle, fish, drink and eat. Liam and the kids never left the water from the time they got up until it was dark. As you can see from the photos, there were all sorts of toys for the kid to enjoy and they managed to use all of them.
The whole time we were there, family and friends kept dropping in and at one stage there were over 20 people there. Traditionally you go out tubing on the lake in the ski boat and Tom got this organised for us. Bruce was spotting while Tom drove the boat. There was a real art to getting into the tube. You had to sort of fall backwards into it off the pontoon and Rosie and Bruce both failed miserably at this on their first attempts. Everyone had a go at this and it was a lot of fun.
As you can see, we both looked very relaxed at this stage of our tubing experience. Unfortunately we were a lot heavier than the kids and as the boat took off Rosie’s tube submerged instead of skimming across the top of the water. The material around the tube was already torn and couldn’t cope with dragging us underwater, it tore away from the tube and left Rosie submerged in the water next to a naked tube. It was all really funny, but you had to be there to truelly appreciate it.
After this we took individual turns at the tubing and had a great time. With our extra weight we were easily able to get out of the wake of the boat and were able to go from side to side jumping the bow wave. It was a lot of fun.
In the late afternoon the boys finally came out of the water, all shrivelled up and ready to eat.
Each night we had a BBQ and Liam was so active that he actually looked forward to and ate a hamburger each night. The first night we then sat around a camp fire so that we could complete the whole lake experience.
I would like to say that it was another great experience but unfortunately another lake tradition tended to ruin it a bit. We were nearly carried away by mosquitoes, that were so vicious that they could bite you right through your clothes. The second night we lit the fire again, but this time all the old hands then went inside and looked out at the new comers.
We slept overnight in the “Porcupine Palace” before heading off back to Mississauga for a rest before our next planned trip.
Back in Mississauga for a week to catch our breathe. We had Ron, Lisa, Davis and Reece over for dinner this week (we haven’t been good social hosts since arriving, but will have to try to improve.) Bruce goes to work with Ron each morning.
After a weeks rest back in Mississauga, we set off again for a short trip down to Washington DC. We love driving down through the USA, avoiding the Interstates so that we get to see the country side and all the small towns, they are beautiful. As Bruce started to plan the route he noticed the small town of Punxsutawney and couldn’t resist stopping in to break up the 10 hour drive.
For those of you who are movie buffs, the attraction of Punxsutawney would be immediately obvious, but those who aren’t, you must see the move “Groundhog Day” to truelly appreciate it. We watched the movie during our overnight stay so that we were truelly in the right mood.
What Bill Murray would have made of the big plastic tree that plays music on the half hour we don’t know. The first time we heard it was ok, but that wore off quickly.
While sitting in our hotel the first night, we watched the news and found out that we were being chased by tornadoes the whole way done to Punxsutawney, everyone had been warned to stay inside and keep off the roads. We must have been a couple of hours ahead of them.
What we did enjoy doing was walking around and viewing the 2 metre Groundhogs scattered all over town. There are 34 of them altogether and each one is sponsored and then decorated by an artist. Very similar concept to the Cow Parade at home. In the zoo, you have two big fat Groundhogs sleeping their days away. We went up to Gobbler’s Knob, which is quite a nice park that is most probably only used twice a year, once in February for the official day and then in July for the Groundhog festival.
The next day we drove onto Washington, DC and had our hottest day of the summer so far (33°C with massive humidity). Fortunately our hotel had an outdoor pool which was fantastic in this weather.
A short shuttle ride the next morning got us to the Metro station at Pentagon City (yes this is next to the Pentagon) and then a short trip to Foggy Bottom (where do they come up with these names). The temperature was again oppressive.
We started our adventure by visiting the Lincoln Memorial which was a pleasant 15 minute walk away. This gave us the classic photo opportunity reminescent of “Forrest Gump” overlooking the Reflective Pool, looking down to the Washington Monument (another obilesque).
The Lincoln Monument was very impressive (and popular, you definitely cannot deny the patriotism of the Americans). The views from this area were classic of many that we have seen in the movies and reminded us a lot of Canberra. From the memorial you looked down over the Reflective Pool to the Washington Monument and then the Capital Building. On either side of this were memorials to the different wars that the US had particpated in.
Between the Washington Memorial and the Capital Building were the Smithsonian Museums.
Unfortunately the heat reflecting off the Lincoln Memorial was extreme, but this was only a minor inconvenience and the walk through the trees along the Reflective Pool was good. We passed by the Korean War Memorial, which was extremely impressive before arriving at the World War II memorial at the other end of the Pool.
As we walked towards the Washington Memorial we saw one of the President’s helicoptors coming in to land at the White House and then a few minutes later two Presidential helicopters left the White House and flew over our heads. We assume one was a decoy and the other contained the President going off to talk about his new Health Reforms.
We couldn’t be bothered walking closer to the White House, if you wanted to actually go inside you needed to book a tour appointment through the Australian Embassy, and we weren’t that interested.
After a walk around the Washington Memorial we moved onto the Jefferson Memorial (more to see the architecture than anything else. This required a walk around a lake which again was quite pleasant. Half way around we came across some nice paddle boats and Liam thought this would be fun.
It was a lot of fun paddling around and it did give us a different look at the Memorial, saving us the need to walk around to it. The actual paddling was a lot more difficult than it looked and made us acutely aware of our age.
To finish off our day we visited the American Museum of Natural History which gave a good insight into the events that helped form the America that we see today. You start to understand where their views on guns and patriotism come to when you read through their history.
On Wednesday, we followed a bit of the “Night at the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian” and started at the Smithonian Castle, which is an information building and the first part of the Smithsonian. From here we went to the Air and Space Museum which was excellent.
Liam wanted to go on the flight simulator and Bruce was tricked into going with him. The simulator was far too realistic for Bruce and he ejected after only 20 seconds. Liam then had to fly on alone, shooting the enemy all by himself.
To finish the day we visited the Museum of Natural History. Then back to the hotel and the pool
On our last day we visited Arlington Cemetery, which was fascinating. Again it was a great insight into American Patriotism with thousands of people visiting every day. Most went to see the “Tomb of the Unkown Soldier” at which an extremely elaborate changing of the guard ceremony takes place every half hour. We then visited John F Kennedy’s grave, the other popular area.
As you walked down the aisles of gravestones, you cannot help but be taken in by the ages of many of the soldiers.
Rosie loves rubbish day. Every Tuesday people put out their rubbish, which includes everything that they are trying to get rid of. You will find dining settings, that have been replaced, old washing machines, beds, sofas etc. Many are still quite usable, just no longer required. We have been on the look out for a bike for Liam and although we nearly got one a couple of times, we weren’t quick enough. This week we found one just up the street and after knocking on the door to make sure they were throwing it out, Rosie picked it up. The gears don’t work very well, but apart from this the bike is in good condition and we have already been for a few rides to test it out. This means that Liam will be able to ride to school for the first two or three months this semester. We can then return it to the road side for the rubbish collectors. What a bargain.
The weather was pretty warm once we got home so we took a trip out to Canada’s Wonderland to try out the water park. Liam loved it and was pleased that his Dad was able to do all of the water rides with him. As usual it was very crowded, but they were pretty efficient on the water rides, so the wait was only about 15 minutes. Once we had done these, Liam and Rosie queued up for an hour to go on a rollercoaster that they hadn’t done yet. It is good having a season ticket since you can just drop in for a few hours and leave and not feel that you have to get your money’s worth on a particular day.
On the last weekend of August we decided to visit the FanExpo in Toronto. It has always appealed to Bruce to see all these people dressed up and we weren’t disappointed. As we walked from the subway to the Expo kept passing by all these costumed people, some sci-fi and many other were dressed as their Anime character. When we got there, we had to queue up outside for 15 minutes before they let us in and then we stood in a 1km line to buy tickets. It was very entertaining in the winding queue looking at all the costumes.
Once inside, it was packed fully of comic book vendors and horror costumes. There was a large video game section that attracted Liam (he was very unlucky not to get to go up against Little Poison, he got right to the front of the queue and then they stopped).
Bruce was fascinated by the signing area. You had Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Linda Hamilton (Terminator) and several other Sci-fi stars that you would know. Large queues of people were waiting to get an autographs and paying upto $60 for the privilege. Many of the stars were so old now that you could hardly recognise them, yet their fans still wanted to see them.
The costumes were fantastic, the girl below is just a fan, not a paid model. They were all very happy to have photos taken, is all part of the excitement of the event.
Here we have a current picture of Liam and a future picture if his obsession with Halo continues. The guy on the above was dressed as Master Chief (Liam’s hero) and allowed Liam to where his helmet while he went out to participate in a StarWars Light Saber training session. What else would you do at a Fan Expo!!
