Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Sleepy Cedars Campground - Ottawa


Slept in till 9am and then got up for breakfast.  Today we are going to visit the ByWard Market.  Our drive this morning takes us along the banks of the Rideau Canal.
6270 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal 6271 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal
We are driving on the Colonel By Drive.
6275 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal 6278 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal
There are very nice walking and biking trails.  Ottawa has a lot of green space and promotes the use of the walking and biking paths.
6280 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal 6282 Ottawa Colonel By Drive - Rideau Canal
The GPS takes us to the parking lot at the ByWard Market.  We pay our parking fee at the automated kiosk and then begin our tour through the market.
6289 Ottawa York St - Byward Market
The ByWard Market is the oldest continuously running farmers market in Canada.  The main market building operates all year long.
6297 Ottawa  Byward Market
The outdoor vendors are seasonal as the weather permits.
6291 Ottawa  Byward Market
There is such a variety of fruits and vegetables.
6294 Ottawa  Byward Market 6293 Ottawa  Byward Market
All are so very nicely displayed.
6295 Ottawa  Byward Market 6296 Ottawa  Byward Market
Of course, we do not buy any of the fresh fruits and vegetables.  We just walk by and head straight to the Bakery to buy butter tarts and croissants.  We then continued to walk past all the fruits and vegetables and wound up at the BeaverTails stand.  The President of the USA, Barack Obama, made this place popular when he stopped here during his visit to Ottawa and bought some beaver tails.
6302 Ottawa George St - Byward Market - Beaver Tails
Beaver Tails are basically fried dough, shaped like a beavers tail, covered with sugary toppings…  It is a very “Canadian” treat and very tasty, much better than those fresh fruits and vegetables we passed by earlier.
6303 Ottawa George St - Byward Market - Beaver Tails 6304 Ottawa George St - Byward Market - Beaver Tails
While we were enjoying our snack, a lot of police officers and police cars started converging on the area.  They were putting up yellow police tape and asking everyone to leave the area.
6309 Ottawa William St - Byward Market 6313 Ottawa - police road block at George St & Byward Market
That ended our visit to ByWard Market and we later heard on the radio that there was a suspicious package found and so the area was evacuated as a precaution.  We made our way back to our car to drop off our purchases and then walked along Sussex Drive towards the Royal Canadian Mint.
We walked past the American Embassy.  I would guess that the funny structure on the roof of the building is probably a helicopter landing pad.
6324 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Embassy of the United States of America 6325 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Embassy of the United States of America
This building with the huge spider out front is the National Gallery of Canada.
6330 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - National Gallery of Canada 6331 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - National Gallery of Canada - Maman the giant egg-carrying spider
A little further along we arrived at the Royal Canadian Mint.
6339 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Royal Canadian Mint
You can’t take any photos inside the building.  The tour was very interesting and we got to see how the coins are made.  Paper money is not made here at this facility.
6340 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Royal Canadian Mint 6349 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Royal Canadian Mint sign
Neither are circulation coins made here.  Only commemorative and collector coins are made here now.  Originally all currency was made here, but now a facility in Winnipeg produces all the circulation coins and paper money.
At the end of our tour we were allowed to pick up a 28 lb bar of gold… Unfortunately it was chained to the desk.  In todays market that bar is worth somewhere around  $700,000.00
6343 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Royal Canadian Mint tour - Bill holding gold bar weighing approx 28 lbs 6347 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Royal Canadian Mint tour - Karen holding gold bar weighing approx 28 lbs
After we toured the mint, we walked back to our car at the ByWard Market.  As we walked past the American Embassy a van was waiting for the barricade to be dropped so it could enter the building.  Pretty neat how that barricade disappears into the ground and then raises again as soon as the vehicle is past.  That barricade was up and the garage door was down before you could blink an eye.
6361 Ottawa  Sussex Dr - Embassy of the United States of America
We got in our car and then drove and parked on a side street, very close to the Prime Ministers home at 24 Sussex Drive.  We watched as armed police officers walked a beaten path along the perimeter fence.  There were security cameras positioned every 100 feet or so.
6377 Ottawa - 24 Sussex Dr - the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada 6376 Ottawa - 24 Sussex Dr - the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada
When the cops weren't looking I snapped a photo of the house through an opening in the tree branches.  I felt that every security camera was zoomed in on me as I approached the fence to get the shot.  Who knows if Harper was even home.
6385 Ottawa - 24 Sussex Dr - the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada 6381 Ottawa - 24 Sussex Dr - the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada
Across the road from Stephen Harpers house is Rideau Hall.  This is where the Governor General resides.  It is mostly open to the public for touring.
6390 Ottawa Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall sign 6393 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guards peforming sentry duty
There are ceremonial guards out front performing sentry duty.
6395 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guards peforming sentry duty 6396 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard peforming sentry duty
We stood smartly to have our photos taken with the guards.  Apparently Karen stood more smartly than I did.
6398 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard (and Karen) peforming sentry duty 6399 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard (and Bill) peforming sentry duty
We passed through the gates and onto the property.  We went straight to the visitors centre to learn what we could.
6403 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Main Gate 6406 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Visitor Centre
There was plenty of information on the past and present Governor Generals.
6409 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Visitor Centre 6413 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Visitor Centre
There are beautiful gardens and sitting areas throughout the property.
6407 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Visitor Centre 6408 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Visitor Centre
There is a Pacific Coast Totem Pole.
6422 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - West Coast Totem Pole 6423 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - West Coast Totem Pole
We noticed that many of the trees had little markers at their base, so we took a closer look and realized that these markers told what kind of a tree it was and who planted it and when.
This Red Oak was planted by Richard M Nixon, April 14 1972
6427 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by Richard M Nixon 6428 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by Richard M Nixon
Then we found the tree that was planted by his wife, Patricia Nixon.
6431 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by Patricia Nixon 6433 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by Patricia Nixon
While everyone else was walking on the pathways, Karen and I were well off the beaten paths wandering around through the trees like lost fools.  We were checking out the different markers to see who planted which trees.
Down one of the pathways we could see the Unity Pool and way off in the distance we could see the Parliament Building Peace Tower.
6437 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - A View of Parliament Hill and The Pool of Unity 6438 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - A View of Parliament Hill
Next we found this Silver Maple planted by Nancy Reagan.
6444 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - silver maple planted by Nancy Reagan 6446 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - silver maple planted by Nancy Reagan
Ronald Reagan’s tree must be around here somewhere, so we continue the search, but instead we find John F Kennedy’s tree.
6453 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by John F Kennedy 6455 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Bill beside red oak planted by John F Kennedy
And Jackie Kennedy’s tree.
6448 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - red oak planted by Jacqueline Kennedy 6451 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Karen beside red oak planted by Jacqueline Kennedy
We found several trees throughout the grounds that were planted by Queen Elizabeth, but the one I thought was interesting was the one she planted when she was just a young Princess before becoming the Queen.
6536 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh 6537 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh
We found the tree that William and Kate planted in 2010 when they visited Ottawa just after they got married.  It was fitting to find that tree since they just had a baby yesterday.
6474 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - eastern hemlock planted by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William & Catherine) 6475 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - eastern hemlock planted by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William & Catherine)
Here we finally found the Ronald Reagan tree.
6482 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - silver maple planted by Ronald Reagan 6483 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Bill beside silver maple planted by Ronald Reagan
And the Nelson Mandela tree.
6514 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by Nelson Mandela 6515 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by Nelson Mandela
We startled a little red fox out of his hiding spot in the trees and he took off along one of the pathways.
6511 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - a fox 6512 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - a fox 6513 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - a fox
We are near the main house now, so we walked up to get a closer look.
6509 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall -  the official residence of the Governor General of Canada 6510 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall -  the official residence of the Governor General of Canada
Uh Oh… here come the ceremonial guards, I hope that they are not upset at us for wandering off the established pathways and are wandering around under the trees.
6519 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard performing the Relief of the Sentries 6520 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard performing the Relief of the Sentries
Nope, they were not after us, so we followed them as they marched up to the front of Rideau Hall and watched as they performed the changing of the guard.
6523 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard performing the Relief of the Sentries 6526 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Ceremonial Guard performing the Relief of the Sentries
Back to our tree searching and we found Bill Clinton’s tree.
6534 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by William J Clinton 6535 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - sugar maple planted by William J Clinton
Also found this stone Inuksuk hidden among the trees.
6538 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Inuksuk 6541 Ottawa 1 Sussex Dr - Rideau Hall - Inuksuk
We never found Hillary Clinton’s tree so when we returned to the Visitor Centre, I asked if there was one, but it turns out she was not with Bill when he visited Rideau Hall.  I guess President Obama didn’t have time to plant a tree either when he was here, he must have been too busy eating beaver tails.
It was time to head back to our base at the Sleepy Cedars Campground and have some dinner.  I BBQ’ed some hamburgers for us along with some potatoes and onions with butter in foil on our Weber Q BBQ.   Very delicious.
After dinner I got a fire going in our fire pit.  We are hosting our friends Ann and Jim this evening.   Karen got pictures of me in a typical pose… deeply engrossed in my iPhone.
6556 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - campfire 6559 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - Bill relaxing at campfire
And she got photos of our shadows sitting around the fire. 
6557 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - campfire 6558 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - campfire
But again completely forgot to get photos of Ann and Jim.  So here are some more fire photos as we all sat around talking the evening away.
6561 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - colourful campfire 6562 Sleepy Cedars Campground Greely Ottawa - colourful campfire

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