Canada Day Three - Road to Ottawa

Today we said goodbye to Niagara Falls and took off for Ottawa. We didn't go very far though before we stopped for lunch. I think I've mentioned before about my online gaming club and how that has led me to meet a couple of different people on our travels. Because of this group I have friends in Canada and today we met one of them for lunch. The boys and James hear me talk about my online friends all the time, so they know them, but Camille is very patient with all these strangers that we meet!

My friend, who goes by the name Loobster, met us for lunch at the Swiss Chalet which is a large Canadian chain restaurant. (We'd never heard of it before but the food was very good and I'm glad to have a Canadian place to eat the next time we head North!) He brought his two sisters which made me feel much better about bringing my entire family. I am always a little nervous about meeting up in real life with the friends I have online, but today was wonderful! They are also from a close knit, Christian, homeschooling family that loves board games and lots of geeky things so we had a lot in common. I already knew that I liked Loobster of course, but his sisters were a delight! We had a great time talking and before we knew it, two hours had passed and the kids were starting to bounce off the walls. It was a such a great time and I am so happy that we met!

After lunch we piled back in the car and really got started on the drive. It isn't that far in theory, but we'd had a long lunch and had very wiggly kids. So late in the afternoon we stopped again at a playground in the city of Belleville. It was a great playground and we spent a refreshing 45 minutes there as the kids played and James and I walked in the field. But all too soon it was time to get back on the road.

There really isn't anything else to tell. It was a good drive with lots of talking and singing. But we got in late, too late to use the pool, and went right to bed. I'm not sure what we are going to do tomorrow but we have more we want to do in Ottawa than we can possibly do in two days so we'll have to choose wisely. :-)