total km: 5351.1
Seeing as how we were camping along a major walking path, we had to wake up especially early this morning, at 5:30 to be exact. Although it was freezing outside, the sight of a gorgeous misty sunrise over the state of New York kept us packing. We hurredly packed everything up and then rode the 500m to the park entrance where we shivered through breakfast sitting at a picnic table. This was definitely one of our favourite camp sites, and definitely the best squatting site yet.
Sunrise over our campsite. Try not to focus on the mill on the horizon. 
Packing up in the golden light at dawn. Getting on the road was a chore because the last thing our already frozen bodies needed was a frigid breeze. We tried to stop for coffee along the way to warm us up, but the coffee shops were either still closed or the towns we passed through were too small to support a coffee shop. We finally found one in “Ottawa,” at Kay’s Landing 54km into our ride.
After our coffee turned lunch stop we followed the owners advice and jumped onto the most gorgeous bike path we’ve seen to date. It meandered along the Rideau River for about 12km and delivered us right downtown at about 2pm. Pretty good time considering we’d already done almost 100km.
The bike path along the Rideau River:
We were early for meeting up with Matt (our host for our stay in Ottawa) and so decided to start our sightseeing starting with the Govenor General’s place of residence, Rideau Hall (it was under intense renovations and was covered entirely). We did get to meet these guys though:
Brandon tried his best to imitate, but his bike threw off his posture.From there we went to Steve’s place:
The iron bars and plethora of RCMP security guards interfered with our artistic vision.Then cruised up to parliament hill (as seen in the opening photo). En route to Parliament Hill we ran across these beauties:
The majestic Notre Dame.
The majestic Notre Dame and a 30 foot iron spider (he lives in front of the National Art Gallery).
The Locks on the Rideau Canal. From there we had a quick and delicious bite to eat at Ahora’s mexican restaurant, and headed back to Matt’s place, this time biking along the even more beautiful Rideau Canal.
The sun setting along the Rideau Canal. Matt is actually Katie’s cousin Sarah’s boyfriend whom was given the task of putting up with us when it was discovered that Sarah wouldn’t actually be in Ottawa when we were. Matt was very nice and hospitable. Welcoming us into his “dirty” house as he referred to it, that by our standards looked like something in a Martha Stewart magazine. We unfortunately didn’t get to spend much time with him due to our opposing schedules. You know, we do lead a very busy life.
B&K
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