We're back! (Part 2)

We arrived in Kingston, Ontario on Friday night and had dinner at their Holiday Inn since we couldn't board the "Kawartha Voyageur" until 8PM anyway. The name "Kawartha" by the way is Indian for "land of the shimmering waters." Now, for me and hubby, this boat was one of the most amazing things about this cruise. First of all, it was designed and built by the family who owns and runs the business ~ The Ackert's. It is the only cruise boat of its' kind and extremely unique at that! We traveled through 33 locks in 6 days and, everytime we had to go underneath a bridge, the nose of the bow lifted up from the front of the boat, the awning atop of the wheelhouse came down, and the wheelhouse itself lowered to about a quarter its' height! How? Well, they are all hydraulically built. Since the passengers were allowed inside the wheelhouse to chat with Captain John Ackert anytime except for when we were heading under a bridge of course, hubby and I were able to see the inside of it while the Captian explained the history of the Rideau (actually pronounced "reed-dow") and very graciously answered any questions we may have had. The wheelhouse has a square opening cut out of the ceiling above the Captain's chair so that when it comes down while going under bridges the captain does not get crushed and can also see outside the boat to navigate. It even has a fail-safe so that if something should happen to go wrong with the primary hydraulics, there will not be a problem. 

This is a view from the top deck where we were allowed to sit and you can see just how close the boat gets to the bridge

Here you can see the opening in the ceiling above the Captain's head in the wheelhouse

We traveled from Kingston to Ottawa, enjoying every tree, native bird, animal, horsefarm, island home, etc. One of the birds which we had gotten the chance to see was the beautiful osprey who like to nest in the bridge structures along the canal ...

We also made a few historical stops and explored the nearby towns of Westport and Merrickville for a bit of sight-seeing and shopping. While strolling along in Merrickville, we saw a couple of "old school" telephone boothes which actually did work. Here's hubby clowning around with them ... LOL!

We were served breakfast at 8AM, lunch at 12, a snack at 3, and dinner at 6 every day. There was no television on the boat except for in the Captian's quarters in the wheelhouse which also had a large bed, a shower, and a desk and computer. There was also a laundry room for the crew, small galley, a mini bar, nice size dining area, a small library, and a communal PC. It rained for the first three days we were there, but we did have a couple of  sunny ones as well ...

We arrived in Ottawa on Wednesday and had some time to walk around until the bus came to take us all back to Kingston. One of the things we enjoyed while in Ottawa was the beautiful "Hogback Falls" ...

 The funny thing about this trip was that it took us 6 days to travel up the Rideau Canal and only two hours to get us back by bus to where we started in Kingston. Talk about taking the long way, eh? LOL!

Ottawa, Ontario

All in all, a very memorable trip and one well worth taking. I would definately recommend this trip to anyone!

We're back! (Part 1 of 2)

Hey everyone! We're finally back from our vacation to Ontario, Canada! I've missed you all and I hope you had a wonderful week! Our trip was a very interesting and unique experience to say the least.

We were first off to Bingham, New York on Thursday (about a three hour drive from Reading, PA) for an overnight stay at a Best Western. Then on Friday, I had the most exciting and very fortunate opportunity to finally meet a "sister of the spirit!" My hubby, in-laws and I met up with Robin Larkspur of her fantastic blog, "Wiccan Writes," at a delicious Cracker Barrel in Cicero, N.Y. ~ a suburb near Syracuse. 

Two "sisters" and friends

(Robin beautifully wrapped my journal in green tissue paper using a sprig of her homegrown rosemary from her lovely garden!)

Although we both would have loved to have spent a bit more time together, we hugged, chatted some, laughed a lot, and were grateful to have had the chance to meet!  We surprised one another with lovely gifts. Robin gave me this beautiful journal in which she personally inscribed a special message inside. I am forever blessed, and indeed a better person at that, for knowing her ...

After we all had lunch, Robin wished us all a safe trip as we said our farewell's to one another. Then, it was off to the Wolf Island Ferry (with car and luggage in tow) to cross the border to Canada straight into Kingston to catch the boat headed for the Rideau!

Getting ready for Canada ... again

Well, it is almost time for hubby and I to travel to Ontario, Canada again with my in-law's. This time; however, we will be driving to New York, then New York to Ontario, and THEN we are going to be jumping on a little cruise ship for a few days. Should be interesting to say the least since I have never taken this sort of trip before.

I wasn't really sure if I was going to go this year as it is getting harder to be away from my parents for any length of time with my dad having such terrible medical issues and getting worse. To be quite honest, I am still not very comfortable leaving the States under these circumstances. Not to mention that we have three cats and a rabbit for whom we have to find someone to take care of while we are away.

"Auntie" Judy giving Midnight some love

My extremely wonderful and caring friend "Auntie Judy" has once again agreed to take care of them for us! Judy is the perferct pet-sitter as she is as crazy about her furr babies as we are about ours and insists on stopping over at our house once a day to feed them, clean their litter boxes and rabbit cage, and she genuinely takes the time to give them the extra love and attention they need. Believe me, this is A LOT to ask of anyone, most especially someone who works full time as I do and has to literally make the time to do this! I am indeed grateful to her for everything she has done and will do again. Judy, you're truly the best!!!

I have promised her that this will be the very last time that, even though she is always such a good egg about it, I will ask her to do this as I feel that it is not fair to count on her every year. And so I have decided that this will be the last time that I will be doing any kind of traveling of this sort ~ atleast for a long, long while.

I also know that I am very blessed to have such loving in-laws who have, in the past three years, given hubby and I the opportunity to go places and see things that we most probably would never be able to afford to experience ~ such as a Hamilton, Bermuda cruise and enjoying a beautiful, relaxing cabin in Ontario, Canada for a week. Perhaps someday, my life will be a bit less complicated with a lot less responsibilities. Hmm, one can only hope! LOL!!

Gifts from Canada

It was so nice to come home yesterday afternoon and know that both kitties and house were looked after in such a thoughtful way ~ cats had been taken care of by "Auntie Judy" who stopped over every single day to give them full bowls of food and water, our mail was neatly placed on our kitchen table, our trash was taken out on a daily basis and our cats were given their "loving" attention by a fellow cat-lover (and a very good friend!).

Naturally, I picked up a few souvenirs' while in Canada  (after all, a vacation without shopping is like wine without  the cheese)along with a couple of "thank you" gifts for my wonderfully dear friends, Judy and sister Robin, to whom I can not thank enough for giving us the piece of mind we needed while we were away.

For Judy, I bought a pretty pair of  genuine Lapis Lazulli earrings and amethyst necklace.

For Robin, I found a pair of Jody Coyete earrings becuase I know she really likes the brand and she loves earrings the way most of us love shoes!

For us, a couple of cool T-shirts and some unique soaps and such.

A cat t-shirt that turns colored when it is exposed to the Sun ...

(Of course, you saw this one coming...)

Speaking of flags, while having a nice dinner one night at a pub called, "The Cove," we saw a really cool flag hung on the ceiling at their bar ...

And, we frequented a shop in Westport called, "Northern Exposure" where I almost bought one of these little Green Man items ...

Wishing everyone a wonerful week as I return back to work on Wednesday. ;)

Canada, eh?

We just returned home from our trip to Kingston, Ontario. We drove to Johnson City, New York and stayed at a hotel then took the Wolfe Island Ferry (car included) to the border near Kingston the next morning. (Funny, I guess I expected to see a Mountie in uniform standing on the other side of the border wating to check our passports ~  I suppose I watch way too much television eh?).

What a BEAUTIFUL place! The skies are breath-taking and, while at home in PA the weather was 99 degrees and humid as Hades, we had gorgeous weather. We stayed in a nice cabin near Chaffey's Locks (right outside of Kingston), a very rural area with just about every critter one could possibly imagine they'd see. The first day there we saw a groundhog (up close and personal!) and over the next few days we also had a chance to see a very odd colored skunk (who walked right up to our cabin looking for some grub), a beautiful doe in the neighbors back yard, a porkupine, loons (black ducks who sing and can stay under the water for an unbelievably long time) and some "black" squirrels. Obviously some things we don't get to see here in the States.

(a pic of a female Loon and her ducklings riding on top of her back)

We took motor boat rides and of course went shopping in a few of the village stores in the town of Westport. You know, Canadians really DO say, "Eh" a lot! So much so that I just couldn't resist buying a T-shirt that says, "Canada, Eh!"

One of the stores we stopped in was Latimer Soap Works Artisan Bath & Body Care which made specialty soaps, etc. They really were like nothing I have ever seen before. Some of them looked like cheesecake, cupcakes, petit fours, etc.

We had a really great time. Of course after we got back my cat Mr. Midnight was a little upset with the fact that mom went away for so long, but he soon forgave me and all is well! All in all, it was definately worth the long ride there, eh!