Ottawa, Ontario – Wal-Mart or suburb family?

The rapids where Ottawa and St. Lawrence River meet stopped 1535 Jaques Cartier’s expedition to Canada’s midlands exactly where Montréal is situated today. The discoverer of St. Lawrence River fought with the low water depth while the Indians overcame the obstacle even in those days. After building the first channel in 1826, the second bypass of the rapids for ocean liners was finished in 1959. Now St. Lawrence River is navigable right through from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and Montréal became – 1600 km away from the sea – to one of the world’s largest inland ports.

We cross the border to Ontario and reach Ottawa in the afternoon.  In Canada’s capital there are no parking lots for motorhomes, so we decide to sleep the first time at Wal-Mart’s parking lot. The large supermarket chain offers RVs all over North America the possibility to stay overnight free of charge. Of course they hope for the campers to shop with them – what happens mostly. If they do not wish or allow parking there is usually a sign posted. There is no indication that we are not wanted, so we start to make ourselves comfortable as far as this is possible. A lot of people start talking to us, curious what kind of car we drive and what we are doing. Dan and Myra decide to adopt us and take us home. Good-bye Wal-Mart, actually we prefer the suburb, the garden plot, daughter Megan, energetic Boxer teenager Daisy, tomcat Sylvester and another cat I didn’t meet, pasta, beer, and campfire. What a hard life.

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