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A few have been wondering where we are...not too worry, we are just busy visiting friends and family and not taking the time to write!
After we left Wawa we headed to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec where my dad is from. We had a great visit and learned a lot about the history of the town which was quite interesting. Noranda was a planned mining town and Rouyn was a more chaotic rural town that sprung up beside it. They are no longer underground mining in Noranda but the smelter is use to process ore from surrounding regions as well as melting old electronic equipment to recover precious metals. The view over the lake reminds me a little of Yellowknife, but the two huge smelter stacks certainly dominate the horizon. We explored the area by bike on a beautiful new trail, jumped in the maples leaves, and really spent most of our time cooking and eating with family rather than looking at the stacks!
Then it was south to North Bay to visit with my best friend from university and her family. The kids swam at the local pool, and toured the museum of aerospace defence where they learned about the underground shelter built during the cold war, and about the nuclear missles that were based in North Bay. We ate and drank a lot more, then rolled on in to Ottawa where we continue to be fed lots of yummy food at Steve's mom's house and when visiting with friends! I don't miss camp cooking yet! The kids have been out to museums and the Gatineau hills with Steve and their Oma, and I biked downtown with them past the parliament buildings along the awesome bike paths here, but the weather has not been steller so that has limited our outdoor time.
Ottawa is also where we are beginning the process of shedding stuff. We sold the car roof box, packed camping gear to ship home, and gave away excess clothes and books. We found out that our car has to pass emissions and safety tests to be sold in Ontario. Not surprisingly we failed the safety test due to the cracks and chips in our windshield and side mirror (we lived with them for 10 years no problem though!). So a new windshield is being installed and we will advertise the car before we get to southern Ontario next week.
Tomorrow we are off to Montreal for the long weekend to visit with my brother's family, then the long drive down highway 401 to my mom's in Waterloo where we get rid of everything else and start focusing on what we need for almost 9 months overseas!
- comments
niels Look forward to the international part of your tour. Bon voyage!
Pascale-Hélène Bonjour la famille Schwarz, vous avez l'air de faire un bon début de voyage. Si le coeur vous en dit, vous pouvez faire un arrêt à Belleville sur la route de Toronto. Nous y sommes depuis la mi-août et nous serions très heureux, Victor, Charlotte, Hugo et moi de vous dire un petit bonjour. Si vous avez le temps, réécrivez moi et je vous fais parvenir nos coordonnées.