July 3 Toronto - Ottawa
Woke up 4:30 Did my blog. Rita got up at 8:00. Packed, cleaned up and left Toronto at 10:45AM.
Stopped on an First Nations Reservation just before Kingston to fill up. We had driven from the Airport to the Apartment, to the Cemetery, to Niagara Falls and back all the way to Kingston. Didn't check the mileage before we started but at $.91 it cost $33, This Nissan Versa is an economical car.
Stopped at a Tim Horton's in Kingston. Each of us had a BBQ Beef Panini, Rita had a salad and I had a Canadian Maple Donut.
The coffee tasted so good, that I went back to buy a pound of ground coffee. Looked at the donuts on display, and just had to have a Boston Cream.
We had told the Airbnb owner that we would be on Ottawa between 5 and 6. Had plenty of time, so decided to drive around Kingston. Rita was not very impressed, with Kingston, so we just drove right through.
The drive from Toronto to Ottawa is boring. Especially after eating a Panini and 2 donuts. Just wanted to close my eyes for a minute. Kept telling myself that the road was pretty straight, closing my eyes for a minute was no problem. The only thing keeping me awake was Rita asking me what types of crops were grown on the fields beside the road. She must think I'm a real rube. I know she thinks that I have agricultural manners and intelligence, but I don't know why she thinks I can tell the difference between a turnip and a potato field.
Nearing Ottawa saw a sign, suggesting an alternate, scenic route. As I said we had plenty of time, so decided to take the scenic route. We have never seen more beautiful turnip and potato fields on any of our previous trips.
Arrived at 200 Besserer Ave. at 4:45PM. Since we were early, decided to go to the LCBO and the Metro Supermarket, I had found on Google earth, which are a block away. Bought 2 Liter Bottles of Hungarian Merlot-Kékfrankos, which we had had in a restaurant on the banks of the Danube in 2010 with Raya and Ken. $10 a Liter. Went to Metro Market bought some sandwiches. Rita bought a piece of chicken. The meeting was supposed to take place in the lobby between 5 and 6. We were there at 5:30. Nobody showed up. Rita was let into the lobby by a resident. Tried calling the number we were given. Our phones don't work in Ontario it seems. I had topped up my phone before we left. We should be able to make local calls, according to Telus. The phones used to be topped up automatically. For years we've had no problems. Last few months, we've had nothing but problems with them.
We were supposed to meet a Chinese student named Tyler who owns the apartment. A young Chinese guy came in the front door, I asked him if he was Tyler. he looked bewildered and didn't speak much English. It wasn't Tyler. A lady leading two dogs came through the lobby. Asked if there were any payphones around the neighborhood. She didn't know, but offered her phone to make a call. Phoned Tyler no answer.
At 6:00PM a Chinese guy, carrying two large packages of toilet paper, showed up. It wasn't Tyler, but he had the keys to let us into the apartment. Told us he was late because he had to shop for the toilet paper.