Ottawa

On our way to Ottawa we happened across a wireless hotspot at MacDonalds (no less!). We were three days behind in our blogging but got caught up. Consequently, we didn`t arrive in Ottawa until later in the day. Trying to find a parking spot near Parliament Hill was challenging - we ended up making an impromptu tour of Hull, QC before finding somewhere we could park the camper van. Of course, at 9 ft tall, we don`t fit into parking garages and street parking in downtown is hard to come by - it seemed everything was reserved for those with ``parliamentary business``. We took a long walk with the dogs past the library, Bank of Canada, Supreme court, and Parliament Hill. The dogs were barred from going inside the building (though Dad tried to get them in, explaining the doggies didn`t know only ``assistance dogs`` were allowed in the parliament). There was a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill, with a raccoon in residence (with the cats!). The local ground hog also made an appearance and posed for photos outside the Parliament building. On the way out of town, we drove along the Rideau Canal which apparently becomes the world`s largest outdoor skating rink during winter.