Girls Getaway to Ottawa

We've been planning for our 50th high school reunion in Bathurst, New Brunswick in 2026. At our last meeting, it was mentioned that one of our classmates, Lyse Doucet, was doing a tour for her book The Finest Hotel in Kabul. "We should go see her!" I said to my friend, Margaret, only half joking.

And here we go off to Ottawa...at the airport in Fredericton. I love this painting by local artist, Percy Sacobie.

We had yet to see snow in Fredericton, but we knew Ottawa had some, and the forecast for the week didn't look great.

Love this inukshuk at the Ottawa airport made from stones gathered across Nunavut.

We decided to go to the Oh Canada Eh? dinner musical. I had been before at our family reunion and it was a fun evening. Margaret and me before dinner...

 All is quiet on the set...

Starting off with some lively fiddle music to get us in the mood...

It's a really fun evening with lots of loud EHs thrown in...

Canadian menu starting with split pea soup, followed by tourtière with gravy, chicken, fish, vegetables and nanaimo bars. 

I think we have all the Canadian bases covered here...

I laughed at the hobby horses remembering when Randy got up and rode one when the family went to the show. I guess they couldn't find a willing audience participant here.

I went for a walk the next morning past the monument honouring aboriginal war veterans.

And then up to the National War Memorial. It was the day after Remembrance Day, and it was nice to see the wreaths and poppies.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...

Lovely flags with the East Block of Parliament in the background...

Centre Block which always seems to have some sort of restoration going on...

East Block with a glimpse of the Chateau Laurier in the background...

West block...

A walk down Sparks Street...this is called Territorial Prerogative.

Followed by Joy...

And Lord Stanley's Gift...

It was book signing night and we went for dinner in the hotel before heading to the church. I had shredded chicken arepas, which was delicious.

The Knox Presbyterian Church was just around the corner and the venue for Lyse's talk and book signing. 

Margaret and I had both ordered copies and were looking forward to having Lyse sign them.

Here is Lyse from our yearbook in 1976. How cool that her write up in the yearbook said "where is she now? Perhaps writing or being written about." Very true 50 years later...

Her talk was amazing. She is poised and polished and yet so down to earth. 

I love how we went to see her and congratulate her on her success, and she ends up making us feel special. That's a gift!

On a little walk the next morning, here is her book in the window of a local bookstore. She's in fine company!

We went to OCCO restaurant to meet up with my grandson, Erik and his partner, James. We shared the brussels sprouts. OMG they were delicious. Such odd ingredients, but all together amazing. Honey balsamic glaze, greens, candied bacon, blueberry cashew cream, pistachio cream, fried onions and bobas. 10 out of 10!

Margaret, Erik, James and me...Erik and James were participating in a 24 hour rowing challenge the next day to raise funds for the Ottawa Food Bank. 

The next morning we walked to the Elgin Street Diner...

Loved the shirts...the owner was a character!

Mmmm...eggs benny.

Margaret bought me a shirt! LOL look out zumba class.

And a little snow squall to send us on our way home. 

It was a fun little getaway!

Fun Fall Day at Crabbe Mountain

Lynne and I made plans to go to Crabbe Mountain for their annual Fall Festival of Colours. It's about a 45 minute drive and it was a lovely day for it.

The line-ups weren't big and we whizzed through in no time. Lynne actually listened to what the helpful guy was telling us about what runs to look for. It was pretty much Greek to me. She listens, I take photos.

Ah...now that I saw the map all the names made more sense...

A nice abstract of the ski runs...

Very interesting!

You had choices: You could get a ride to the bottom on an ATV; you could walk straight down on the bigger path; or you could go off to the left through the trees.

Pretty! What a perfect day...

It was a bit chilly...we even started off wearing gloves.

Loved the names...

We opted for the less steep, through the trees trail...

I could see why it was less steep...there were many switchbacks.

We brought our hiking poles, which I was grateful to have.

What the heck?

Still had the gloves and jackets on at this point...

But not for long...

These young 'uns made it look easy. Carry a kid on your shoulders no less. The path was very rocky, so kudos to them.

Lots of tree roots...

And out of the trees and into the sunlight...

At the bottom people were lining up for the chairlift to go back up the mountain. There was live music and a BBQ. It was really well done.

Ooh the chairlift...I was glad Lynne had skied before. At least she knew how to get on the lift!

And we're off. I was busy holding on to poles, backpack and my phone.

The lift was going very slowly, probably about 1/3 of the speed it normally goes.

At this point, I was thinking "if we fell out, it would hurt, but I don't think I'd die." 

Oh fun...people had stuck things to the trees...a butterfly!

The Joker!

I wasn't sure what that was. I thought it was a mushroom?

Such a beautiful day...

Flip flops...because why not?

Almost at the top...

Now I think it would hurt if you fell out!

At the top!

This is where Lynne's memory helped. Buddy had been telling us what we would see at the top. He mentioned Mount Katahdin, which I always love to watch for when we're in Maine. 

Dude was walking up the looong hill with a child on his shoulders. To be honest, there were a few unhappy kids around. It was a lot of walking.

I think this was the black diamond run "Poker Face."

At least the sign was pointing in that direction...

Spectacular day...couldn't have asked for nicer weather.

Time to head back down to the lodge...you could catch a ride on the hay wagon, but the line-up was long. 

Almost there...

Ooh yum! We "deserved" this!

Holy moly! We were going to give those chips our best shot!

Lynne's Strava app showing our zig zaggy walk down...

A great day!