Travelin' Road Show: 07/09/14

Sat Jul 5 - Jul 9th - Ottawa and Bluesfest

The Main 'Bell' Stage

The River Stage

Nice Perk for RBC Avion members

Waiting for Vintage Trouble

Up and out by 9:30am on Saturday, we drove straight to Ottawa and stopped only to switch drivers along the way. Great drive on a lovely sunny day. We arrived at Camp Hither Hills RV park at about 3:30pm and spent the evening after a quick supper researching how to get into Ottawa the next day. Hither Hills is a decent RV park, though showing some signs of neglect and wear... but will suffice well for the few days we are here and is about 20 minutes to the public transit system. unfortunately we forgot to take photos.. but it is basically a long RV park with one main path down the middle. The front area has a pool and reasonable washroom, and grassy spots. The middle appears to have mostly permanent or seasonal camp[ers and the back area is reserved for big rig pull-thrus with 50 amp service, which is where we were located (site G).

Vintage Trouble rocking

Here's to Ottawa Bluesfest

On Sunday we ventured out to the O Train and parked the truck in the commuter parking. With some help from someone heading in the same direction, we managed to negotiate the system and get a transfer bus from the train to Lebreton Flats Park where the Bluesfest was in full swing. We discovered much to our delight that RBC had a free outdoor lounge where we could (as Avion collectors) enjoy free soft drinks, ice cream and snacks. Happy as clams we stocked up and headed to the River stage to watch a band that has become a favourite of ours since we saw them opening for the Who in Nashville on the second day of our amazing RV adventure last year... Vintage Trouble. WHAT A GREAT BAND. Their live performance was fantastic. Energetic, talented and personable.. we both hope they continue their success so far and make the big leagues. They certainly deserve to. The lead singer Ty Taylor, is a phenomenal performer and had the crowd eating out of his hands... they were enthralled. We bought the CD and had them sign it, but later listening was not as good as we hoped. Maybe their new album will reflect their improved professional musicianship.
We stayed to watch Lady Antebellum perform in the evening, They were great, but not an all time favourite of ours so we made our escape before the end so we could catch a 97 bus back to our car, which we did easily. What a wonderful, sunny music filled laid back day. The Bluesfest venue at Lebreton park is fabulous. The actual festival is well organized and the beautiful weather made for a fabulous event. Well worth going to in the future and spending more time... the acts they bring are top class.

Downpour

Because we knew we were heading back to the Festival on Tuesday, we spent Wednesday doing a few errands and trying to get further on updating the blog. Trying to get photos uploaded using semi-reliable WiFi is a slow and frustrating process, and requires a great deal of patience, something Janice is not famous for!!!!

Soaked but happy

Styx Rocking

Lawrence Gowan

Gowan again

Mick Jones with Foreigner

On Tuesday we were disappointed to find that the weather forecast appeared to be accurate and we were in for some rain. We pottered around most of the day and left about 4pm. We opted to take the bus all the way down instead of the train as the bus took us directly to the LeBreton park stop which is only a 10 minute walk to the Festival. We were loaded with umbrellas and rain gear.. well prepared for the expected storms. And storm it did. Styx were delayed over half and hour waiting for a break in the deluge, that had soaked everyone waiting for the performance. We had bought expensive seats thinking that we would be closer and have a better view... this was not the case. Although it was pleasant at least having seats to hunker down on under our golf umbrella, we felt rather cheated that those people who had paid only regular admission had a much better view of the stage than we had, having paid more than twice the price. A learning experience and note to self... don't buy expensive seats for the Ottawa BluesFest.. total waste of money!!! Having grumbled .... I must say that we still had a great time despite the downpour. Soaked to the skin we loved the Styx performance and the Foreigner performance... A neat surprise was when they brought Mick Jones on stage... Holy Toledo can that guy play guitar!!!!! So all in all a great day. Back to camp late but happy and wanting to come to Bluesfest again another year.

Tourists at Parliament Hill

On Wednesday we felt it was our duty as good Canadians to tour our capital city, so we once again jumped on the transit system (free all day for seniors ... so we only needed one fare!)... what a good idea!!

Exercise nuts at Parliament Hill

I must say here that Ottawa Transit is superb. Every driver we encountered was friendly, courteous and helpful. The buses ran frequently and the transit-way is a marvel. Someone had the great idea to make a road dedicated only to transit... no stop signs, no traffic lights... just bloody brilliant!!! AND it is used .... busy day and night for good reason!! Well done Ottawa!!!!

Outside the National Art Centre

KILL IT!!!!!!

The Mint

Anyway.. we spent the day exploring Ottawa. We went to the Mint.. which we were a little disappointed to discover only made commemorative and collector coins... no regular currency. But the tour was informative and interesting.. worth the visit. We wandered round the Byward Market and picked a neat deli for a bite to eat... salads and a shared "Croque Monsieur" a kind of toasted cheese thing with cheese baked on the outside of the sandwich and ham in the middle. We then went on a free tour of Parliament buildings. very interesting. Our favourite was the library, the only area to fully survive a fire in the early 1900's. It really is breathtakingly beautiful. We also went up the peace tower. Heading back to camp late afternoon we felt we had got to know Ottawa better and totally enjoyed the city.