What a wonderful day. Since we still have access to the facilities at the Chateau Montebello, we decided to take advantage of them. After breakfast we strolled down our newly planked pier and walked across the perfectly manicured lawns and down to the stables. They have horseback riding through the forest around the grounds and Tom and I joined in for an hour in the saddle. Our friendly bilingual guide told us that they have trail rides in the area all year long and have a huge Percheron who breaks the way for them with the snow is deep. Today we rode along the river and then cut through a forest with dappled pine bark paths. The route crossed over several streams and wandered through deep ferns and by a vast marsh covered with purple blossoms. The ride was wonderful except for my old knees which complained to me about their endurance (or lack thereof).
After lunch we launched back into the Ottawa River for the afternoon cruise. The Ottawa River forms the boundary between Quebec and Ontario, so sometime this afternoon we crossed from
Quebec (French speaking) to Ontario (more mixed with English). We were on cow alert again as we passed some quaint farms – black and white cows on both sides of the water and large barns filled with hay just like the French country side. We passed big homes with seaplanes, an obvious mode of transportation on the river. We even saw a marina that only had piered seaplanes. Along the way we saw a river crossing with five ferries running so that there was no waiting for 
the long stream of cars ready to pass. We were pulling a good size wave behind the boat so that attracted several jet skies which swarmed to jump our wake. We kept trying to decide whether to anchor out over night or to proceed to Ottawa. We passed by the end of the Rideau River that
pours as a series of water falls into the Ottawa River. When Chaplain who was the first European to sail up the Ottawa River, saw the falls it called it the Curtain (or Rideau, in French) falls. Three hours after leaving the Montebello we passed under the Pont Alexander Bridge and 
caught a full view of the Ontario Parliament. This awesome structure with flying buttresses looks
like a cathedral and stands over the Ottawa Flight locks. We found a place to moor on the blue line, and took our bikes for a quick ride along side the river path for a beautiful view. Where we docked was where boats wait for lockage which was right next to a dock for large 
tour boats to touch and go. So we had a large audience as we 
grilled our hamburgers for supper, but there was a great view across the river as the night lights came on. 
After lunch we launched back into the Ottawa River for the afternoon cruise. The Ottawa River forms the boundary between Quebec and Ontario, so sometime this afternoon we crossed from
Quebec (French speaking) to Ontario (more mixed with English). We were on cow alert again as we passed some quaint farms – black and white cows on both sides of the water and large barns filled with hay just like the French country side. We passed big homes with seaplanes, an obvious mode of transportation on the river. We even saw a marina that only had piered seaplanes. Along the way we saw a river crossing with five ferries running so that there was no waiting for 
the long stream of cars ready to pass. We were pulling a good size wave behind the boat so that attracted several jet skies which swarmed to jump our wake. We kept trying to decide whether to anchor out over night or to proceed to Ottawa. We passed by the end of the Rideau River that
pours as a series of water falls into the Ottawa River. When Chaplain who was the first European to sail up the Ottawa River, saw the falls it called it the Curtain (or Rideau, in French) falls. Three hours after leaving the Montebello we passed under the Pont Alexander Bridge and 
caught a full view of the Ontario Parliament. This awesome structure with flying buttresses looks
like a cathedral and stands over the Ottawa Flight locks. We found a place to moor on the blue line, and took our bikes for a quick ride along side the river path for a beautiful view. Where we docked was where boats wait for lockage which was right next to a dock for large 
tour boats to touch and go. So we had a large audience as we 
grilled our hamburgers for supper, but there was a great view across the river as the night lights came on. 
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