Merrickville

Two days of sun, rain, and thunderstorms while cruising the beautiful Rideau Canal, but we have survived the less than perfect weather. We departed Ottawa late in the day after waiting for Mark and Lynn to arrive since we hadn't seen them since Chambly. We figured we might not meet up with them again so we visited awhile and then said our good byes.  We had only been cruising about 30 minutes when we came into a lake filled with kids kayaking and canoeing.  As we were turning back into the canal I noticed two boys flip over in their canoe. I immediately maneuvered the boat alongside and pulled them aboard. Thankfully they were wearing life jackets as they were already getting tired. We wrestled the canoe across the cockpit of our boat and dumped the water out. Within 10 minutes they were back to paddling and we were on our way to the first lock of the day.  We ended up staying atat the fourth lock of the day and had tasty quesadillas for dinner. Tuesday brought some intense rain but the scenery was great. The lock operators were very nice and we think we found Allison a husband! A handsome, strong, friendly, young man, told us that coming to Alaska was on the top of his list! After sending Allison his picture, she text back and asked if we had given him her phone number. The locks are generally operated by younger folks from 18-25 years old that work for Parks Canada in the summer. What a great job!
We spent the night in Merrickville and found the ice cream store in quick fashion. It helps that by great friend Alan Rudisill had been tracking us daily and gives walking directions (almost live) to the food and ice cream locations in each town! He is also our live weather forecaster since we have no data while cruising. Thanks my friend, we appreciate you keeping us safe, and keeping our bellies full of sugar.
We are off on a new quest, and the sun is peeking through the clouds....finally.














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