July 23, 2008 Ottawa, ON. From North Bay we went to Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park (before Mattawa), Driftwood Provincial Park (before Deep River), and then to a Veteran's Memorial campground in Cobden, Ontario. We drove into Quebec for the first time yesterday, crossing over the Ottawa River at Portage du Fort near Chenaux. Met a fellow cyclist named Jacques, who showed us how to get onto the "Route Verte", a beautiful Quebec cycle route we accessed in Aylmer (Gatineau) and took all the way to downtown Ottawa. We're having a rest day with Marty's brother Nick and his wife Nancy, who live here. Nancy and Nick spoiled us rotten with wine, snacks and a fantastic meal last night and again this morning. We spent our day doing laundry, shopping for bike stuff at MEC, and touring around the Parliament buildings. Over the next couple of days we're heading to Oka (near Montreal) to meet up with our cycle buddy Serge who's asked us to stay overnight with him. Weather has been cloudy and cool, which was fantastic for cycling the Laurentian hills we just crossed over. Bye from all of us...Ray and Lydia, Barb and Marty, Mario, Nick and Nancy