Descriptive Essay: Canada Next Exit-Ottawa, Montreal

Sitting in the car I saw the sign that read “Canada Next Exit- Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal.” The car turned left and the bridge came into sight; I felt nervous of what lay across the calm and icy St. Lawrence River. I was about to leave America for the very first time and be in a place with different customs, and different beliefs, a place that wasn't home.
I played hockey for a youth team in my town and the league was set up so half the teams were American and the other half was Canadian. So hockey is what ultimately brought me to Canada for the very first time. We were to play a team from Kemptville Ontario, a decent size town between Ottawa and the U.S. border. So the team set off for Kemptville, each player with their own families in their own car. We passed the U.S. Custom building and I saw cop cars and a giant line of cars so being only nine years old I got really scared of what was ahead of us. Every car was now being stopped and checked at customs before going onto the bridge. That's when my stomach dropped,

As we approached, the silent sound of the wheels on the asphalt turned into a rumble of the bumpy almost cage like floor of the bridge. The river banks had a thin layer of ice covered by snow and large pieces of ice floated down the river. The channel where the large cargo ships passed all summer remained unfrozen and the current was slow. Almost at a dead stop. At the top was the most beautiful sight of the entire trip. Looking up river, I saw the the tall towers of Brockville Ontario. The city across from my home in New York. There was a gentle snow but the path up river was clear and I saw the start of the Thousands Islands stranded for the winter. On each side of the water too countries stood, and if it wasn’t for the little flags on the houses on each side you wouldn’t be able to tell which side was America and which was