July 2

July 2, 2004

DAY 15

 

 

Today was a sunny, hot day. Tried out the trailer's air conditioning for the first time. Worked great !

Had a bit of a problem finding a campsite for tonight. Not surprising, I guess, since today is the Friday of the biggest long weekend of the summer, on both sides of the border.

Left Selkirk Shores State Park and drove north on N.Y. Hwy. 3, following the east coast of Lake Ontario. Stopped at Wescott Beach State Park near Sackets Harbor on Henderson Bay. No campsites available for tonight. Continued north on Hwy. 3 until it met Interstate 81 at Watertown. Stopped at a Sam's Club store adjacent to a Wal-Mart, to see what it is. Just like a Costco or Price Club. Had to manoeuvre the rig in and out of 2 gas stations in Watertown that didn't have diesel, finally finding diesel at the third station. Extremely difficult ; certainly is developing my rig handling skills in tight quarters.

Continued north on I-81 to the New York State Welcome Centre at the Thousands Island Bridge. Stopped to find out if any of the many State Parks in the Thousand Islands area have available campsites. Staff at Welcome Centre clueless. Thanks for the help ! Picked up the brochures for all the State Parks in the vicinity, and started phoning them from the payphone. Found a few campsites available at nearby Wellesley Island State Park, so off we went, in a big hurry.

Nice State Park on Wellesley Island. Nicer than Selkirk Shores last night. Not as nice as the Ontario Provincial Parks. Went for a short walk, followed by a very long walk, exploring the campground. Decided to not even unhitch, since we’re only here for 1 night. Maybe the unhitching and rehitching process is unnecessary work for 1 night stops.

Hot afternoon, and long walk, inspired Joanne to a long, late afternoon nap, a very rare occurrence for her. I did some office work, and photo work on the computer. Barbecued chicken for late supper, followed by another short walk at dusk to the boat dock and back. Another fine day ! Sort of hate to have to return to Ottawa tomorrow or Sunday. Lots of work to do, and only 5 days to get it done. Van muffler replacement, trailer brake repair / adjustment, trailer roof vent replacement, lots of e-mail to catch up on, a Mastercard bill due, and I haven’t even received the statement yet, meet with accountant re : fiscal year end of 3 companies, meet with investment broker re : investing proceeds of house, etc..

I’m sort of getting accustomed to this retired / unemployed, full time traveller lifestyle. Don’t want to go back !

DSK