Monday September 10th 2018

I expected to wake up to the sound of rain on the roof of my RV home. Instead, I woke to a cloudy dull day. The forecast rain didn’t arrive until two thirty in the afternoon. Light to medium intensity rain has been falling since then. The current forecast has it lasting all night into the morning.

Before it started to rain I got in some exercise by walking around the campground. My walk started at the dumpster to deposit the trash and continued through the section of the park occupied by the seasonal residents. Most of the trailers in the area are not occupied right now. The people are either at work or at home during the inclement weather. Most of the seasonal sites seem to be occupied by Canadians. The nearest major population areas are in Canada. I imagine they have to manage their days in the country to keep under the 182 day IRS rule, so bad weather is probably a good reason to stay at home in Canada.

My RV home all alone in the field.

Back at my RV home as the rains began, I settled into research mode. I’m working on figuring out future travel plans. I need to lock in the rest of my winter plans and start the 2019 summer plans. I’m going to try and have more detail locked in early for next year. I’m heading for the west coast after spending the winter in Florida. The first decision is how do I get there. I could go across the southern states to California and turn north or cut diagonally across country to Washington State and turn south. Either way I’ll have to be back in the southwest before the snow sets in next fall.

Today is my last full day here. I’m moving into Vermont tomorrow. I got a few of the outside travel preparation tasks done before the rain started, but I’ll have a few extra tasks in the morning. Hopefully, it won’t be raining too hard.

The blossom of the day. As you can see I’m searching hard for flowers.

Sunday September 9th 2018

The temperature got down into the thirties in this area last night. In my RV it was around fifty when I got up. Today was not as sunny as yesterday, so the inside didn’t warm up as quickly. I had the electric fireplace on to warm things up quicker. The wind blew strong out of the northeast all day. It wasn’t the most comfortable day outside.

This wasn’t a very good day for sports on television. The New England Patriots were the national game, but I didn’t get to see it. The NFL games in this area featured the Buffalo Bills and the NY Giants. Both teams lost decisively. In other sports, the PGA playoffs golf and the NASCAR race were rained out. Instead of staying glued to the TV, I went to the Eisenhower Lock overlook and watched ships go through the lock.

I watched two ships go through the lock. The first was down bound toward the ocean and the second was up bound toward the great lakes. I could have stayed to see an additional up bound ship, but my camera battery was low, it was cold and I was getting hungry. As it was I was there more than two hours. It takes about an hour for a ship to approach the lock and pass through. The following pictures and captions describe my visit.

Ocean going ship out of Singapore approaching the lock from the west (upstream).

Ship slowed down to “crawl” speed to enter the lock.

In the lock ready to be lowered.

Exiting the lock on the lower side.

Clear of the lock and picking up a little speed.

The down bound ship passing the up bound ship that will replace it in the lock.

Up bound Canadian Lake freighter slowed to ease into the lock.

Entering the lock.

The CSL Niagra is 225.5 meters long. It barely fits in the lock. The marker gate in front of the lock doors couldn’t be lowered because of the ship’s length. The marker gate is the tall red thing that towers above and behind the ship.

Ships bow after it has reached the outbound height.

Ships stern and pilot house area after it has reached exit level.

CSL Niagra leaving the lock.

Another ship up bound following the Niagra. I didn’t wait for this one.

Saturday September 8th 2018

I went to bed last night after a cool late summer day. I woke up this morning to an early fall day. It was in the forties overnight again and it didn’t get above the mid sixties all day. “They” say it is going to be in the thirties tonight. On the plus side it was a beautiful fall day. There was barely a cloud in the sky all day.

A lighthouse as a decoration in upstate New York. Huh?

The cool morning set the trend for the whole day. I didn’t want to get out of the warm bed into the cool RV, until the sun had a chance to warm up the interior. When I dragged myself out of bed the inside temperature had reached sixty five. An hour later I started opening windows to keep the temperature under control. Outside it was still below sixty. This evening, the electric fireplace is on to keep the temperature from falling too fast. Like the temperature my ambition level today was on the cool side of the scale.

I spent the day relaxing around the RV. In between watching college football and the PGA golf playoffs I took a few walks around the campground. It is interesting to see how much has changed over the years that I’ve been coming to this park. I know I was here in 1994 and I think I’ve was here at least once before that. Since 1994 I’ve probably been here three times, so my visits are infrequent. One of the biggest changes is the growth of the trees. Twenty four years ago the sites were in a field with little trees planted between the sites. Today those tree trunks are a foot or more in diameter. I don’t think the site I’m on, in the open field area, wasn’t even part of the developed campground back then. The access to the campground has also changed. It now passes through a housing area that used to be open land.  It is still a nice campground.

Friday September 7th 2018

It looks like the summer heat has broken. The temperature got down into the forties overnight. During the day it got into the seventies, but tomorrow and Sunday may top out in the sixties. The humidity has also dried up making it very comfortable weather.

Around noon I drove to the Eisenhower Lock to watch a ship pass through on its journey up river. I used a website to find out about the schedule of traffic through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The ship Cape registered in Monrovia Liberia was just entering the lock when I arrived at the overlook. It approaches the lock and enters at a snails pace to avoid doing damage to the lock. By the time you realize it has stopped moving forward it has already risen a few feet as the lock floods.

The ship Cape entering the lock from the low down river side of the lock.

The ship sitting low in the lock behind the operations building.

Ship high in the lock.

Bow of the 186 meter long ship.

The ship Cape leaving the Eisenhower Lock west toward Lake Ontario.

The Eisenhower Lock visitors center is closed. It was open during the summer, but closed on Labor Day. It used to be accessible during the entire season the lock was open. Security concerns have limited the amount of time it is open. The facility is too close to the lock to allow unrestricted access. The parking lot has had concrete barriers installed and security personnel are on hand when the center is open. The lock overlook on the north side of the lock is still open. The parking lot is a couple of hundred feet back from the lock behind the operations buildings.

I tried to catch a couple of other ships passing through the lock, but lunch got in the way. The website showing the schedule called for forty minutes between ships. I returned to my campsite for lunch and lost track of time. Hopefully, I’ll see another ship or two while I’m here.

A number of trailers arrived at the campground for the weekend. I’m no longer alone in a field, but there are still plenty of available sites. That’s just one more indicator that summer is over.

Blossoms of the day.

Thursday September 6th 2018

I woke to the sound of rain on the roof of my RV home around six this morning. Rain on a travel day is not one of my favorite things. The good news is it didn’t last long. By 8AM the rain had passed and it was starting to clear. With the exception of a few things put away damp, it was a normal travel day preparation.

I left the campground on Association Island at 10:45. It took until eleven to work my way around Henderson Bay to the main road. From there it was clear driving mostly through corn fields to the city of Watertown and Interstate 81. A few exits north and it was back to two lane roads and rural America for the rest of the drive.

At one point along the way I passed through a road block checkpoint manned by the police. I didn’t see anybody get stopped or talked to, just slowed down to a crawl while they gave each vehicle a good look. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see an immigration checkpoint, but this was something else. There weren’t any boarder patrol officers in attendance.

Some of the farms along the way are owned by Amish people. There are road signs warning of buggy traffic on the right of way. I didn’t pass any buggies, but I saw a more interesting indicator of an Amish farm. In one of the fields I passed a man was plowing the field with a plow pulled by to work horses. It was a real throw back image.

Site 131 at the Massena International Kampground.

I arrived at the Massena International Kampground around two in the afternoon. I’ll be here until Tuesday. The attractions in the area include the Robert Moses State park and the Eisenhower Lock on the St Lawrence Seaway.

The sunsets here are not as impressive as those I’ve observed the last few days, but it was colorful.

Wednesday September 5th 2018

The heat advisory for central New York state was expanded to include this county today. The day started with the temperature in the high sixties, but the humidity overnight was high. During the first part of the day the wind didn’t blow and it warmed up quickly. In the afternoon the wind blew hard, but in some ways it was too late. Areas exposed to the breeze with some shade were OK, but the rest of the area was uncomfortable.

Wash time for the geese.

I’m watching you.

This is my last day on Association Island. I’m moving on to the Massena NY area tomorrow. I’ve enjoyed my time here watching the action on the lake, walking around the island and watching the sunsets. Today’s walk was shorter do to the heat. I only went as far as the marina, but didn’t find anything of interest. Back on my side of the island the birds provide a little entertainment.

Blossom of the day.

I completed some of the outside travel preparation tasks today. Hopefully, it will be cooler in the morning so I can complete the tasks without shedding gallons of sweat. The inside tasks that I can do ahead of time are all done. I’m only traveling a little over one hundred and twenty five miles so I’ll leave as close to the 11am checkout time as I can.

‘

Last sunset of my visit to Association Island.

Tuesday September 4th 2018

In some parts of the area today was cooler than yesterday. Here on Association Island it felt warmer. The wind wasn’t blowing as hard as yesterday, so the sun’s rays and the humidity were really felt. I still resisted the urge to turn on the air conditioner and kept the windows open and the vent fan on.

This sailboat anchored behind the island for the night.

I finally went into town for some groceries. The nearest stores of any size are twenty miles away in the city of Watertown. I traveled in a loop to get there and back, so I didn’t travel on the same roads. Basically, I saw a lot of corn fields. The primary attraction in this area is Lake Ontario. You need to travel a longer distance to find other attractions of interest. I only bought a few items spending lest than twenty five dollars on food. I spent nearly forty dollars to fill the car’s gas tank. The price of gas in New York state includes more tax than most. I spent three dollars and ten cents a gallon for gas today. I’m not looking forward to filling the motorhome’s tank when I leave here on Thursday.

‘

Around the campground the staff is recovering from the long weekend. They have been checking every site, cleaning the fire pits and picking up any litter. A few more campers arrived today to fill some of the empty sites. I now have a neighbor two sites away and the waterfront sites are filling up. I had to walk further to see the sunset tonight.

Clouds started to move in just in time for sunset.

Boat passing through the sun’s setting beams.

‘

‘

Monday September 3rd 2018

By the time I got up this morning one of my neighbors had already departed. All of my other immediate neighbors would be gone before the morning was over. The long weekend was over. It was time for everybody to go home.

Area in front of my RV after the mass exodus.

My RV in the field with lots of open space.

My RV from another direction.

All around me people were packing up the things they had brought for the weekend. A few sites away a box trailer towed behind a motorhome was filled with four kayaks and eight bicycles along with a bunch of little stuff. A truck pulling a flatbed utility trailer went by with a golf cart, two kayaks and several bicycles bouncing around on it. It is amazing the amount of stuff people bring with them for a three or four day weekend.

Wind driven water on Lake Ontario.

As the 11AM checkout time approached a traffic jam of departing RVs developed. Several of the park roads converge and funnel into one exit road. Each of the feeder roads had three or more RVs waiting to merge into the outbound road. This went on for more than half an hour. I’m guessing more than two hundred RVs left this morning. I never seen such a mass exodus from a campground. I went from feeling crowded to feeling deserted.

Birds staying low to the ground to avoid the wind.

Guy on a personal water craft dealing with the wind driven surf.

The area south and east of here was under a heat advisory today. This county wasn’t included probably because of the wind. A strong wind out of the southwest blew all day. There was a real chop complete with white caps on Lake Ontario. I opened the windows in the RV and sat outside in the shade. It stayed pretty comfortable. Late in the day thunderstorms passed to the south near Syracuse and to the north in Canada, but this area remained sunny and windy. The sunset was worth taking pictures.

‘

‘

‘

‘

Sunday September 2nd 2018

It was a very quiet morning in the campground. Everyone was sleeping in after all of Saturday’s activities. As the morning progressed a few people pulled out and others got more active. The park is still pretty close to full tonight.

The farmers market at the campground. The most interesting booth was the 1000 Islands Winery.

The big activity in the park today was a Farmers Market. About twelve area vendors setup stands to sell their products. Of the twelve only one stand had any produce for sale. Half of one stand had tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and corn. Most of things for sale had nothing to do with farm products. In fact, they weren’t even locally made. They got a lot of attention, but I don’t know how much they sold.

Two kayaks needing separation.

A lone duck.

The weather most of the day was very overcast. The cloud cover prevented it from getting above the mid eighties, but the humidity was very high. The wind was present again today. I think wind is the norm for this lake front area. Toward the end of the day the filtered sunlight made an appearance, but more clouds were off to the west.

Tiny blossom of the day.

I stayed at home all day. My thoughts of making a grocery run never materialized. The quiet slow morning didn’t do anything to get me motivated. I spent time watching the boaters and hiking around the island.

Clouds to the west were thick blocking the sunset a little.

Two kayaks passing in front of the setting sun.

‘

Saturday September 1st 2018

It’s hard to believe today is September first. The hot days of summer have passed quickly. Today was a windy day with a high temperature around eighty. Tomorrow is forecast to be warmer with more humidity.

The geese had their backs turned to all the seagulls.

‘

I continue to enjoy my stay on Association Island doing nothing special. I walked around the island again today. With all the campers it is a much different walk than earlier in the week. Kids on bicycles, scooters and other forms of human powered transportation fill the roads. Adults in golf carts weave around the kids playing and the pedestrians. When you add in the cars coming and going it’s an accident waiting to happen. I thought an accident had occurred this afternoon. The local fire department was near the marina with lights flashing. It turned out they were there for entertainment and fund raising not professional services. The campground had a number of organized events today culminating with a band in the hall tonight. I didn’t go to the performance, but could here some of the music from my site.

.

My entertainment was watching the boats in Henderson Bay. In addition to many fishing boats there were several sailboats taking advantage of the wind. The sailboats had to do a lot of tacking to get to Henderson Harbor. It was directly into the wind, but it was close. Outbound from the harbor the boats really moved downwind.

.

By far the largest number of boats in the area were kayaks. I saw groups from two to ten circling the island and the bay. Many of the campers that arrived yesterday had kayaks with them. They got launched all around the island, not just at the boat ramp. There were some kayak traffic jambs and a least one collision that I witnessed, but everybody was having fun.

Tomorrow I probably have to go into town for supplies. I’m out of bottled water, orange juice and bread. These aren’t things that I couldn’t live without for another day or two, but a change of scenery for an hour or two might be interesting.

Blossom of the day.