Thursday September 13th 2018

It was a foggy morning, but it lifted before my travel day began. Since I had less than two hundred miles to go, I delayed my departure until close to the 11AM checkout time. As it turned out I left the park closer to ll:30.

Site 21 at the Lincoln/Woodstock KOA. I’ll be here for the weekend.

Getting the car hooked up for towing proved to be difficult this morning. My site was sloped ever so slightly to the front. It was just enough that the car would roll as soon as it was put in neutral. Blocking the wheels got it hooked up, but I couldn’t get the tow bar arms to lock in position. One arm ended up collapsed with the other full extended. That’s a sure way to bend or break the tow bar. It wasn’t easy to get the car disconnected to try again.

My second attempt was at the bottom of the hill. I drove the car down to the bottom and hiked back up the steep hill to bring the motorhome down. The new location looked level, but for some reason I had a similar problem with my second attempt. The only difference was the arm that didn’t lock was on the other side. The third try worked. In three years of towing I’ve only had one other problem getting everything connected. That was last May on a sloped site in Kentucky. I’m a little paranoid at the moment. I don’t know what’s different.

Once I was on the road I didn’t have any problems. I took the very long way around to get from White River Junction Vermont to Woodstock New Hampshire. I went north on Interstate 91 to St. Johnsbury and then south on Interstate 93 through Franconia Notch to the campground in Woodstock. Traffic was very light all the way. My hope of seeing a little bit of color in the mountains was not satisfied. Everything is still very green.

I arrived at the Lincoln/Woodstock KOA around 1:30. It turned into a warm day after the morning fog burned off. The temperature was in the high seventies and the sun was shinning brightly while I got set up on a site with very little shade. I’ll be here until Sunday when I move south to Littleton Massachusetts.

My view shortly after sunset.

Wednesday September 12th 2018

I slept in this morning. It wasn’t part of the plan, but it happened. I’m parked in the woods and the clouds were thick this morning. If the backup alarm on my neighbors motorhome hadn’t broke through my sleeping conscious, I’d have slept much longer. By the time I’d satisfied myself that the alarm didn’t mean the world was ending, I was wide awake and getting dressed.

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I don’t think I understood the weather forecast for this area. The northern New York area I was in over the weekend was clear and warm today. Burlington Vermont, the location of the TV stations I’m watching, was also warm and much drier today. This location on the eastern side of Vermont is far enough south that it is still in the rain that passed through earlier in the week. By not paying attention I was surprised to wake up to an almost rainy day. There were light rain showers off an on all day. It never cleared up, but the temperature did get into the seventies.

One of the plans for the day was grocery shopping. I even had a shopping list. It is rare that I feel the need to make a list, but I was out of several seldom used items that I probably wouldn’t remember at the store. I drove to West Lebanon New Hampshire around noon to buy some groceries. That’s when the plan started to go south. First I forgot the list and second the Walmart did not have a full grocery section. It was an older and smaller store.

The good news is I’m back in an area with store brands that I’ve frequented for many years. I switched my destination to the Price Chopper and Shaws grocery stores. I didn’t come close to getting all of the items on my list. The brand name package products that I buy frequently and remember the price of were all twenty cents to a dollar more per item. One example, a small can of corn is usually seventy five cents at Walmart. It was ninety eight cents at Shaws. In the long run it wouldn’t have ended up costing more than a couple of dollars more for my entire list, but I was feeling thrifty. I only bought the things that are usually similarly priced less or are of better quality at regular grocery stores like produce, meats and dairy. I got enough to hold me until I remember my list and I’m in the mood to spend money.

When I got back to the campsite to unload the groceries, the heaviest rain storm of the day passed through. It side tracked me from going back out and doing some sightseeing. I settled in to watch the Weather channel coverage of hurricane Florence. The little bit of rain in this area is nothing compared to what the folks in the Carolinas are going to get.

Tomorrow is another moving day. This campground is full for the weekend so I will be moving into New Hampshire until Sunday.

Blossom of the day.

Tuesday September 11th 2018

The torrential rain forecast for Monday into Tuesday never materialized. The brunt of the storm went south of the Massena area. It didn’t really rain at all overnight. I woke up to cloudy conditions that were ideal for packing up for the travel day.

I got underway a little after ten heading east across the top of New York state. I crossed the upper part of Lake Champlain at Rouses Point into Vermont around noon. Rather than continuing east to Interstate 89, I decided to work my way south on US-2 island hopping to the interstate just north of Burlington. It was a pretty drive looking out at the various parts of Lake Champlain. Thinking that it’s fall, I expected to see some color in the trees. There wasn’t any. It is probably because it was still summer in the 90s last week.

Once I reached the interstate it was a routine travel day. The sharp turns and gentle ups and downs of the secondary roads were replaced by gentle turns and higher ups and downs of the Green Mountains. Traffic was light to non existent.

Site 69 at the Quechee Pine Valley KOA in White River Junction Vermont. The sites are terraced on a hill side. Site 69 is at the top of the hill.

I arrived at the Quechee Pine Valley KOA between 2 and 2:30. I was mostly setup and setting the clock on the microwave oven at 3:07. This campground is on the east side of Vermont just up the road from White River Junction. I stayed here once before about ten years ago. I’ll be here for two nights before I move on into New Hampshire for the weekend.

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.

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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.

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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.

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