1000 Island Cruise – Homeward Bound

After a good nights sleep by both, we were up and dressed just a tad early for breakfast, so we sat around our room making sure everything was packed, except for those last minute extras. As the restaurant finally opened at 8:30, Nat and I wandered over and ate a good breakfast of eggs, toast and hash browns knowing that lunch may be a little later than usual.

We had decided to take the U.S. route the GPS insisted we go the first time. Nat and I were hoping for a more scenic route home and what the hell, we had the whole day. Nat also had to gas up Ruby (our car), so we checked where the closest gas station was – trust me, they’re few and far between around Rockport - and headed to the nearest one in Lansdowne, ON at a small local store. A cute little village and very quiet on an early Monday morning.

Back on the road close to 10:00 AM. We would be driving over the 1000 Island International Bridge which was impressive from the St. Lawrence River when we sailed by it on Sunday. By the time we approached the Bridge, which was only a couple of minutes from the 1000 Island Parkway I was too late with the camera to take any pictures of the gorgeous scenery all around us. From above we could see cute little picturesque islands dotted here and there as the Bridge spanned across portions of the St. Lawrence and anchored at the end on a larger portion of the United States (New York State).  We approached Border & Customs at the bottom where we handed in our Passports, answered the questions – “What’s the reason for your trip”, to which Nat answered “decided to go home from Rockport via a more scenic route”. The Border Guard was sympathetic and replied “I hear ya!”. We were now on our way home.

The decision to go via the U.S. was a good one. U.S. I-81 was a less travelled road, very quiet this time of day and there was definitely scenery – farm land, homes and pretty countryside. This route would take us down to Syracuse, NY where we would then switch onto the New York State Thruway and straight home. A quiet, uneventful trip. We stopped for a snack and a pee around 11:30 at a Dunkin Donuts, continued driving until close to Buffalo where we stopped at one of those ONTARIO Service Stops for a “leg” break, had a cup of ice cream for refreshment and continued home.

The Canadian Border crossing was uneventful and when we arrived home we had no idea how exhausted we were. I literally dumped our suitcase of clothes in the laundry basket, unpacked my little travel bag and took a seat with Nat. We would forego any supper and get a small early evening munchie later on. That was us for the night. But all in all the U.S. side was definitely a better route to take and we’d do it again, if needed.

Tuesday morning was now going to be laundry day. I missed our usual Saturday laundry and with twice the load now, it was going to be a bit longer than usual. Nat headed down the road for a few grocery items and decided to mow the lawn while he had the chance. That was just about our day, along with a delicious fresh trout and salad supper – not like that frozen stuff on our trip. Wednesday would see me getting our pictures loaded onto the computer, get them named, and sort out any other business we missed while away. We had also both remarked by now that our wee little trip seemed so long ago. Hopefully this will see us taking more small trips now and again.