A bad day

Monday - 7 June 2004 - Pulaski, New York: We had a great day yesterday in Burlington visiting with friends. Today, we had a bad day. (DT says that is not true - he says we had a "less than entertaining day".) Nothing terrible happened, but just so many little things that grate on My Driver's nerves and make for a long day of driving. And, today, we were going to have a long day of driving.

The first non-disaster happened 10 feet into our trip. DT had hitched-up the Honda and we were pulling out of our campsite, when he realized he couldn't make the turn. Someone had planted a tree directly in front of his path! DT is legendary for his good driving skills, so there is no reasoning for this unusual lapse in judgment, (Y-chromosome) but none-the-less, we had to unhitch the Honda so he could back-up to make the turn. After this delay, we pulled out of the campground on our way north on Route 2, only to scrape the oil pan over the highway as we bottomed-out while exiting the campground! My goodness, the noise! I am sure sparks were flying! No damage though! Whew! We loved Apple Island campground, but watch-it when exiting!
 
The best part of the day was driving on Route 2 over the Champlain Islands to New York. Simply beautiful, driving on islands out in the middle of a magnificent lake! Charming cottages line the lake shore and workers are painting and scrubbing to get things ready for the summer season. We had no choice but to enjoy the views as we were behind a car driving 30 mph for twenty miles. Still no moose sightings. This area is ripe with history as the English and French were all over the lake. Whoever ruled the lake controlled the settlements to the west. The natives knew the no-elevation-gain canoe-carrying route to the sea. Natural resources abound - this was the place to be.
 
But, we had to move along.

Crossing the bridge into New York - within feet of Canada - we had a detour, due to road construction, then had to sit at the repaving site forever. It was going to be one of those mornings. We stopped at the New York State Welcome Center. We were the only people there. Though the clerk did ask if she could help us, she was a bit unfriendly - as if we were interrupting her from her job - which is to help tourists! Only in New York, kids, only in New York! We did find useful brochures and maps about our planned drive, Route 3 - The Scenic Byway. Except it really wasn't that scenic. Small towns, but none of the quaintness of New England. Actually, some of the towns were kinda dumpy, with rusting snowmobiles in the front lawn of the homes. However, New Yorkers are either very patriotic, still observing Memorial Day or are commemorating the death of Ronald Reagan, because every town we drove through had an American flag flying from every telephone pole. Very pretty! The scenic drive passed through mountains (well, Oregonians would call them hills) and many peaceful lakes, but it didn't add-up to a scenic drive. The pine trees are dead (I'm guessing beetles), so the forests are scraggly-looking.

After completing the "scenic drive", we entered I-81 at Watertown and headed south. They are doing construction and we hit a bump so hard it rattled our teeth and snapped the bar off the bike rack and My Townie was dangling over the Interstate - suspended only by the expert work of The Bungee King! (All of this can be seen, in Living Color, due to the camera we have showing our back-side at all times on a 7-inch screen on the dash.) We had to pull-over at the next exit and try the repair on the side of the road. We use a spacer-bar that hooks under the handle bar and goes over to the bike seat - turning a girls bike into a boys bike. The jolt had actually bent the spacer bar and the repair could not be made gutter-side. We had to put My Townie into the rear of the Honda!

What a day.

We stopped for fuel in Adams, New York (71 gallons, $135). We had less than 25 miles to go to our campground. Would we make it? When we pulled into our campsite and could not believe our luck! We are camped on a bluff overlooking Lake Ontario! It is one of those campsites where you pull a motorhome straight-in, so you have the entire front windows overlooking the fabulous view! After our totally poopy day, this is just the thing we needed to make us happy. All the neighbors came out to admire Our Intrigue!

This was the perfect occasion to roast the Huge Bird that had been thawing in the fridge! The Nine Pounder went into the Advantium Oven and 90 minutes later, we were dining in style!

Our nine-pound dinner


DT on our private deck over-looking Lake Ontario

It's like a turkey that chicken! So delicious and moist! Go organic, people, go organic! Can you believe this fabulous patio (above)? The photo was taken from our campsite. The deck hangs out over the beach and also has steps leading down to the lake shore and bike path below. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, a delicious dinner and are now watching the Mariners on the satellite. Life is good - even on a bad day!

New York sunset: the view from site #A37 - Brennan's Beach RV Resort

RV Park: Brennan's Beach RV Resort in Pulaski, New York