Day 15 - Homeward Bound

We woke up about 7:30; it had been raining hard off and on during the night. Took showers, drank some coffee, Kirsten had granola and the last of the soy milk, I had a wrap with hummus, pesto, baby spinach and mushrooms.

We packed up our gear, tossed out all the fresh veggies and fruit since we were headed back across the border to the USA.

Left the motel about 10:20. As I went in to get our bill there was a cop in there talking about another person.  Apparently something happened during the night (we heard nothing - well at 3:00 a.m. I woke up because a door slammed somewhere) and the desk clerk asked if the person was going to leave.  “Oh Yes.” the policeman said.  “We’ll be around and if you need anything, call the office we’ll be here in a flash.”

He left and the desk clerk and I finished our business.  I told her about the funky sink drain and the faucet that if I was an old lady I’d never be able to turn on.  The faucet required a muscular yank to open, and then it would be on full bore; the drain was slow, so inevitably you’d end up with a couple of inches of water in the sink...  She assured me that she’d get maintenance on it, “They are going to be really busy today.” she said and thanked me for letting her know about the sink.

We headed up the 401 to Prescott.  As we drove over the bridge to the USA there was a freighter from the Canada Steamship Line going under the bridge heading towards Montreal. Very cool to see. Forgot to check the mileage when we left the motel; on the bridge we were at 3506.

As we traveled on the bridge, we found ourselves kind of swishing all over our lane.  Not sure if it is the Subaru all wheel drive on the metal mesh of the bridge floor; we’ve never had that kind of a problem on the bridge before.  We might read up on that and what to do for the next time we cross one of the big bridges.

We came off the bridge and landed in the line with customs. Right in front of us was an AMX from Ontario.  It was in beautiful shape.

We started checking how long it took some cars to get through Customs:

10:38 - car in gate

10:39 - next car

10:42 - next car - sent around to be checked over.

Then we noticed several flocks of geese flying over customs. Do they have to declare anything?  Are they American Canada Geese or Canadian Canada Geese,  hard to tell.

10:43 - next car

10:46 - next car - sent around to be checked over.

10:47 - next car

10:48 - next car

We went through at 10:55.  Customs official asked us to put down the back window, then asked if we were US citizens?  Was all the stuff in the back ours? Have a good day.  He was going off duty so we had a quick time through.  

We drove up Route 37 towards Waddington, NY and  stopped there to get gas and use the bathroom in the grocery store/gas station.  The next time we are in the area, I’m thinking about stopping at many of the little town halls and libraries in St. Lawrence County to look for any references to James Turner Church, Cora Pike, George Joel Church and see what I might find.   More homework for me before we get up there in that area next year.

As we continued out Route 37, we found a ’57 Chevy being worked on and a great old sign on the front of the garage.  The guy had just torn out the ceiling since it was infested with mice.  Other than that, he said, it was in great shape.  It had some huge engine designated by a big number, and a Hurst shifter.

In Massena they have several lovely water towers and as we waited at a stop light we noticed smoke pouring out of the top of the Burger King - must be burning off all that grease and fat from the burgers, as we left we found Bobs Motel.  Not looking very healthy like many of the businesses in that area.

We continued driving through the St. Regis Indian Reservation, so much poverty there.  Even the casinos looked run down but they are building a brand new one with fancy trees and a fancy driveway leading to it.  Seems like their reservation is not placed quite as well as the Seneca Nation which has a casino in Nigara Falls, NY.  Several other older casinos and about half the businesses looked abandoned.

We continued on to Fort Covington, NY.  Little less poverty here, saw a lovely dark green church which turns out is the Senior Citizen Center.

We continued on and found many wind turbines in Chauteguay, NY.  They are right on the Franklin and Clinton County line.  

As we moved onto route 190 in Ellenburg, NY we found a lovely old shed that needed its photo taken. Turned around at the transit station and took photos.  A fellow who wanted to leave the transit station kindly waited for us to finish taking the photo before pulling out. 

We drove a couple hundred feet down the road and found the wires covered with starlings.  Kind of reminded me of the old Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds".

We drove down route 87 in the rain for about 30 miles, then got off to drive down route 22.  This route travels along the shore of Lake Champlain giving us views of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

We traveled over the new bridge at Crown Point, NY and arrived in Vermont about 2:30 p.m.  We changed drivers and found a great view of the new bridge with big signs that say no stopping - so of course we stopped for a bridge shot.

We pulled into a fishing access and met a green heron in the waterway.

We continued driving towards sunshine and trying to leave the gray clouds and rain behind us, we ended up going out Route 4 past Castleton to Rutland, my old college stomping grounds.  Check out the lovely curves of the road ahead of us as well as the sunshine.

Saw some the Irene flooding aftermath coming through Vermont, including Jamaica where all of Water Street and several houses were swept away.  The bridge replacement in South Newfane is progressing, and they have installed some curbing.  Watch the curbin’, girls!  That is what KT’s driver education teacher used to tell them.  

We got home at 6:02 p.m. and unpacked the car.  It has been a fun trip, and we both have learned more about our families.