Because we wanted to get started as early as possible, we stopped at McD’s for a thermos of coffee, oj and 2 sausage muffins, all good. We just took hwy 24 to 401 and headed east, with a pit stop at an On Route near Port Hope about 8:20.
I forgot to top up the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid, part of modern diesel emission systems) in the van before we left, so stopped at a Flying J and topped up at their DEF pump. Don’t do that! It’s designed to fill up large DEF tanks on trucks, and was very difficult to use with the van without lots of spillage. Also, I had to prepay, guessing how much it would take. After all this, it took less than 4 liters, so didn’t really need topping up anyway. A learning experience.
So many trees in bad shape around Kingston, because of the summer drought.
After a quick (and overly large) Denny’s breakfast, we got pretty well right on the ferry to Wolfe Island. This is a free government ferry, running from the docks in downtown Kingston.
We had decided to take this ferry, and the next one from Wolfe Island to NYS (New York State), instead of our usual crossing via the Ivy Lea (aka Thousand Islands) bridge. It was interesting, but we’re unlikely to do it again, mostly because of the second ferry experience.
Wolfe Island is quite pastoral, with lots of large windmills.
The ferry from Wolfe Island to Cape Vincent NY is way smaller than the first ferry, and not free ($20 Cdn).
In the picture above, they crammed a small car on last, but couldn’t quite close the ramp due to the boat trailer in tow, but away they went anyway.
We weren’t quite so packed, but we were the last vehicle on when it was our turn.
We squeezed in beside that grey car, so were first off on the other side. The ferry felt unstable at best, and I’m sure would be quite scary on a day with strong Westerly winds.
It wasn’t quite as easy getting through US Customs on the NY side as the ferry literature touts. It felt like 30 minutes or more (and we were first in line) instead of the promised 10 minutes. All in all, we’d take the bridge next time.
We got into NYS about 1:30, and after a pleasant drive along Hwy 3 we got to Cranberry Lake State Park about 4pm. We had both forgotten the long drive back to the campground off the main road. At times we wondered if we were on the right road, as it winds past many cottages on its way to the park.
I’m not sure if Cranberry has any electrical sites, but we wanted unserviced anyway, and there were lots of those. We settled on site 46 for $27.75. (including the added surcharge of a few dollars if you’re not from the state, fair enough).
We’ve stayed at this park several times, and always enjoyed it. There’s no road noise and a very quiet lakeside setting for many of the sites, including our #46.
We try to stop early like this generally, especially when we have a site like this, as it gives us lots of time to relax. We did some walking around the extensive campground roads, and just enjoyed the evening.
Today's route:
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