*END* of East trip, Aug/Sep 2016

Homeward bound today, we left our Lancaster ON camp at 7:10 for a Denny’s breakfast to start the nice sunny day. Breakfast was good, although we made the mistake of having coffee with it. The coffee wasn’t as good as ours, and it was $2.85 per cup! Don’t do that again.

It was up to 20C by 9am. We exited from Hwy 401 at exit 440 on Hwy 35/115 and over to Orillia via Hwy 12. This is a pleasant drive, and bypasses all of the “Metro Toronto” area. Up to 28.5C at noon.

We stopped at the Cabella’s store in Barrie, as I had seen an ad while in PEI for some hiking shoes on sale that sounded good (they are). We also found a basic fire ring for our outdoor firepit.

Along the way home we stopped at an A&W for takeout burgers, and reached home about 5:10 pm, vowing to NEVER go through Quebec again! (until next time, likely). 

Today's route:

Cranberry Lake NY to Moose River VT

We were able to cook a “real” breakfast outside today at the picnic table. No sooner had I started cooking than we had some visitors looking for handouts:

They rooted around for a while, then moved on for better pickings elsewhere.

After breakfast we continued along hwy 3, stopping at Lake Placid for some groceries about 9:30. We don’t bring any fresh things with us across the US border anymore, so we needed a bit of stocking up. Over the years we’ve had several things seized there, like chicken, eggs, beef, citrus, potatoes, etc. You never know what they will be looking for on the way in to the US on a given day.

It was up to 19C, a sun/cloud mix, when we were off towards Hannaford and the Crown Point bridge. The bridge crosses Lake Champlain down towards the southern end. The bridge is free unlike the various ferries, and it’s a scenic drive over that way and across to VT hwy 17.

While we were stopped in a park before we crossed the bridge, a couple came by and admired our van. They had just ordered a new Chrysler van to customize, so were quite interested in our effort. They were locals, and mentioned that hwy 17 was in poor shape and recommended a different route. We decided to stick to our plan though, and other than some minor construction 17 was pretty much as usual. The big hill was no problem for the van.

In Bristol NY we stopped at a library to use their free WiFi. We had experimented with both our phones for US coverage this trip, and both were failures. We tried to activate a US texting add-on via Koodo on Cathie’s phone, and that didn’t work. I tried Roam Mobility on my phone. It was a pain changing SIM cards, and it never worked either. Back to the drawing board for US phone coverage.

We carried on along #17 to 100B and on to Interstate 89 through Montpelier; then we picked up #2 and started looking for a campsite for the night. Eventually we stopped at Moose River cg. Convenient to the road (ie traffic noise) and pricey at $33 US for a site, but we were ready to stop. 26C and sunny at 4:45. Not as nice a setting as Cranberry Lake, that’s for sure.

Good facilities at Moose River though, we do like a hot shower after a travel day. It was nice sitting outside with almost no bugs, chatting with people as they stopped in on their walks. Another pleasant evening.

Today's route:

Cambridge ON to Cranberry Lake NY

20C at 6:10 when we left from Cambridge to start the trip. It was really stormy yesterday afternoon and evening, with heavy rain at times and tornado warnings for the area. We slept in the van, and fortunately the window vents didn’t allow any noticeable water into the van.

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. 

A nice picnic spot along Hwy 3

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:

*START* of East trip, Aug/Sep 2016

Summary:
The main goal of this trip was to see coastal Nova Scotia. Along the way we went through several North East US states, and finished off with a visit to PEI, just the two of us in the 2014 Sprinter van. 

We went out via the US and back via Canada. As generally happens with us, we hope to never drive through Quebec again. See the drive home for why. I'm sure we'll do it again though, sometime.

The van worked well again. We enjoyed (and could relate to) the freedom it gave us compared with many trips out East with a trailer over the years.