Hi All,
Nacho here. I'm going to give you a report of our second week of vacation. Mom might pipe in about a few things since I didn't get to go on the boat ride or visit a castle. Mom said to tell you if you like old houses and antiques you might like this report with lots of pictures, because her and Dad got to visit a castle on an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence Seaway. She said it was pretty cool!
We left Stowe, VT on Saturday morning after going over to Mountaineer Inn to help Pamela re-arrange the canopy, since hers was destroyed during a rain/wind storm two days previous. She finished grooming me so I would look handsome while Dad re-arranged her stuff under our canopy and got the x-pens moved around. She's the greatest!!!
Anyway, after we left we drove north and crossed Lake Champlain into New York state just 1/4 mile from the Canadian border. We then drove down along the west side of the lake and a bit west to Wilmington, NY which is about ten miles from Lake Placid. We stayed at a KOA there. Mom said it was pretty nice this time of year, but like many she wouldn't want to stay there when they are busy. We had no around around us close, so it was private and quiet. All the sites are under the pine trees so the ground is covered with pine needles. It sure smells nice.
The next day, we drove east a bit to see the Ausable River Chasm near Keenesville, NY. The falls and what we could see from the road and the walkway were neat, but Mom said she wasn't paying $16 per person to take a walk. Anyway, we had a nice walk and it was pretty cool.
Then we got back in the truck and drove to Lake Placid. Due to the time spent at the Ausable River, we were too late to see much of the Olympic sites in Lake Placid as they were closing up for the day because it was Sunday. Mom and Dad took a tour of the skating arenas where the 80' Hockey team won.
Monday morning, after KT and I woke them up (our usual duty), they packed up and we headed northwest towards the St. Lawrence Seaway and Thousand Islands and into Canada. We made good time and arrived about mid -afternoon at Mallorytown, Ontario.
After setting up (at another KOA) and taking a run around their private dog park,
we jumped back into the truck and headed down to Rockport, Ontario where Mom and Dad had a fish dinner while KT and I took a nap. Then they came and leashed us up and we walked around the little (very little) village of Rockport and up a hill to a Catholic church that had a nice overlook of the Thousand Islands area. It was a nice walk and fun to bark at squirrels and greet people.
The next morning after some exercise and breakfast, we were put in our bed and had to sleep and entertain ourselves while Dad and Mom took a five-hour boat ride and visited a castle. From here, Mom will report:
Dave and I drove early, about 9 a.m. to Gananoque, Ontario to see if any of the boat tours of the Thousand Island area along the St. Lawrence Seaway were giving tours. We were in luck, the one we really wanted to take, a five-hour cruise which included a two-hour stop at Bolt Castle on Heart Island was going out. We signed up and were told we only had about a 1/2 hour wait. Almost every island is inhabited. During the time the area was being settle, people built their homes on the islands as the river was their main mode of transportation and employment. Even a little island about 300 yards in diameter had a house built on it. As you will see from the pictures, they vary in size due to the island size, number of inhabitants or the persons' income. It was a very unusual sight and some of the houses were really impressive.
Even these birds had their own little island
The most impressive thing was the island owned by the Bolt family who co-owned the Waldorf-Astoria in NY city. He built a castle for his beloved wife and the gardens and many features in the castle feature hearts. She died before it was completely finished and he abandoned it. Years later it was purchased by the Bridge Authority and over the years they have been restoring and finishing it in the manner intended by the Bolts. Two hours was not enough time to enjoy this beautiful castle and it's immaculate gardens. And it is built on an island!!!! Pretty neat!
The castle as viewed from the St. Lawrence
The ceiling in the entry foyer
The entry way to the island
The Power house for the island
The Castle's boat house
The circular porch surrounding the castle
The stairs in the entry foyer
Some of the bedrooms
The Ballroom
The library
One of the dozen fireplaces
2nd floor sitting room off a bedroom
Outside views of the castle
I have lots more pictures I could share of the beautiful grounds and additional rooms!!!
After getting a few groceries we returned to the AS to relax for the evening and exercise the pups.
Nacho back here reporting......Wednesday morning we woke Dad and Mom up at our usual time, about 6:30 (can't let them sleep too late or we won't get to see anything!) They packed up and off we went again traveling across Ontario towards Lake Huron. We wanted to stay Wednesday night at a Provincial Park, but after arriving and spending two hours driving around looking for a suitable site, (Mom and Dad were totally disgusted and it was 7:30 at night and getting dark) we gave up that idea and drove to Port Huron, MI. We didn't get there until pretty late about 9:30 or so, but this KOA had security which after waiting for 15 minutes finally showed up and signed us in and escorted us to our site. Wow, it was really fancy!!!! We had our own patio with furniture!
We didn't get to stay and enjoy it because Mom and Dad decided our next stop would be the Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore and camp at the campground there since Dad has his "senior" pass. It was worth the drive because we had a nice site with a big area for us to play and to have a fire. This whole campground is nestled in the trees near the Dunes and was pretty quiet the first night, which was Thursday.
Friday night a bunch of people arrived with about 20 kids and it got really noisy fast!!! We tried to keep them in line, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let us voice our opinions. How not fair is that!! The kids could be loud but not us!!!! Friday during the day, we were lazy a bit and then we had a lunch at a truck along the highway. It was pretty cool; it was an old truck like from the 50's rebuilt with a wood burning pizza oven. It was called the Rolling Stone Bakers and they make really great unusual flavored pizzas. (Dad has pictures, but Mom can't find them right now; she'll add them later).
Mom and Dad seemed to really enjoy theirs, I can't say because they didn't share. We then went to Bass Pro, because Dad wanted to look for something for fly-fishing, his favorite thing to do. Later we all went for a walk along Lake Michigan at the foot of the Dunes. It was a bit of a climb up and over to the beach, but we helped encourage them along! :) Later we drove along the shore up to Michigan City and got some groceries.
After building a fire and just playing and being lazy around camp, they roasted some hotdogs and had some salads. We did get to have a bit of the hotdogs, it was nice they shared. It was a nice campground to just relax because we sure have been busy seeing the sights!
Saturday morning we loaded up and took off for our trip home. We arrived about 5:30 p.m. It sure is nice to be home!!! We have lots more rooms to run through than the AS. And our yard is huge!!!! Ah...home at last!!!!
