Day Fifteen July 25, 2008.
From Toronto to Scranton, PA we rode, from beautiful areas such as the Thousand Islands region to the industrial region of the US.
The ride from Toronto was uneventful and quick, just 110 miles or so.
We crossed over the bridge onto Hill Island, which is split with Canada on the north side, and the US on the south side.
To get the shot above we scaled the Skydeck tower on the Canadian side. It is only 400 feet high, but great views of the Thousand Island area.
Well, we actually took the elevator.
A view of the bikes from the tower.
Here is a shot of us crossing the bridge, and
The bridge after we crossed. The American side has an identical bridge crossing the St Lawrence River.
But, before we could cross that bridge we has to go through US Customs. There was a little line, but it was pretty fast. The only delay was talking shop with one of the officers that I know from my Customs training days.
After crossing the river we entered Alexandria Bay.
I have spent several months here from my training days, and knew a great place to have lunch. This is a great place to eat, with excellent food, and a nice view of the bay.
Alexandria Bay Sign, from the pier.
Lot’s of famous people come to Alexandria Bay in the summer, and this town hops on the weekends!
Some very cool ships in the little harbor. There are several more, with even bigger ships around the bay.
Another attraction is the
Bolt Castle is a great example of early 20th century American opulence. Check out the history
here. Though tragic, the castle has some interesting features, and is worthy of visiting.
If I remember correctly, this “outbuilding” is the bath house.
The region is called the Thousand Island Region for a reason. Many of the islands have small to large houses on them. Very cool, and in winter you can sometimes walk to the houses on the ice.
A very cool lighthouse on a tiny island.
Alexandria Bay is one of my favorite places in Upstate NY.
Heading out we rode on towards home, expecting to stop around Scranton, PA. We did, but found this guy pushing his cool Purple Sportster along I-81. (Cool, right Tina?)
Not a safe place to be, we stopped and offered help.
Turns out he had run out of gas. So I popped off my side panel and my return fuel line and donated half a gallon to get him down to the next station. We followed him to make sure he got there and headed on.
Turns out Pennsylvania has it’s own traffic issues with construction, and after several delays, and GPS guided detours, we made our destination nearly two hours later than we expected.
Dinner at Arby’s and a crappy Super 8 Motel, and an anticlimactic last night on the road. We had a much better hotel and bar in Toronto!
Jim
PS Stay tuned for the wrap-up post, maybe tonight.
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:29 pm
WELCOME HOME!! Since we weren't able to make the trip West this year, we traveled along with you and Kermit. Canada was as beautiful as I'd imagined. I'm really glad you didn't have any mechanical problems to speak of, and enjoyed yourselves.
