End of BIG Tour

Jul 10 2009

End of BIG Tour

The weather was warm and sunny as I finally entered Toronto, and did I have an adventure trying to park near the lake front to see the central skyline. Finally made it but on restricted parking and then forgot to take my camera. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many parks and green areas as I drove into the city and liked the sense of space they gave to the city.

Driving in any city is a nightmare for any tourist. Alone I had to be driver, navigator and beady eyed tourist trying to take in all the sights. I generally only managed to be the driver! I then drove along the north shore of Lake Ontario, past Kingston as the entrance to ‘Thousand Islands’. A wonderful place to retire too and a paradise for boat owners and water lovers. I spent one night there taking in the sights then off to Ottawa next morning.

Nice drive there through changing flatter scenery. Then the same story of getting lost in endless traffic trying to get to the river to see the Parliament building and other architectural delights housing the central government. I finally made it but couldn’t stop so saw it all at a crawl through the car windscreen. I later saw more of the city and met some very interesting and helpful people. At this point I decided I could not include Montreal and Quebec. I would have needed another week to take that all in at the pace I was going, so I took a turn south and crossed the St. Lawrence river just north-east of ‘ Thousand Islands’ and so returned to the USA.

I entered the north of New York State, which is a huge national park. I liked it immediately and decided to spent the day just seeing as many of the lakes and pretty tourist villages as I could. On my way I went to Potsdam, founded in 1806, and couldn’t resist taking a photo. The locals I talked to didn’t know that the original was near Berlin! I later met a very nice lorry driver who give me tips and directions, and so found Lake Placid.

This is where the USA Winter Olympic Team train. I could see why as soon as I arrived. I could have stayed a week just exploring the area. I spent my last night at Glenn Falls and had my best meal there at Joe’s Bar. Next day it was cold and raining and so I set off for a full days drive back to RI in weather that was like a winters day. Thoughts of the sunny days I had just left, and my Beethoven Quartet CDs en-route helped to make the drive back bearable.