July 14, 2005

Jacques Cartier State Park.

Earl and I made the move today from Cumberland Bay State Park on Lake Champlain to Jacques Cartier State Park along the St. Lawrence River, between Alexandria Bay and Ogdensburg. We are at the top of the 1000 Islands. A big freighter was headed lake-bound just a short bit ago, headed for the Detroit, Mich. area. That’s kind of cool.

Our site here is completely different than the site at the other park, in that it’s in the middle of a flooded field. There’s about a 1/2-inch of water covering the entire site, so everything, including our moods, is a bit soggy. It’s also 90 degrees with humidity hovering around 90 percent. We are also apparently located on a favorite landing site of the local seagulls, as they are constantly screeching past the camper having some sort of fit about us being parked in the middle of their runway. Perhaps the official name of this site is “Soggy Seagull Municipal Airport”. Earl has parallel parked himself in the camper at the dining table with a fan aimed at his bear chest. It doesn’t look as kinky as it sounds. Drats.

This park is a little more tightly packed than the last. It’s a nice enough park, it just has a cozy sardine feeling to it. The showers are much cleaner, which is a plus.

The drive today was very enjoyable, along the ‘rooftop’ of New York State, within just a few miles of the Canadian border the entire way. I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to live in the midwest someday. I think there are two things that appeal to me about that area; the slower pace and the flat terrain. The northern most areas of New York State mimic both, and if the opportunity was there, I wouldn’t mind living anywhere between Massena and Plattsburgh. Plus, I could enhance my knowledge of French with all the Québec radio stations in the area.

I’ve told Earl that if he wants to leave early I wouldn’t fuss about it. He said he’d sleep on it. Let’s hope he does.