Friday, August 24 & Saturday, August 25, 2012: Back in the States Temporarily:
The trip to Clayton, New York, was an easy 186 miles, mostly on the TransCanada Highway. 

Our border crossing near Clayton was easy because our border folks were very efficient in managing and processing the line of cars.  It was very different from the other day near Niagara Falls where we had to wait more than two hours to get through the border.

Clayton is in the 1000 Lakes area, just a few miles from where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario.  It’s a summer vacation area.  We are staying at the Merry Knoll Campground, an old, funky place right on the water. 

It’s OK, though.  Plenty of grass.  The people who own and run it (Jim and Joanne) are very nice.  They’ve been here for 30 years.  That’s a loooooong time.

We’re here just as a stopover on the way toward Toronto, which will be our last stop in Canada.

The first order of business was to take Ramsey to the vet primarily to update his shots.  The vet determined that Ramsey had been invaded by a tick, probably some months ago in Washington.  She gave Becky some medicine to counteract the effects, which were mild in any event.  Otherwise, our little boy is terrific.

Saturday, we ventured to nearby Alexander Bay (“Alex Bay” to locals) to hop on an Uncle Sam Boat Tours boat for a two-hour tour

of a part of the 1000 Islands area.  (By actual count, there are 1,864 islands.)  It was actually more interesting than I expected.  There are some magnificent homes along the water, both on the U.S. side and the Canadian side.

And the islands themselves are interesting---some as small as a few feet in diameter.  (To qualify as an island, it must have a height of at least one foot above the water at all times and contain two kinds of flora, one of which must be a tree.)

There are a couple of old castles built during the days of incredible wealth and non-existent income taxes, one of which is now a destination island of its own, operated as a part of the New York state park system.  The place was never quite finished, then was abandoned for many years after its owner‘s wife died, and was finally sold to the state for $1.00, after which the state spent $35,000,000 refurbishing it.  It’s still not finished.