Our 9/11 departure date caused us negligible concern compared to recent weather. Record-breaking rain had soaked parts of the northeast shortly before, causing widespread flooding and road closures. There were even reports of I-81 being shut down for a time! Still, we judged staying on the Interstate Highways more prudent than risking smaller highways, so, that is just what we did right into Canada.
On that first day of travel, it turned out to be a wise choice: I-80 and I-81 were easy rides with no closures at all. Still, as we drove through Binghamton NY, it was a bit eerie and sad to observe mud-stained vegetation close to I-81. Clearly, flood waters had come close to inundating the Interstate just a few days earlier. We could only imagine what damage the floodwaters had done in Binghamton itself.
The entire route we chose for this six-week journey is depicted below. Obviously, we did not hug the shorelines. That’s partly because we’ve driven some of those stretches before, partly because roads don’t always go along the shore, and partly because we wanted to visit some areas new to us. Our expected return date was October 22 and we managed to hit that nail on the head with our unhurried pace.
Pulaski NY was our first overnight stop. Astride the Salmon River, this town is a big draw for sportfishing. Aptly named, the river sees a salmon run every fall:
Zipping into Ontario, Canada, we finally left the expressway at Kingston and slowed our pace. Springside Park in Greater Napanee was a welcome spot to stretch our legs. From the park, a scenic path followed the stream almost a mile into town, making us glad for the exercise and the views:
Settled early into our Belleville hotel, we had plenty of time for a long, afternoon bike ride. A nice path took us from the hotel along a river channel all the way through downtown Belleville to the waterfront. There, the path continued parallel to the shore for some distance where we stopped to take this photo:
Our following day was a “drive-about” in the vicinity of Picton --- after first perusing the Belleville Farmers Market area:
The most remarkable sight of the day was the leaning bell-tower of the United Church in Picton. Apparently, it has been that way for years, but it certainly caught our attention as it looks like it could collapse at any moment:
Leaving Belleville, we spent five leisurely hours traveling to our downtown Toronto apartment. It took us that long simply because curiosity and lunchtime hunger led to stops in Cobourg, Port Hope and Oshawa.