Day 2

If you are sleeping in an RV and running a generator all night, you are not camping. You are being rude to those of us who wish to get away and experience the great outdoors. Last night, despite the huge crowd, the campground was surprisingly quiet, except for the loud hum of one generator. The State Park has a ‘no generator at night rule’ so we think our campsite boarders another campground that plays by different rules. The generator did not let up once. It ran through the night and was still running when we woke up. I know because at one point I woke up and had trouble falling back to sleep because of the noise. Still, it was better than drunk people or people who were partying with loud music.

G3 stayed up late in his tent reading and he was awake at dawn to sit in his hammock and read some more. He is loving Stephen King. The Shining is the best book he has read in a long time. He’s already thinking about which King book he wants to read next.

We spent the day in Canada. We crossed over the St. Lawrence River and headed to Thousand Islands National Park. I’m glad we went but it was not one of the more awe inspiring parks. A gray haze has hung in the air ever since we woke up which I think—based on scent of burning wood in the air—is smoke from the forest fires. The haze has prevented us from truly being able to see and experience the beauty that very well may have surrounded us. It’s like when we went to The Grand Tetons and the smokey haze made it impossible to see more than a faint outline of the mountains in the distance. Damn forest fires.

Our first stop was at Mallorytown Landing where G3 and I went swimming in the St. Lawrence River. It was cold but refreshing. While there, we popped in at the souvenir stand and bought matching family tee-shirts. Next we drove over to Landons Bay to take a short hike. We walked up to the lookout point which was disappointing because everything was draped in a dreary gray. From the lookout we followed the trail down along the edge of the river. The water was murky and it smelled like something died, but as always, I enjoyed being out with G3 and hiking with him.

Yesterday, at the winery, several people suggested that we visit Kingston. They said it was a cute city with lots of history. I heard the H word and got very excited. So after our hike, since it was still early, we decided to take their advice and go to Kingston. We were not impressed—not at all. It was a small city on the water with a very vibrant downtown—lots of restaurants and more ice cream shops in a few blocks radius than anywhere else I’ve ever been—but not much else. As for the history…even that was a letdown. There was Fort Henry that was around during the War of 1812, but it never saw any action. We’ve been to so many forts, we didn’t need to go just to see how soldiers lived once upon a time. We all would have been interested in visiting the first Prime Minister’s house—you know G3 and his obsession with President Houses this would have taken that to a new level—but the house is temporarily closed. The old penitentiary might have been fun to tour but for that you need to make reservations days in advance. Since there ended up being little to do, we walked around and had some gelato. The gelato was really good, by far the highlight of Kingston.

While wandering around the city, it was impossible not to notice that nearly every store had a queer flag in the shape of a heart with ‘Kingston’ written across the center in their window. The crosswalk was painted to look like a queer flag, and the tourist information center sold rainbow shirts. We began to wonder if the queer theme was the real reason the people at the winery sent us there. Regardless, it was a welcome change from our own bigoted country that just ruled it is perfectly legal for businesses to discriminate against me. How bad does it have to get in the US for me to be able to apply for asylum in Canada?

As we were departing Kingston we stopped in Dollarama to pick up a spatula. We forgot to pack one and I can’t cook breakfast at the campsite without one. Kati and G3 both said they had more fun in the store than walking around the city. They loved the Canada day display—all over the top Canadian trinkets. Kati couldn’t resist buying a shirt with Canada written across it in the shape of a heart. I bought G3 a real kinder egg, since he’s never had one. Apparently, Canadian kids aren’t as dumb as American ones—or maybe Canadian parents are just more responsible—because tiny toys encased inside the chocolate isn’t illegal in Canada. Kinder eggs can’t be sold properly in America because too many American kids choked on them.

It turns out the generator that kept me up part of the night belongs to the RV in the site next to ours. They have two. One they turned off when told, another they hid in the woods. I saw the cord, and followed it into the trees. That must be a safety hazard. Kati reported it to the park ranger who told them they need to turn them both off. For the moment, there is silence. Will it last? Seriously though, why do they need two generators? If they are that much in need of electricity, they should stay in a hotel.