Day 3

I slept well last night. The generator stayed off which was lovely. G3 stayed up late and woke up early to read. He is now half way through the shining and asking when we can go to the bookstore to pick up another King novel. Today is much less hazy, although the haze has not disappeared completely.

We made and ate breakfast—egg sandwiches—at the campsite and then headed back across the St. Lawrence to spend the 4th of July in Canada. A silent protest against the Supreme Court’s rulings last week. Once across the border, we stopped at the Thousand Island Sky Deck Observation Tower. G3 had wanted to head up the tower yesterday but it was much too hazy. Why pay money for a view that is obstructed? Today, however, the view of the Islands was pretty. It was one of those moments when I wished I could have called Dad to ask him what he remembered about our vacation here when I was a kid. What did we do? Where did we go? Did we stay on the Canadian side or the American side? What I do remember is that wherever we stayed, Dad argued with the hotel staff about meals. Since my brother and I were kids, they wanted us to eat off the kid menu. But I always had a good appetite and Dad didn’t want me to be hungry. He insisted that my brother and I be able to order anything we wanted even if he had to pay adult prices. Of course, dad won the argument. In retrospect, it seems rather stupid that the hotel would make an issue of it considering Dad was willing to pay for us to eat off the adult menu. Perhaps my memory is faulty. If only I could call Dad to clarify.

From the tower we drove north to Foley Mountain Conservation area. We walked a few meters to Spy Rock Overlook. The cliffs were formed when a meteor smashed into Earth a billion years ago. Below we could see the town and a lake. It was pretty, but not particularly stunning. Kati and I then took a short hike along the Beaver Trail. G3 chose, instead, to sit on a rock overlooking Beaver Pond and read. He has not been able to put down The Shining since he started reading it. The hike was ok, nothing special.

We stopped for lunch at a country kitchen. The food was meh and extremely overpriced. I ordered a side salad because I wanted Thousand Island dressing. Of course my luck ensured that they ran out just before I got there.

G3 wanted to stop at a Maple syrup farm so we did. We pulled over to a local place that ran a shop out of their house. There we discovered maple butter—essentially thick maple syrup that can be spread on food, such as toast, in lieu of butter. We bought two jars and a bag of maple candy. We might have bought more, but we could only use cash and we spent what we had.

Next, we went to see the Jones Falls Locks, a marvel in engineering in the early half of the 1800s. There are two locks—that result in an elevation change of 18 meters—on the Rideau Canal. The construction of the canal began shortly after the War of 1812. Peace had been declared, but there was still a great deal of distrust between the US and Canada. Canadians wanted to protect their shipping and to do so they thought it best to bypass the St. Lawrence River which also borders America to the south. As a result, they began construction on the Rideau Canal. It harnessed the water from dozens of lakes and channeled it through sparsely settled wilderness. While Kati and I found the stop interesting, G3 was bored. He is mastering the art of complaining. Lately, everything with him is an inconvenience. All he wanted to do was go swimming.

And so we went swimming in Gananoque. The Joel Stone beach is tiny, a short stretch of sand that leads into the St. Lawrence River. A few steps out and the ground is murky and mushy, but the water was refreshing after sweating all day in 90 degree heat.

Gananoque was the site of an American raid during the War of 1812. A regiment of New Yorkers crossed the river, killed a few people, destroyed some property and then withdrew back across the river into America. It’s hard to imagine us at war with Canada, considering we’ve been allies for so long. Today, the border between our nations is the largest undefended border in the world.

Before leaving Canada, we stopped at Duty Free and picked up some cookies and chocolate. After reading my post yesterday about the Kinderegg, a friend suggested that we try a Cadbury Crunchie bar because you can’t get them in the States. Being in Duty Free and seeing all the alcohol made me sad. In my pre-G3 days, when I used to travel internationally every summer, I always stopped in Duty Free on my way home to buy a bottle or two of alcohol for Dad. I guess little things still make me miss him.

Back at our campsite we lit a fire. While we were sitting around it we heard fireworks. G3 wanted to see them so he and I walked down to the water. They are always fun to see. I suppose we got back to New York in time to enjoy some of the Independence Day festivities. Though I have to question, how free are we in a country where people can decide not to serve you just because their God taught them to hate you? Christians want the freedom to discriminate against others? I want the freedom of not being harassed or being discriminated against. When freedoms collide, whose freedom wins? It’s hard to feel love for a country that doesn’t respect you.