FINAL LEG 2018 TRIP....BIRMINGHAM AND MONTGOMERY ALABAMA

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VERY MOVING BIRMINGHAM CIVIL RIGHTS SITES.... INCLUDING THE CHURCH THAT WAS BOMBED BY THE KKK- SUPPOSEDLY  THE JESUS GLASS WINDOW HAD ONLY JUST JESUS FACE BLOWN OUT- BECAUSE IT WAS CLAIMED THAT EVEN JESUS COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE THE DAMAGES THAT KILLED 4 YOUNG GIRLS... THE PARK ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE CHURCH IS WELL ADORNED WITH TOUCHING MONUMENTS, INCLUDING THE ONE WITH THE DOGS ABOVE...

  

ABOVE, BIRMINGHAM HAS A TOWERING MONUMENT OF VULCAN, THE GOD OF FIRE AND MOLTEN METAL.....AS A TRIBUTE TO THEIR SUCCESSFUL IRON INDUSTRY.  HE HAS QUITE THE SHAPELY BUTTOCKS.

 

ABOVE AND BELOW, FROM THE MONTGOMERY PEACE MONUMENT. BELOW IS A PARTIAL VIEW OF OVER 800 HANGING TRIBUTES TO THE LYNCHINGS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN MANY MANY COUNTIES ACROSS THE US.

 

THE NEARLY COMPLETED 2018 MAP OF OUR TRAVELS OVER 4 1/2 MONTHS.

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Good to be back in USA.... Michigan

 

Cool  coffee house in Port Huron, the Exquisite Corpse.... which is a thing. Its when artists take  three parts from three different animals and paste them together.

 

WONDERFUL CAMPGROUND IN MONROE MICHIGAN.

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For a good while, I have been thinking of a way to change my life....

 

Took a ferry out of Catawba Ohio to go to Put-in Bay which is an island out in Lake Erie.  Had hoped to take a Freedom Boat Club boat out, but there were fog issues and issues of measuring gas used by how many hours boat engine was on! Below is the Perry Peace Monument on the island.

 

While in Elkhart, Indiana, took in the RV Hall of Fame...

 

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PORT HURON AND LAKE ST CLAIR

SIGH...... TURNING BACK AND HEADING SOUTH... AS 3 HURRICANES FORM IN THE ATLANTIC!!!!

 

IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY, YOU CAN SEE MANY BLACK DOTS ON THE RED BAG. THESE ARE STABLE FLIES (SO CALLED BECAUSE THEY APPARENTLY USED TO BLEED OUT HORSES ON FARMS!)  WE ARE AT THE POINT PELEE NATIONAL PARK IN ONTARIO CANADA- IN ESSENCE THE KEY WEST OF CANADA, AS IT CONTAINS THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT OF THE CONTINENTAL LANDMASS FOR CANADA.  THE SWARMING FLIES ARE THE WORST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN ACCORDING TO LOCALS.

 

ONE 70 YEAR OLD CAMERA GUY SAID HE HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT IN THE "100 YEARS THAT HE HAS BEEN BIRDING THERE...."   HE ALSO SAID THAT WHILE OUT THERE , HE "......PANICKED AND WANTED TO START RUNNING" HE ALSO STERNLY WARNED A FAMILY NOT TO TAKE THEIR TODDLER OUT THERE, THEY COMPLIED.  SO, I LOOK AT ILEA TO SEE HER REACTION WHEN I STATE THAT WE SHOULD GIVE IT A WHIRL (AFTER HAVING DRIVEN 2.5 HRS TO GET THERE)..... LOW AND BEHOLD, SHE WAS A CHAMP AND WAS UP FOR IT SO OFF WE BRAVELY WENT!!! WE ONLY VENTURED BECAUSE WE WERE PRETTY WELL COVERED WITH LONG SLEEVES AND LONG PANTS- BTW, LOOK AT ALL THOSE FLIES ON MY PANT LEG ABOVE!!!  BELOW,  I STAND AT THE ABSOLUTE POINT IN A SWARM OF FLIES.... ALSO WALKED THE PARK'S MARSH BOARDWALK WHICH WAS NO WHERE NEAR AS NICE AS THE TWO PLACES WE HAD WITHIN 5 MINS OF OUR DELAY CONDO.  NOTICE THE OVERCAST SKIES.  OUR LAST 4 DAYS IN CANADA WERE CHILLY AND BLAH WEATHER WISE.  

 

WE VISITED THE TOWN OF LONDON, ONTARIO ON OUR LAST DAY IN CANADA. IT WAS UNIMPRESSIVE AND NOT A PLACE WE WOULD RECOMMEND.  AS OF TODAY, SUNDAY SEPT 9, 2018, WE ARE BACK IN THE USA AND STAYING ON THE NORTH SHORES OF ST CLAIR LAKE.

LUNCH WAS GREAT AT BIRDIES PERCH - LAST MEAL IN CANADA'S POINT PELEE PARK AREA.

 

OUR FINAL DAY IN CANADA AT A PARK IN LONDON, ONTARIO.  THIS WAS A DISPLAY TO CATCH ATTENTION FOR A CELL PHONE COMPANY!  KIND OF THE BEST THING WE EXPERIENCED IN LONDON!!

 

Vamos out of Vermont, and on to St Lawrence Seaway, Alex Bay, Kingston, Syracuse, Toronto and Tobermory...

Drove up thru the Hero Islands in Lake Champlain on route to the St Lawrence Seaway… first main stop around the Massena / Ogdensburg area at the Coles Creek State Park.  We had the most BEAUTIFUL waterfront spot overlooking the shipping lanes- well, almost had it. We had to abort. Problem was that there was a slightly different pitch between the camp road and our campsite, and unfortunately, as I tried to back in to our spot, the top corner of our front windshield violently shattered right above the seat where I was sitting!!! This was caused by a torqueing of the 41 ft RV frame we have…..Will need to get a modification done in Indiana on our way back home to lessen the likelihood of this repeating…. this set us back about a week on our schedule as we waited for the delivery of a new one to reach Syracuse. Below is a pic of Ilea sitting at what would/could have been our site.

Massena has an impressive hydro power plant, and in Ogdensburg we saw the Fredrick Remington Art museum.

We licked our wounds with the shattered windshield for several days on Alex Bay at the Swan Bay RV Resort…. Viewing Boldt Castle and its Yacht House....Visiting Cape Vincent (and its Light House), 

Clayton (and its terrific Antique Boat Museum), 

 A dining room with a fireplace on a HOUSE - YACHT (bigger than a house boat)

Wellesley Island

and doing a day trip to Kingston Canada (where we had hoped to spend 4 days…)

Then we edged closer to Syracuse for the repair, and did Opening day at the NYS Fair, a visit to Cortland to see our sad deteriorating former home, a swing thru Skaneateles.

 If you look close at the colors- there appears to be a BLUE ring around the black spots!!

 Our beloved home for 14 years- 53 W Court St in Cortland with pathetically overgrown shrubs in the front... and we were able to go into the house because owner was there and invited us.  Place is now being used exclusively as STUDENT HOUSING....

With the irritation of that windshield in our rear  view mirror- we shoved off to Toronto Canada where we took in Toronto Island by Ferry,

 All over Toronto- they have much better safety precautions in place than the US.

 

Thru this arch lies the CLOTHING OPTIONAL BEACH...

 On Toronto Island sits the OLDEST LIGHTHOUSE in all the Great Lakes.

 People swimming in some sort of competition- even though they had e coli warnings!

The famous Casa Loma

And the Provincial Building

Side trip also to the Scarborough Bluffs where we saw a 2019 movie being shot In The Shadow of the Sun with Michael Hall (from Dexter.) Got a free breakfast sandwich out of it as we were thought to be part of their crew!!

Saw one of those crazy 25 person sleep aboard touring RV’s

Pulled out of Toronto, and headed 4 hours NW to our PREMIER SUMMER DESTINATION- scenic Tobermory, Canada- at the very end tip of the peninsula which sticks out far into the waters of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay…

 

No , no- do not do it in the woods!!

 

A little chipmunk came to pose for a pic...

 

.BELOW IS FAMOUS FLOWERPOT...

 

Lots of great hiking.....

 

It finally got cool enough for a campfire to make sense!

 

Pay pay pay.... everywhere every day every hour in Tobermory...