06/30-07/07 - 1000 Islands Campground - Pre Trip

1000 Islands Campground, Alexandria Bay, NY

5 hrs 17 min (317.1 mi) via NY-17 W and I-81 N

Now here's a trip that'll push the envelope for both distance traveled and dealing with very high temperatures that will test an RV's air conditioning. Google Maps says 5 hrs 17 min. The reality of it all was 7 hours. There was a fuel stop and a nasty 20 minute, 10 mile backup on northbound I-81 in the Virgil, NY area. The journey? Beautifully scenic with surprisingly light traffic. The vistas were comprised of vivid lush greenery as far as the eye could see and only passing through major cities like Binghamton, Syracuse and Watertown were you reminded of civilization. As you can see on the map, I sliced New York State right up the middle and I have to tell ya, New York State is an incredibly beautiful state. Alexandria Bay is on the St. Lawrence River and about and hour and half south of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  My exit was just before the Landsdowne (Thousand Island Bridge). It's the closest I've ever been to Canada. This campground is on the top of most lists.  See for yourself by CLICKING HERE. Temperatures are predicted to range from 85° to 92° for my week at 1000 Islands Campground and the satellite view of the campground shows very few trees/shaded areas. I decided to post in segments to reduce size and time necessary for reading. So, consider this post the first installment.

In the days prior to this trip, I made contact and took Winnie to an auto body shop in Ossining to have a "scrape" tended to.

With only 500 miles on a new vehicle, this caused
the cursing that was heard around the world. Perhaps
you heard?

  Cause? Stupidity, plain and simple. After fueling in Ohio, I turned too soon after leaving the pumps which caused that section of the RV to scrape along the concrete stanchion protecting the pumps. Curse, curse. However, I was left with a good feeling after speaking with Alex about what the job entailed. Alex is the brother of the porter, Byron, who used to work in my complex. Good folks all around; hard working from Guatemala. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as to cost. One estimate from an RV repair place in Peekskill was $250.00. The basement door, brand new from Winnebago, was quoted at $730 + $160 delivery charge with a wait of  2-4 weeks. Once received, I'd have to get it repainted.  After checking in with Alex, who called the dealer and the factory, the matching color wasn't anywhere to be found. He used other auto manufacture's paint swatches to match.

.

I tried to buff it out with
rubbing compound but it didn't
make much difference.

The end result was most satisfying. Thank you, Alex. There's a new photo of Winnie II at the top of the page. 

The new basement door; Winnebago was unable to provide
the paint formula for this model so this was the closest.

Alex beside his work

Another new feature I'll be proudly displaying on the side of Winnie II is my new wooden flag handmade by a US Army paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division, Sgt. Andrew Smith. My other original 48-star Old Glory (pre-1960) met its demise in Georgia. The 49-star flag was official for only one year, from July 4th, 1959 until July 4th, 1960. On that date, our current 50-star flag was born after Hawaii achieved its Statehood on January 3rd, 1959. President Eisenhower was the only President to serve under this flag.  I wanted another and came across this:

Those stars ore raised and not painted onto the wood.

I've greatly enlarged the article for your easy reading.

And finally, I'd like to call your attention to the very rare celestial phenomenon that will take place soon after you read this. CHECK OUT THIS LINK to see that on July 19th, all the planets in our solar system will be on the same side of the sun and most of them visible in the night time sky...except maybe the outer planets for which you'll need a good telescope. 

Next blog will focus on the week long visit at the campground. Stay tuned and stay cool.