Home at Last! I will put one more blog with our lists of what I would not do again.

Cooper River Bridge at sunset.

Finally made it home after a wonderful visit in Charleston seeing old friends. We were lucky to get back out on the Harbor for a sunset sail before we left.



First mate Barclay. That is a sailboat behind him not horns!






 



Our hosts Joyce and Wayne.



You call this camping?

I wish I had time to photograph all the funny things we saw at campsites. There were times I thought someone would get suspicious so I refrained. The campgrounds made for great people watching. Who needed TV when you had this. RVers are so serious about their rigs and set ups. Tent campers are more our style I am convinced. But who could have done that for 2 months?

Solution to the heat wave?



Who needs this much wood in July?





Convenient shopping for groceries. I loved rolling the cart right up to the door.



Back in the South

Our Atlanta relatives that put us in a real bed for a few days! I know their neighbors were glad when we moved the camper off the street.



Free reggae concert at our campground in Charleston. Don't think the singer is from Jamaica.



Folly friends



Ready for a cruise around Charleston Harbor.



Shem Creek



Hacked in Ohio

I learned a very valuable lesson. Beware of using wifi in unsecured areas. Some of the campgrounds offer free wifi and I of course was all over that. Somewhere at an Ohio campsite I was hacked. I have changed passwords, etc. now.

Other things I have learned on this trip: Coffee and alcohol are essential, do not leave food outside at night, I am a better fire builder than my husband, always have quarters on hand, my husband is an excellent camper backer, folding clothes is pointless, why take a shower everyday......

I had my first Skyline Chili in Cincy.


We made it to a few friend's places while in Cincinnati.



Old friend from Cincy.



Somewhere off  I-75 in Tennessee we planned a pit stop to see friends while we were headed South to Atlanta and they were headed North back to Cincinnati.



Jeff, you've been replaced.



We finally made it to my brother-in-law's house in Atlanta. Barclay now has lots of attention from the girls!







Lots of fun with friends at the pool in Atlanta.



Ohio at it's finest



Near Jamestown, Ohio.



Brotherly love



Craziness. How many people are staying at this site?



View of Cincinnati from the Museum at the Union Terminal



NY photos



The sailors before the Wednesday night race (Open Bic boat). Crystal Beach, Ontario. (Tilly, the dog, stayed onshore)



My view of the race from Debbie's sofa. I snuck in to put my feet up.



Barclay's new best friend Penny.



Crystal Beach






If no one eats my cooking then there is more room for cake and ice cream!



Niagara Falls

Horseshoe Falls looking toward Canada- notice the rainbow in rt corner

So I finally saw Niagara Falls. Felt good to see such an American beauty on the 4th of July. It looked like others were feeling the same way. A lot of Canadians were there also. The town of Niagara needs to work on their aesthetics. It looks like 1970's hotels and tourist traps. I was informed from my Wall Street Journal reading father-in-law that a NY businessman bought all the property and is just sitting on it to turn a profit later. In the mean time Niagara Falls downtown will look empty and dated.




Our camping was on Lake Ontario once more. Four Mile Creek State Park was great. Toronto was visible across the Lake. We got to watch fireworks from our camper. We met a family from Frankfurt Germany.3 boys with different levels of English. All were great fun for Barclay. They tried to teach him soccer.





We have noticed in all the NY State Parks that we are one of only a few out of state visitors. A lot of the campers were even local and had only driven a short way to the campground. They all looked at us like we were crazy. I have seen some crazy campers but we are not them!

We were lucky to get back over the Canadian border with one expired passport. My stepson grabbed the wrong passport when leaving Chicago. Travelling by land is a little more forgiving. The border guard said at least we could prove his citizenship with the old passport. Crystal Beach is where our friend Debbie lives in the summers with her husband and 3 children. She grew up sailing on Cowan Lake (Ohio) with my husband. She is still very active and even sails in St Pete in the Lighting Midwinters every year. This is the first time we had been to her sailing arena. Her club, the Buffalo Canoe Club, is in Canada.Go figure? And.... I didn't see canoes just sailboats.

Debbie's house on Crystal Beach, Ontario



Touring the Empire State

Upper Falls at Letchworth State Park




 
Not to give New Yorkers an ego boost, but I now understand why their state is called the Empire State.  Many people tend to think of New York City and discount the rest of the state.  From what I've gathered, that really ticks off people from the Upstate, which is basically everywhere else besides NYC and Long Island.  What does the rest of the state offer?  Pretty much everything!  There is a rolling countryside with large productive farms, strategic rivers and ports, expansive waterfront along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, quaint towns, and an abundance of natural beauty.  There is so much to see and do in the Empire State, we had to skip both the Adirondack Mountains and the Finger Lake Region.

We've had good luck booking at state campgrounds just a day or two ahead of time.  This has given us the flexibility to explore when and where we choose.


Outside Magazine's top pick for a New York state campground was Fair Haven State Park overlooking Lake Ontario, which we stayed at for 2 nights.  The sites were small and packed with some sketchy people which made for awesome people watching.  We enjoyed the well-utilized public beach, hikes along the water, and talking to the owner at the Hardware Cafe in the tiny town of Fair Haven.

Campsite at Fair Haven beside Crazy grandfather and hatchet boy

Our strategy booking campsites at the last-minute almost backfired.  Calling the reservation system for parks, Reserve America, we found that every campground in New York was booked the first weekend of July.  Luckily, well called back at the right time and found a cancellation at Letchworth State Park located on the Genesee River about an 1 hour south of Rochester.  The expansive park was named after William Pryor Letchworth, an enterprising businessman and philanthropist who manufactured leather saddles and carriage equipment during the mid 1800's.  The 14,000 acre park is referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the East", because of it deep 17 mile gorge and array of waterfalls.