Friday, 7/14 – Springfield to Athens, ON

After finishing the blog Thursday evening, I moved everything that is movable inside the tent and covered the refrigerator with the tarp. It started raining at 9:50 p.m. and rained until 3:30 a.m. Friday. The radar app showed that the rain wouldn’t last long, so I went to bed. I slept from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and again from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. What the radar didn’t show was the rain that developed along the southern edge of the front.

The tent did a remarkably good job of keeping the inside dry. A couple of roof seams dribbled a little water on my sleeping bag, We’ll need to re-seal those seams.

I was able to pack everything myself and keep everything dry. Mike helped me close the cover; that’s always a 2-person job.

Meanwhile… Beth and Lynne checked out of the hotel and made their way to a gas station near the Westfield exit of the Mass Pike. Mike and I met them there.

With EZ-Passes mounted and ready to go, we got on the Mass Pike and headed west and east. We were glad to leave the lousy roads behind us.

Our morning coffee break was at a Dunkin Donuts.

Late morning we exited the New York Thruway and took back roads north. We stopped for lunch at a municipal ball field.

The picnic tables were freshly painted.

I’m usually behind the camera, so Beth took my picture as a record that I was there.

Before going over the bridge at Alexandria Bay, we stopped for the last gulp of “cheap” US gas and to dig out our passports.

Crossing the border was no big deal. We were asked all the standard questions, and nobody had to open anything for inspection.

Our campground, near Athens, ON, had spacious sites. The bath house was farther away from our sites than in other campgrounds, but that was not a problem.

Saturday, 7/15 – Athens to Sudbury, ON

There was no rain overnight and we woke to a clear, sunny sky.

We packed up and headed north to Sudbury. Our first stop was at a Tim Horton’s. The coffee was great, but the traffic in the take-out line was never-ending. There was no by-pass lane, so we just waited to take our turn in line.

We stopped for lunch at a scenic overlook.

This is the scenic view. It was probably more scenic 20 years ago before the trees and bushes grew up to obstruct the view.

The afternoon gas stop was at a CO-OP.

We were packed in like sardines at Carol’s Campsite and RV Park near Sudbury, ON. It really wasn’t bad, and they had an ice cream social in the evening.

Beth fixed a minute steak for dinner. They really do cook quickly.

We are finding that 300-330 miles a day works well for us. We’ll be adjusting the schedule accordingly.