I’m reading the book “Blue Highways” by William Least Heat Moon, which was recommended to me by several people as the ultimate road trip book. That, and “Travels With Charley” by John Steinbeck. I tried staying off highways the way Heat Moon does in the book (in the old maps smaller roads were in blue, and interstates were red), but the landscape looks a lot different than it did when the book takes place. Mostly I saw national brands, lots of stoplights, and an added two hours to the destination. Halfway through I bailed and took the interstate. But I get ahead of myself.
I left Montreal and drove to the Thousand Islands area of NY, and camped at Kring Point State Park. It was a lovely spot; a peninsula in the St Lawrence River. Loads of children on bicycles and skateboards, happy, playing sounds and the smell of burgers on the grills. I had a nice swim. There was a strong breeze so no bugs. I made a great dinner of (prepared) blackened salmon, sweet potato and Brussels sprouts, and was in to bed and into my book before dark.
The next day I thought I might break out the music equipment, but instead I biked 10 miles over to Alexandria Bay where I took a boat tour to Singer Castle. Built for the owner of Singer Sewing Machines, the family never set foot on the place. But a lowly desk clerk named Frederick Bourne quickly worked his way to president of the company and bought it. Of course I pitched Ecobags to the buyer in the gift shop.
On the way back we passed the Boldt Castle on Heart Island, named after George Boldt, and I learned it was to be a display of his love for his wife, Louise. Four years into construction, Louise died from tuberculosis and Boldt ordered construction stopped. He couldn’t bring himself to return, and it fell into disrepair for 70 years. When the guide told this story I started crying.
A happier story is the fact that the original recipe for Thousand Islands dressing does originate from here. Sophia LaLonde came up with it, and It became popular in the area by word of mouth and recipe cards, but it really took off when a famous actress named May Irwin brought it back to Manhattan.
My days have not included media (except some doom-scrolling), but my dreams have been wild. Last night, I was a fighter in the Rebel Alliance in the finale of the Star Wars saga. But the Empire wasn’t evil, it was just inefficient. It was in charge of feeding everyone, but they had a bad idea about growing food. The Rebel Alliance knew what was needed, but the Imperial Commander, being very important, didn’t like anyone telling him what to do. I worked my way through the guards, jumped over impossible obstacles and finally got into the inner sanctum with all the Imperial leaders standing around and shouted, “It’s compost! It was always about the compost!” And suddenly, everyone understood, and the people were saved. It even had a Shakespearean moral part to it.
Today I drove to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls and saw this majestic sight for the first time. The advice is right; the Canadian side is WAY more spectacular. I parked past the falls, so it gradually came into view as I walked along the causeway. It was a misty, rainy day anyway, but the foam and the clouds blended together and made it feel like King Kong could poke his head out any moment.
By the way, this blog makes me feel connected to you, my friends. It’s a bit of a lifeline, and I love reading the comments, so don’t hold back! Of course, I don’t expect anyone to read them all, or all the way through, but knowing some do is enough.