Monday, September 17, 2018

KINGSTON TO GANANOQUE ONTARIO:: RELAXING AFTERNOON BY THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER AND DUPED AT A CASINO

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HAD OURSELVES A RELAXING AFTERNOON IN GANANOQUE ONTARIO

Again, not being in any hurry to go anywhere we just kinda lolly-gagged around this morning.  Nice walk in the little Odessa OnRoute Park we spent the night in at the eastern outskirts of Kingston.  During the night we could hear a bit of noise from the 401 and could hear trucks coming and going about a 1000 yards away near the gas pumps.  Other than that, great spot.

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FIRST TIME I’VE SEEN WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE CONCRETE PICNIC TABLES LIKE THIS

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THOUGHT YOU MIGHT FIND THIS INTERESTING STEW

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THAT’S US PARKED JUST DOWN THE ROAD TO THE LEFT

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ODESS ONROUTE WITH THE EATS BUILDING AT LEFT, GAS STATION CENTER, AND PARKING AREA FOR TRUCKS AND RV’S AT RIGHT

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We had the big wheels rolling by 8:55 and I was surprised by the lite traffic on the 401 both ways.  Even crossing north of Kingston there was very little traffic to speak of.  Gananoque was only about 20 miles from where we started so we were in no hurry again to reach our Gananoque destination.  I had spotted a Casino on Google Maps this morning situated between the 401 and Gananoque so we headed straight away there to check it out for a possible Monday overnighter.  Looked good so planned to come back later in the day.

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The town of Gananoque begins maybe half a mile south of the Casino on highway 2 so into town we went.  Thought we’d drop into the tourist info center but that turned out a little more difficult than expected.  Got ourselves into some downtown construction and couldn’t find any parking at the downtown tourist info spot.  We had some tight corners then turned onto a street with ‘no exit’.  Both said at the same time, ‘sure glad we don’t have the Jeep on the back’,  I was able to wiggle around in somebody’s driveway to get us turned around.

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WE THREAD OUR WAY THROUGH THE CENTER OF TOWN IN GANANOQUE

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DOWNTOWN GANANOQUE AT THE WATER’S EDGE OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER

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WE WILL BE ON ONE OF THOSE BOATS TUESDAY MORNING

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‘EEE GADS’ HOW IS AL GOING TO HANDLE BEING AROUND ALL THOSE PEOPLE:((

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‘OMG’ MAYBE WE SHOUD RE-CONSIDER THIS!!

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THAT WILL BE US TUESDAY MORNING

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HERE’S KELLY TAKING A PICTURE OF PHEEBS AND I BELOW…..OH IT IS QUITE THE LITTLE TOURISTS WE ARE

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From studying Gananoque on Google Maps beforehand I knew right where to go to reach the Gananoque Boat Line 1000 Island Cruises plus I had been here once before way back in about 1990 one time.  Luckily we found us a great partially shaded parking spot about 50 feet from the water’s edge.  We are on the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence River.  Instead of doing a 1000 Island boat cruise this afternoon in the day’s heat and humidity we will be back in the morning to do the two and a half hour shipwreck cruise.  There is a longer 5 hour cruise but we thought that too long to leave Pheebs in the Motorhome in this humidity.

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SOME NICE BUILDINGS DOWN HERE ALONG THE WATERFRONT

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LUCKILY WE FOUND US A BREEZY COOL PLACE UNDER A COUPLE OF BIG WILLOW TREES RIGHT NEXT TO THE WATER

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YES IT WAS A RELAXING AFTERNOON WE HAD ALRIGHT

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EVEN MORE RELAXING FOR YOU KNOW WHO

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For some unknown reason Live Writer decided to throw me a curve tonight from this point on with a different font color , irregular spacing and photos not in the proper place:((

Because of the good parking spot we had we decided to hang around by the water’s edge for the day and do a few walks around the harbor area. As it turns out we spent most of our time sitting near the waters edge in our gravity chairs.  Did a lot of reading, even more relaxing, and watched a number of small boats come and go.

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After we return from our mornings boat cruise on the St. Lawrence River Tuesday we’ll head East out of Gananoque and pick up the Thousand Island Parkway and follow that all the way to Butternut Bay where it joins up with the 401 officially known as the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway.  Where we go from there is anybody’s guess.  Thanks to a reader for their tip about the Thousand Island Parkway:))

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HADN’T REALIZED THE CANADIANS AND AMERICANS HAD THEMSELVES A SCUFFLE HERE

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THE AMERICAN SIDE OF THE RIVER IS THAT FAR DISTANT SHORE TO THE EXTREME LEFT

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THERE IS A RATHER UNIQUE MEMORIAL SCULPTURE HERE DEPICTING SHOWING HOW GANANOQUE WAS LAID OUT AT THE TIME OF THE RAID

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After awhile I didn’t think the ridiculous humidity was quite as bad today.  With a brisk refreshing breeze sweeping in from the northern end of Lake Ontario our day turned out pleasanter than expected.  Add to that a welcome thin cloud cover.

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I THINK THERE’S A DOGGY PEAKING OVER MY COMPUTER SCREEN

DSC00795<<< AND THAT DOGGY WOULD BE ME DAD:))

It was about 4 o’clock when we decided to pack up and head back through Gananoque to the Shoreline Casino close to the 401.  Of course that meant going through all the downtown paving construction again.

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HEADING BACK THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN GANANOQUE CONSTRUCTION WE NEVER EVEN KNOCKED DOWN ONE ORANGE PYLON

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BACK AT THE CASINO PARKING LOT WE SEE ANOTHER MOTORHOME IN THE SPOT WE HAD HOPED TO STAY

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OH WELL WE GOT US ANOTHER LEVELER SPOT ANYWAY

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THAT’S US EXTREME LEFT AND THE OTHER GUY EXTREME RIGHT

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CASINO IS AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING AREA AT RIGHT

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WE ARE TUCKED AWAY ON THE RIGHT

Arriving back at the Casino we noticed another Class A Motorhome had grabbed the spot we’d hoped to have.  Parking lot was totally bare so we didn’t have any problem finding another suitable spot.  Level too.  Kelly decided to look up the Shoreline Casinos website to see if they had any specials on for supper.  We are not gambling Casino people but sometimes they have a good special on in the restaurant.  ‘Walla’ hot roast beef sandwich's with mashed potatoes and gravy for only $4.99.  Bargoooon:))  Seconds later there was nothing left but a cloud of dust from our Motorhome door right into the Casino’s Windward restaurant.  With big smiles we said, bring on those sandwich specials.  Food was Okay but then came the embarrassing kicker.  Bill was nearly $20.00.  WHAT!!!  Seems it was $4.99 only if we each had ‘Axis Players Choice’ cards.  Well what the hell was that!!  The hot roast beef sandwich's were $9.99 without the card.  #!!%^!!!#  We had been duped and hadn’t read the fine print I guess.  Waitress said only way out of it for us was to strap on aprons and wash dishes for a week or go to the administration counter and sign up for ‘Axis’ cards.  Not wanting to wash dishes for a week we went to the counter and each of us had to fill out this form for a card which in due process we were both issued.  Back to the restaurant where the waitress waited for us to pay our $13.29 bill including tax.  Oh boy did we feel like a couple hayseeds.  I just wanted to get the hell out of the building but Kelly wanted to take advantage of the blue cards one free swipe on any machine.  That of course is how they get ya hooked.  Wanting no part of any of that stuff I quickly exited the building and waited outside until Kelly had her free swipe.  And that was it for another day……………………..

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AT OUR TABLE IN THE WINDWARD RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE

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WORTH $4.99 OKAY BUT $9.99 NO WAY!!

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KELLY STOPS AND TRIES TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO USE HER ‘AXIS’ CARD WHILE I TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW  TO GET MYSELF OUT OF THE BULDING TOOT SWEET

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I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE MIGHT COME OUT WITH A COUPLE SASKS OF MONEY OVER HER SHOULDER BUT NO SUCH LUCK

All in all a good second day but I didn’t tell ya about the cracked windshield did I and it’s the new one we had replaced on the passenger side 2 years ago………..:((

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‘DAD, WILL IT BE SUPPER TIME SOON??

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Top ten signs your Amish teen is in trouble::
10. Sometimes stays in bed until after 5 a.m.

9. In his sock drawer, you find pictures of women without bonnets.

8. Shows up at barn raisings in full 'KISS' makeup.

7. When you criticize him, he yells, 'Thou sucketh.'

6. His name is Jebediah, but he goes by 'Jeb Daddy.'

5. Defiantly says, 'If I had a radio, I'd listen to rap.'

4. You come upon his secret stash of colored socks.

3. Uses slang expression, 'Talk to the hand, 'cause the beard ain't listening.'

2. Was recently pulled over for driving under the influence of cottage cheese.

1. He's wearing his big black hat backwards.

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A new neighbor arrives. The kids meet. The local kid: "My mom was born in California!  Where was your mom born?" The other kid answers, "Alaska".The first kid replies, "Gee, then don't worry about it... I'll ask 'er myself!"

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I just finished building a car using a motor from a washing machine. I'm going to take it for a spin later.

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8 comments:

  1. I think all the Casino's require the card for food specials. But the card is free so might as well collect a few for future trips ;) So far looks like a nice relaxing time

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  2. Looks like a very relaxing day you had along the St Lawrence.
    Nice that you wee not towing the jeep on that dead end road. you just got lucky that time.
    We have large business card holder full of casino cards, that we have used and got great deals with

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  3. So the En Route stops allow you to stay overnight for free? Slides in?

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  4. It's gotten to the point where we just let those cracked windshields go for a couple years--get a new one and immediately get a chip/crack! The new to us motorhome came complete with a cracked driver side windshield. Enjoy your trip guys!

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  5. That picnic table really is sensible! Sounds like your trip is going wll. I have vague memories of a boat tour through the 1000 Islands - about 50 years ago!

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  6. Check out the Long Sault Parkway just east of where you are. It's a beautiful drive and lots of places to stop for the day. No boondocking it's all paid overnight camping.

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  7. Not being a gambler I find the 'free' cards such a waste. But it did save you a few dollars. My last 'free' casino overnighter cost me $20 on that card to increase the points. Never again.

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