Back to the USA!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013


We woke to a VERY quiet campground on Sunday morning after the ending to the 1:30 AM rock concert the night before. A few older people began to wander about looking sleep deprived like us. We were tempted to start banging around and making lots of noise, but being the kind of people we are, we just packed up and left.


We reached the border in 2 km reinforced by breakfast and caffeine. There was a line and we waited about 15 minutes for our turn. The “Welcome to the United States” sign looked good to us. Maybe peace and quiet and sleep awaited? Greg had prepared an EXCEL table of our expenditures from Canada for the things we needed to declare and pay duty on. All we needed was the form to turn in. We had our passports ready.

Lining up for Customs

Two women greeted us from the booth. They wanted to know where we had come from and how long we had been there. They were a bit surprised by how long we were in Canada. “Where did you like the best?” In unison we said, “Newfoundland!” They were surprised. “Did you purchase anything while you were there?” Greg told them about the alcohol, and the motor for his wife's bike, “So she could ride easier.” They both nodded and thought that was a great idea. “Do you have any produce with you?” I replied that we had apples, beets, onions, a few blueberries and a plum, and some tomatoes. “Are the tomatoes cut?” “No, I thought tomatoes were okay to bring in.” “They used to be, but not any more. If you cut them, you can keep them.”



I ran to the back of the camper, grabbed a cutting board and knife, cut each one in half, threw it in a bowl, and handed the bowl to Greg to show them. I didn't want to throw away the rest of my good L'Ile d' Orleans tomatoes! They handed us our passports back and told us to have a great day, and we drove off! They never gave us a duty form or had us pay! Sort of helped to make up for the rough night before. Bye-Bye- Quebec!!!



We pulled into the Vermont Welcome station. The first sound that greeted us as we entered the building was Garrison Keillor presenting a radio broadcast of “A Prairie Home Companion” As we wandered through the brochure racks, we listened to a story about Guy Noire, Private Eye, one of our favorite characters. Suddenly, the small building filled up and everyone was speaking French. I told Greg we must only be dreaming that we are back in the US. We looked outside and there was a tour bus from Quebec in the parking lot! Time to head on. Bye-Bye “Quebeckers”!



Our next stop was a grocery store. We let our groceries dwindle in anticipation of cheaper US prices. Greg kept wandering back with food and beer. “This stuff is so cheap!” Then we filled up with diesel at $1.30 a gallon less than the last fill-up in Canada. We drove west across the northernmost part of Vermont over to Lake Champlain, and then down the chain of islands in the middle of the lake. Stopping on Grand Isle, we entered Grand Isle State Park. We were hoping to get a site, but since it was Labor Day weekend in a state that likes its outdoor recreation, we didn't know what we would find.

Typical Vermont car

There were no hook-ups, but as usual, we were prepared to dry camp. They had a few sites left and they directed us to site 81. The ranger told us we would like it, since it was a bit off the road. We found it and there were other campers cars all over it. We went back to complain and the ranger had to go chase the adjacent campers cars off. The rest of the campground was crowded, but not loud, so we thought it would be fine and certainly quieter than the night before.

Our campsite

Monday morning was overcast with intermittent rain, so campers left early. We had a good night's sleep, and the campground was mostly deserted the rest of the day. Greg took a good bike ride around the island, and we had empty shower rooms to choose from. About 7:30 severe thunderstorms rolled in. We had been watching the black clouds building for the last hour. We knew from the radar that it was crossing the Adirondacks across the lake. We turned out all the lights and watched the storms for an hour and a half. We haven't been in a thunderstorm since last summer. After that we fell asleep and had a restful night.



This morning we woke up to drier, cooler air, after the hot muggy day we had yesterday. Greg decided a long bike ride was in order. I wanted a day to write and contemplate. We thought we would stay two more nights. We commented that now that the kids were back in school, the campgrounds would be quiet and almost empty. Just before he left for his bike ride, I reminded him to stop at the office and pay for two more nights, since we really liked this site.


We saw a car pull into the adjacent site and another on the road. We heard someone say, “They don't have to leave until 11.” Uh-oh! Greg walked to the office to try to sign up for two more nights, and was told that the site was unavailable and a bunch of kids would be camping all around that site. He went to look for another site while I quickly stowed our stuff. I had dishes to wash and put away and things were strewn about after our lazy, quiet morning. In the meantime, the group parked a car and a big yellow rental van in the way and started to unload. Then two school buses showed up and disgorged 100 kids from fifth to eighth grade! We found out later they have 40 adults with them, too! We realized that we would not be able to escape the noise, and they would make a mess of the showers, so we decided to go to the far end of the campground to another large loop, and find a new site. After a lot of looking, there were plenty of empty sites, we chose one near the playground and field with a few shade trees. We wanted to get some sun on the solar panels since we would no longer be in the generator use area.


Fine. Greg went to dump tanks, and I went to the office to pay for two nights. The site was $2 a night more than the other, since it was considered a prime site. That was okay. I paid for two nights and we discussed all the kids, and how we didn't want to be close to them. “Oh,” the ranger said, “Just a heads-up. They are using the playground from 1-4 today!” What!!!! Well, we'd already paid, and Greg was going to go bike riding and miss it, so we stayed. While we were setting up, the kids started walking up from the other end of the campground and taking shortcuts through our site! We were the only camper in the whole area. Seriously, you are going to walk two feet from me, between me and the rig? I put up our folding chairs between the tree and the rig. They squeezed through. I started making comments. Finally one of the parents noticed and told them to go around. Unfortunately, one of the first to cut through was a father. He came through again later while I was sitting in a chair and squeezed between me and the rig. I looked at him and said, “UH..hello!?!”. His only reply was,”How you doing?”

View from our second campsite - We can't get away from the children!

Long story short, they screamed, yelled, played noisy games next to the rig for the next two and one-half hours. During the egg toss it started pouring rain. They were supposed to clean up their eggs. Hope it doesn't start to smell here. I put our chairs under the awning when the rain started. When the rain stopped they started leaving. Right back through the site. One boy just grinned back. He was one of the first ones to walk through before. We thought they had gone. Now they are walking up the road behind us to go to the beach, fishing and playing on the playground. A few have walked through the site, again...Sigh... I really wanted some peace and quiet... I am ready to head to the Adirondacks and find a quiet wilderness spot for a few days. If we are out of contact, you'll know why!


Wednesday morning- About 5:30 PM yesterday a teacher came by and apologized “in advance” for the noise, telling us that they were all going to have dinner next to us and then a campfire on the nearby beach. I told her it had been noisy since 1o'clock and everyone had been cutting through our site all day! She said she would make an announcement later to tell them to stop. So they had dinner, played more noisy games then went to the beach for a while. We at least had quiet to eat our dinner. At 9:30 they all funneled past our site. Greg said it was like a parade with all the lights and noise. They were followed by at least a dozen slow moving cars of the parents who were too lazy to walk to the other end of the campground.


This morning they showed up again, and walked through our site. Sigh...so much for listening to their teacher. They are supposed to leave at noon. A few parents looked sympathetically at us and said that they hoped that wasn't our only night here. My issue is the poor planning on the part of the school and the campground. State Parks are known for their spacious, private, quiet sites. That's why we camp here instead of the “cheek to jowl” crowded private parks. We are willing to forgo hook-ups in order to have a nicer place. The school group is actually camped at the far end of the park. They are doing all their activities at the extreme other end of the park, so they are constantly traipsing back and forth and annoying everyone in the park. This is a big park. Why didn't someone realize that the kids should be camped in the same area they are using for activities? That would have contained them to one area of the park, and allowed for a decent camping experience for everyone else? I wouldn't be quite as upset if we hadn't intentionally moved to this end, because we knew we didn't want to deal with the noise and mess! Plus, we gave up generator privileges and paid more for this site!


Okay, you are saying, get over it. I am looking forward to a quiet afternoon after they leave. I also found an evaluation form for the park, so I have the opportunity to vent to them as well.


They finally left at 1 PM. I cheered as the buses pulled out. Later I walked to the office and had a good chance to vent with the assistant ranger. They were all equally upset, and said that these kids are badly behaved every year. She lives in a house next to the camping area with the kids and had to spend all night telling them to be quiet, and then they started again at 6 AM. Apparently, they reserved through the phone system and didn't go to the section they usually use next to the recreation area. Okay, I felt better after commiserating with her, and the rest of the afternoon was quiet.

Rainbow during sunny downpour

Thursday- Today we left early to get an oil change and new tires. We are back at the state park tonight and will head out in the morning. We hope to go over Lake Champlain, north of the Adirondacks, and then to the St. Lawrence and down towards 1,000 Islands.