Getting Ready to Go to Alexandria Bay

Packed and Ready to Leave

Ready for that way over-due vacation post?

Vacation was great. We got a bit of a late start, because we stopped for lunch before we left and because it took longer to buy the supplies we were still missing. Like the sealant. That we didn’t even use. But that Mark insisted we needed.

We finally got on the road around 1:30. We filled up the tank, and got on the highway. Alex Bay is about the easiest place to find from here. You get on rte. 81. Drive for two hours. Take a left right before you hit the bridge to Canada. The campsite is three or four minutes away, on the right. Even I couldn’t get us lost.

We arrived just after 3:30, and started hauling everything out of the van. It was packed full. We unhooked Becca’s car seat, set her on the grass near the van, and started setting up the tent. Which didn’t take that long. By 4:30, the campsite was all set up, the bed was blown up and made, and we were heading back into town.

Hanging Out in the Tent

Mark wanted to go to Jreck’s Subs for supper. This was our first trip into Alex Bay. I forgot how small the town was. You can park downtown and walk to anyplace in town within a few minutes. Dinner was great, then we headed back to camp, put Becca to sleep, and played a few games of Skip-bo.

Becca was awake the next morning by 5:30, as soon as the sun came up. Nothing we did could convince her to sleep a little longer, so we just got up and got dressed.

Up at 5:30. Mark and I Were Not this Perky.

Quickly. It was really cold. Mark got the fire started, and I made some breakfast.

Sunday was our day at Boldt Castle. We got on the first ferry out to Heart Island. Despite the eather forecast, it was a beautiful day. We headed up to the castle first, which has been greatly improved on since I was last there, in 1993 with my family. I’m dedicating a full post to the castle and grounds, so I won’t get into it too much here. It was gorgeous, though.

Boldt Castle

After returning to the mainland, we wandered around town a bit. This included a trip to the local fudge shop, where we had some ice cream and bought a ton of fudge. Mark found some rainbow sherbet fudge, I stuck with peanut butter and maple. We also got blueberry cheesecake, and a couple other kinds. 6 all together. There was a buy one pound, get a half pound free special. And we obviously needed a pound and a half of fudge.

We spent the rest of the morning in Alex Bay, and then headed back to camp, where we enjoyed some sandwiches, chips, and soda for lunch. Becca went down for a really long nap, and I got a little reading done. Once Becca woke up, Mark went down for a nap, and Becca and I decided to go check out the beach. It was kind of small, but perfect for a mom and toddler, and we were the only ones over there that day. We wandered into the water for a bit, and Becca was having a blast with the waves coming from the boats going by. It was kind of cool, so before long, we were heading over to the sand. We had brought along a bucket and shovel, and practiced filling it up, then dumping it out. Good Times.

We made steaks and potatoes for supper. Did not turn out as planned. So instead, we just ate a bunch of junk food. Calories don’t count on vacation. Right?

Part of this pile of junk included smores. Awesome smores. We bought a bag of the toasted coconut covered marshmallows. When those get all melted, and then stuck with chocolate and graham crackers, it’s like a macaroon cookie. Yum.

After Becca went to bed, Mark and I stayed up with the fire. We had been told by another camper that a family of skunks had been coming out near our campsite for the past few nights, so we might see them. I took a quick bathroom break (bathrooms right across the road from our campsite– maybe 150 feet away. Great perk.), and came back right in time to scare the skunk away. So, we sat still a bit, and he came back out. He wandered out of the bushes to my right, slipped under my chair, rubbing along the back of my legs on the way, and then crawled underneath the tent.

At this point, I got a little nervous. What if he got stuck under there, and sprayed? What if we had to call for animal control to get him out? Becca was inside the tent. What if she got up and stepped on him? It was an anxious minute or two before the skunk came back out, and headed into the bushes. He poked out a few more times before we headed in to bed, where we laid awake and listened to him going back and forth across the campsite, and back underneath the tent a few times.

Monday was supposed to be a nice, quiet day lounging around camp. Mark went fishing (didn’t catch anything), made breakfast, and we took showers. I had my book all set (I was reading ‘The Book Thief’ and did not want to be interrupted), and….

It took until 10:00 for Mark to decide that he was bored. He missed civilization. Where could we go?

So, we headed down to the Alexandria Bay Winery. We were going to take the tour, but really wasn’t anyone there, so we looked around in the shop for a while and then headed down to Clayton.

Clayton is another small town, about 15 miles west of Alex Bay. It was the site of some important battle (according to the sign) during an early American war. French-Indian War, maybe? Anyhow, it is an absolutely beautiful town. Gorgeous views of the water. We walked around for a while, checked out some of the little shops. Mark informed me that he would never live in a town like that, because everyone was wearing pastels. According to him, there is an unofficial dress code in the area, and he wouldn’t be able to handle seeing pastels everywhere. Or something.

Becca was getting tired, so we headed back to the campsite, where she slept through lunch. We had hot dogs and sweet corn. Once she had woken up, I made Mark take her for a while so that I could get some reading in. It was hot, but we were getting a nice breeze from the water, so the tent was very comfortable.

After my “nap” (that’s what I was calling it to get some alone time), we went back to the beach for a while. Then we cleaned up, and walked down to the little store down near the water. Becca got a huge green freeze-pop. Which she was nice enough to share with us. Probably a good thing, as it was almost as big as her.

Our last night in camp, we were supposed to be cooking the fish that Mark was going to catch. Which meant we had no food. A quick stop to a nearby grocery store, and we had all the fixings for hamburgers.

After dinner, some early packing, and some more running around the campsite, it was time for Becca to go to bed. I went into the tent with her, and we started getting ready. Mark put some more wood on the fire, and got some snacks ready for later.

Becca was almost asleep when I heard the skunks come out. I could hear that there were more than one this time. A few moments later, I heard a rustling noise, and then a chuckle. And then some more rustling. Hmm.

A few minutes later, Mark came in to the tent, carrying the box of fudge. He had it sitting next to him on the cooler, and one of the skunks got into it. Instead of trying to get rid of the skunk, he let it eat the fudge. My fudge. Turns out skunks like peanut butter. And then more skunks came out. And one of them got a little too close to the fudge skunk (F.S.), so S.F. started growling. And then they all went away, briefly, so Mark grabbed the fudge and brought it back into the tent. (Yes, we ate the fudge anyhow. He was only interested in the peanut butter, and he didn’t eat a lot of it, so I cut that spot off.)

The skunks were back a lot that night. I guess they enjoyed all of the food Becca had been throwing around all day. I didn’t care, as long as they left my fudge alone. They were cute, even. More or less.

We got up the next morning, we ate a quick breakfast (graham crackers and fruit), and finished up packing. Check-out was at 11:00, we were gone before 9:00. We stopped briefly at the Watertown Mall, and then headed home. It was really nice to be back, with our own bed.

Overall, going camping with a toddler went much better than I thought it would. Although we might not get out again this year, we’re looking forward to next year.

Did you notice the lack of pictures? They’re all still sideways. I need to fix them. They’re coming. Eventually… *sigh*