March 15th & we're home

On the road again for the last day’s drive. It’s 6:17am, pitch black, foggy and rainy all of which conspire against us as we miss a critical split in the highway. I-81 goes off to the left and we’re in the wrong lane and end up going east. Another U-turn in a parking lot, back on the offending road going west and then north. Not long after we stop for gas, $2.53/gal.

The misty fog is a photographer’s dream. Dawn slowly brightens the sky in the east leaving the scenery in the west bathed in layers of mist, tree tops poking out like black brush. Oh for a 4x5 camera and black & white film.

Back on the road, the traffic is relentless; headlights spoil my scenery. As the highway cuts through the hills, patches of snow are now more frequent, a reminder that winter is not quite gone. The radio blares out the weather forecast – rain and snow. Who knows what is falling, but it’s wet, wetter still as each passing truck leaves us in a shower of blinding slush. I’m glad we didn’t take the time to wash the outside of the trailer like so many others were doing in the RV resorts. It seems that we are returning to Canada in much the same weather conditions as when we left, perhaps a bit warmer.

We’re climbing again, this time to 500 meters. How do I know? The GPS sensor tells me so, along with the longtitude, latitude, our speed, and a few other things. We level off at 532 m. and pass through a rock cut whose faces bear the driller’s signature. Elongated drips of frozen ice/snow decorate the surface.

An Award trailer passes us. Guess what? It’s my sister & her husband. We left Gulf Shores 2.5 hours ahead of them as they slept in that day. With a bigger truck & engine, Kent drives faster. I suspect we have been driving longer hours to have stayed ahead of them for so long. This is their last trip with the trailer as they have leased a condo for next winter. Right on the water in Gulf Shores.

We’re on the climb again, starting at 350m and down to 68kph, right behind a long tanker whose lights are flashing. I-81 is 3-lanes to accommodate this slow ascent. We only get to 449m this time before we descend at 92kph. This up-and-down routine will really reduce our gas mileage.

At 9:58am the state of New York welcomes us. Unfortunately the weather does not improve as a result. Syracuse is 78 miles away! I check the map to realize that we are probably within 4 hours of home.

Up until now we’ve been travelling in light showers. The precipitation has just changed dramatically. The countryside is suddenly covered in white. We encounter an even more dramatic event – a car upside down in the median ditch. One couple is standing at the roadside, another is just escaping from the vehicle. One lucky group of people.

The gas guage warning is bleating again. In Whitney Point we encounter $2.67/gallon and a snow plough. As we make our way back to I-81 we pass a Mobil station advertising $2.75/gallon.
I-81 greets us with its salty slush which quickly coats the windshield, car & trailer. Seems the return portion of our journey is going to echo our departure on the first of February. Well not quite as the local weather forecast predicts flooding.

Another car in the ditch with its companion recently loaded onto a tow truck. This is in the middle of a multi-signed area warning of icy road conditions, bright yellow such that you can’t miss them. Either they can’t read or they’re disbelievers. A hard way to learn a lesson.

The countryside is now completely covered in white, tree branches heavy with the wet snow. Our speed has been reduced by 20kph; traffic continues to roar past us. At 60 km south of Syracuse, this is going to be a long day.

The town of Cortland offers an unusual sight – a lone lifeguard chair high in the air supervising a flock of pigeons standing on the edge of a partially frozen manmade pond. Rock cuts have running water now under their snowy icicles. Ditches and small rivers don’t know whether to be frozen or not; the geese aren’t bothered.

At last the road is somewhat flat (roughly 320m altitude), the hills slowly receding from the highway. Rats! I spoke too soon. The approach to LaFayette, that's in New York, not Louisianna - , just south of Syracuse is again going up or going down, varying over 80m in height. Greatly improved road conditions, however, more than make up for this. The road surface is relatively dry and visibility even better as the snow showers have stopped. And the landscape is no longer completely white, but rather the dreary colours of late winter/early spring with the occasional highlight of snow on the north-facing hills. Even the sky has brightened substantially causing an additional brightening of our spirits.

We’re now on the eastern Syracuse ring road (#481). Countdown time: to Watertown (110km), over the international bridge to turn east on the 401 (the Montreal-Toronto corridor) another 50 km, hang a left northward at Brockville (40km) and home for the final 50km. I calculate ETA at 3:00pm

Mexico, New York, that’s the town that got 11’ of snow while we were in Texas. There’s a lot of melting to happen yet as the ground is completely covered with several feet of still-white snow. Compare that to Syracuse where there we saw only patches of the white stuff earlier this morning.

Back on I-81 the pavement is now dry from the heat of vehicle tires. Only the occcasional truck overtakes us. “Where have all the truckers gone?” I sing. Don’t know, don’t care as the driving is much easier. It feels like we’ve picked up speed, but we haven’t. 93kph it remains.

A rest stop. Not much resting going on here. No toilets, no shelter, and someone has turned the heat off; it’s 32F! The dogs take a quick drink and need no encouragement to hop back into the car.

Strange travelling companions ahead where a Brinks truck is very slowly over-taking a Seaway ambulance which passed us earlier. I trust there is absolutely no connection between this and our reception by Canadian customs. Our declared purchase receipts are carefully stored in separate his-and-her envelopes along with a list. We’re both well short of the limit. Is this good or bad I wonder. Oh, oh! some driver is in the process of getting a speeding ticket. I declare this to be a good omen just in case anyone is listening.

Speaking of listening, Al has finally got CBC on the radio. Ontario Today’s host is apologizing for yesterday’s on-air gaffe about International Pie Day, that's the mathematical one, not apple, lemon or whatever your favourite is.

Crossing the St. Lawrence is always a visual treat especially in the Thousand Islands area. Al’s eyes are glued to the immediate road ahead; he hates high bridges. I’m too busy admiring the scenery to be worried. On the island the rock cuts expose an amazing array of colours in the granite – shades of green, pearl, yellow & pink which remind me that spring is coming and with it more rocks for the garden.

Customs Control? Piece of cake and an additonal bonus – our man was pleasant. Now for the final test. What price gasoline in Canada?

Brockville, Ontario. My 93 year old father lives here in Sherwood Park Manor, a long-term care facility. On the spur of the moment I suggest we drop in. He will enjoy seeing us, the dogs and our filthy trailer. And even better, Al can take a photo of us.