Ships and Swans

By the title of this post, I bet you can tell where we have been. We wanted to take a last hurrah trip of the season to the Thousand Islands, but it ended up being an abbreviated stay due to stormy weather moving in. However, while we were there we had a fantastic time in both the kayaks and the skiff. Even though we had planned on camping in Gulliver at Keewaydin State Park, at the last minute we opted to go to Grass Point for a day of kayaking, since it was too chilly to go in Keewaydin's pool anyway. Plus the water level is down now and the launch ramp usable. Of course we can't leave out being able to see the ships passing by...

While in our kayaks we were at the Rock Island Lighthouse when this huge houseboat went by...

Then coming the other way was this ship which we were really close to. The channel is very narrow here.

Further up the St. Lawrence, another ship was coming on a reciprocal course and we got to see them pass quite closely.

The one ship ended up being a barge being pushed by a very modern looking tugboat.

Back near the campground, the swan family came out to say hello and show me how much the cygnets had grown. The one is still quite dark though.

To top off our trip, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew in formation overhead. They were coming up the river from Newburgh to Nova Scotia and we just happened to see the fly-by. I did not get a chance to get out my camera in time (photo below is from the internet) but a lady who was standing nearby told us that they were flying in the missing man formation. She had been told that one of the pilots had been coming to his grandfather's home in the Thousand Islands since he was a child and (I believe) his grandfather was also a pilot, but had passed away. This flight up the river was to honor him. How cool is that?

The last morning we brought our entourage down to Alexandria Bay and launched the kayaks at the public launch ramp, which is finally open after much of the high water has receded. We kayaked past downtown and over to Bonnie Castle Resort and Marina. To get there, we have to go in a culvert to the marina (much easier and quicker than the outside where the current flies). I ended up hitting my head on a metal bar that supports the cable tv lines. Ouch, but I survived...next time I will duck more. 

 "Light at the end of the tunnel."😉 

Then we couldn't resist going under this platform that used to house a big motel. we even remember the building being there before it was demolished several years ago. Adventures are us!

This may have been just a couple of days of fun (we saw something like 6-8 ships in 2 1/2 days), but we are sure glad we went. I would call it "short but sweet!"