Open Road

After returning from the UK, there was much to attend to. First, my daughter completed her studies at Brandeis and attained a BA, with honors, and an award. We had a delightful day, as we were only attending the smaller graduation of Arts students, and the day was perfectly gorgeous. She was ecstatic and adorable. Celebrated with a simple meal out with a small group of family. Another milestone! So happy for her as she rushes off towards the rest of life with happiness, confidence and a lot of skills.

Back to business. I had a few fun photo jobs to complete, and The Van went back into the shop for a few more tweaks and upgrades. I was readying myself for my next road trip, this time off to Toronto, Ontario to have a photo "meetup" with some members of the Flickr group Utata, which I have been a part of for almost seven years. I've attended meetups (as they have come to be called) in Boston and several places in England, and consider many of these online pals real friends; we so enjoy one another's company. It's really nice to be with a crowd which moves about the way photographers do; stopping, staring, wandering, disappearing under a truck, with no one skipping a beat; we are in synch on this account. Photo-walks, we call'em. But we do a lot more than walk and take pics. We visit local sites, museums and, er, yes, a fair few pubs and restaurants. We have a blast, in other words. We'll be meeting in Liverpool this fall, and we are planing a Utata-Palooza in Boston in October 2013.

The van, repaired, repacked and revved up, was ready for action. I booked my first night at a camp in the middle of NY State and headed off to Canada. The trip was very easy to Herkimer, NY. My vehicle was parked right next to the River, we were well away from traffic, and I slept like a log. Kids were excavating and pummeling stones on the river bank, searching for "Herkimer Diamonds", a local form of quartz that is highly prized and easy to find there.

I'm been very pleased with the campgrounds I've stayed in, for the most part, and certainly on this trip. Even with all sorts of folks, kids, dogs, vehicles and accessories, the camps are always very quiet; no yelling, no dogs yelping and howling, no party-types disrupting sleep and serenity. Folks also refrain from staring or intruding; there is a high level of respect and decency from what I have seen and experienced. I've never once felt unsafe, lonely or worried while in a camp. I have felt worried on the road--lost, tired, but this is part of travel, and once one recovers, one feels a sense of relief and growth.

Awoke in the morn and did my stretching and ablutions, listened to tunes and walked someone's dog. :-) Hit the road for the long trip to Toronto. I should have gone further into NY state and gotten closer to Ontario, but, as it was, I ended up taking about eight hours to get to my final destination in Toronto, Rouge Park Camp; a small, sweet RV park right at the edge of the city! I was very happy indeed, after getting lost during the last 4 miles of the journey, to land in that park. The border crossing took about an hour; I was, along with everyone, waiting in my vehicle for about 30-40 minutes before I got through. No issues getting through, but I was a bit surprised by how many questions I was asked.

It was a thrill to see Lake Ontario at last, looking very blue and like an ocean, from my initial perspective. I went in under the Lake and worked my way clock-wise, up and around. The Toronto skyline looked quite tantalizing on the horizon, but very far away! I let Sat Nav take over when I got into city limits, but oh my, it sent me on local roads and I had no choice but to move forward. I was on a huge, long road IN the city for 10 miles, all local, with traffic galore, pedestrians galore and really no where to pull my big rig over for a break. Plodded onward, getting lost towards the end, but finally landing in the Park well before dark. Another spot right by the River, with no noise! Now nice. Settled in, ate a simple dinner, took an evening walk, and had another sound night of rest. Made arrangements with a local Utatan to get picked up at the Park and to ride into the city on public transport together. Jeff was very kind--I couldn't have done it without him without spending a lot of $$ and likely getting lost to boot. Couldn't wait to explore the city with my virtual, now real, friends.

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