The first time I have eaten at a place called “La Cucaracha” (13th Avenue, Cathedral Village, Regina, Saskatchewan)
Looking back, it is even more interesting to see where I thought about going (to the point of checking airfares and flight schedules)…but ultimately didn’t visit then. Those countries were: Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Fiji, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Serbia, (North) Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Bermuda, Bhutan, the United Arab Emirates and Greenland. Oh yes, I also wanted to visit Saskatchewan!
A Christmas market in downtown Copenhagen, Denmark, with Christiansborg in the background
Even in 2014, real-life events took some of these countries off the list. And obviously a lot has happened since then. But have I made it to any of those places in the intervening 10 years?
Absolutely stunning view just below Sunset Point (Bryce Canyon, Utah)
The answer is…yes! Most notable was a couple of weeks in South America, where I managed to visit both Chile and Argentina. I also finally made it to Saskatchewan! That was important to me because it was the only Canadian province or territory that I had never visited. Alas, I haven’t yet made it to any of those other countries…before or after 2014. In a way, I suppose that I have been to Slovenia, although it was still part of Yugoslavia at the time.
At the top of Horseshoe Bend (near Page, Arizona)
A lot of my travel since 2014 has been to previously visited countries, provinces, and states. However, I have visited a couple of completely new entities since then: Denmark and St. Pierre & Miquelon, which is a “self-governing territorial overseas collectivity” of France. I certainly hadn’t foreseen those destinations in 2014. And while there aren’t any remaining Canadian provinces or territories to see for the first time, I have since made it to several “new” American states: Nevada, Utah (see photo at the very top of this post), Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
Bastille Day – St. Pierre & Miquelon
Looking ahead, I know I’ll be taking at least two international trips in the next 12 months. Stay tuned to find out if those trips include any of the “2014 wish list” destinations!
I flew from Geneva, Switzerland, to Toronto (via Dublin) on March 8, 2020. And despite flying thousands of miles on a couple of occasions in 2022, I hadn’t left Canada since that pivotal day in 2020. Until now.
The toll booth at the 1000 Islands Bridge (Ivy Lea, Ontario). About to leave Canada!My first international destination since March 2020
On April 23, 2023, we dusted off our passports and drove through the heart of the 1000 Islands to the United States border…and beyond!
Eel Bay (Wellesley Island State Park)The water at Eel Bay was very clear (Wellesley Island State Park)
Since the trip was very much a last-minute decision, it was kind of a strange way to end the long international travel drought. But I had done a little bit of research in advance that would prove very helpful.
Low level view of the Narrows (Wellesley Island State Park)High level view of the Narrows (Wellesley Island State Park)
Our first stop in New York was Wellesley Island State Park. I had driven through Wellesley Island countless times over the years, but this was the very first time I had ever turned off Interstate 81 to visit the park. And because it was not yet the summer tourist season, admission was free.
A rocky part of the trail, near the Narrows (Wellesley Island State Park)
We began with a brief orientation at the Minna Anthony Common Nature Centre . We confirmed our understanding of the trail system, and embarked on an extremely enjoyable hike along Eel Bay. We were walking for well over an hour…and didn’t see anybody else after the first minute.
This fellow was sticking his tongue out at us, and didn’t want us to get any closer (Wellesley Island State Park)
We had great views of the St. Lawrence River and the American portion of the 1000 Islands. Wellesley Island is home to deer, wild turkeys, snakes, and huge birds of prey…and today we saw all of them.
This fellow didn’t stick out his tongue, and let us get quite close (Wellesley Island State Park)We think we saw a turkey vulture circling overhead! Wellesley Island State Park
Looking back at the trail we had just hiked up (Wellesley Island State Park)
After leaving Wellesley Island State Park, we visited the “Private Community” of 1000 Islands Park. It looks like an exclusive cottage enclave from the 1920s that has been frozen in time ever since. And since it was only April, virtually all of the houses were empty. It was eerily quiet.
Thousand Island Park Post Office (Wellesley Island, New York)
We then crossed to the “mainland” of New York State. We briefly stopped in Clayton but, like most villages on the water around here, it was virtually deserted. It will come to life again once Victoria Day weekend arrives, along with the first substantial groups of tourists and cottagers.
James Street in downtown Clayton, New York
We had worked up quite an appetite, so we continued on to Watertown for dinner. Watertown is the largest community in this part of New York state but it still has only about 24,500 people. Yet we still managed to find an interesting place to eat: B-Hat’s Curry House, featuring Indian and Nepali cuisine. And we had both!
This building had gryphons on it! (Clayton, New York)
We started with some momos for our appetizer, followed by a main course of chicken korma and chicken vindaloo. The sauces were very rich and the korma had a pleasing cashew accent. The vindaloo packed a lot of punch, so I was glad to have ordered a lassi drink to neutralize the burn.
B-Hat’s Curry House, at the Stateway Plaza in Watertown, New York
After dinner, we took some local highways through communities like…Philadelphia! The New York version is only a small village, but it’s not the only “alternate” version around here. If we had kept going, we would have made it to Antwerp. And there are communities named Copenhagen, Mexico, Turin, and Rome around here. too.
Entering the metropolitan area (Philadelphia, New York)
We returned to Canada as the sun was setting over the 1000 Islands. It was a lot of fun to be an international traveler again, even if it was only for one day. I can’t wait to get the passport out again soon!
It is easy to write about the good things on a trip. It is not as easy to write about the things that go wrong.
Arrival at the Grand Canyon on Thursday afternoon
We arrived at the Grand Canyon late on a Thursday afternoon. It was swimming in fog: we couldn’t see anything more than a few feet from the South Rim of the canyon. However, we weren’t too disappointed, as we would be staying in the area until Saturday morning. Some snow was predicted for the next day, but we figured that would only enhance the scenery (like the snow at Bryce Canyon had done a couple of days before).
First glimpse of the alleged Grand Canyon
When I woke up the next morning, the hotel room was cold. And very dark. The power was out. And yes, the heat was out too. I looked out the window: more than a foot of snow had fallen (see photo at the top of this post). This did not look good.
Best picture from Thursday – you can barely see the North Rim. Also a rare moment, with nobody on the usually-crowded observation deck
There were varying estimates on how long the power would be out. The hotel could not serve breakfast, because the generators were needed to keep the hotel up and running at a minimal level. In fact, no restaurants anywhere in town seemed to be open. Not only were we cold, hungry, and without power, there appeared to be no prospect of an imminent return. The road to the Grand Canyon was closed. And the snow continued to fall.
Looking down from the South Rim – you can see a large dropoff…sort of.
Interesting things happen when you are faced with no food, no heat, and no power. All of a sudden, it’s changed from vacation to survival. Which explains why people jammed the only open business: a gas station with no power but some stranded staff.
Preparing for the apocalypse in the gas station
What do you buy when this may be your only chance to get food for several days? When a large part of the store consists of products in the “chips” category? And when you know that it will take more than an hour to check out, because the line-up is huge and the bills need to be calculated by hand? Making the best of a bad situation, I loaded up on trail mix, and hoped that the power would return soon.
The hotel parking lot, at about noon on Friday. The snow would continue into the night.
The walk back to the hotel was miserable, with high winds and even some freezing rain pelting my eyes. By Friday night, the gas station was closed, and power had still not returned. The roads into Tusayan remained closed too.
One power-restoration deadline after another passed. With a nasty cold on top of everything else, this was not my finest hour. I’ve never worn a coat to bed, but there is a first time for everything. You just don’t know how much colder it is going to get.
