The Thousand Islands

Clayton, New York

I think I'm a target for gang stalkers. Every time that I pull out on the highway, they're laying in wait to get right next to my back bumper and follow me everywhere I go. Sometime they work in shifts and one will pass and another takes up the harassment. Usually they drive white vans and wear black baseball caps. Sometimes they're in SUVs or pickup trucks.

The grapes are getting ripe.

After the hurricane passed, there were some nice sunsets.

We came to visit Carol's sister, Jil, and her husband, Tom.

They introduced us to Tom's high school friend, Chuck, and his wife Suzanne. They have a cottage on The River and a boat only a few hours from their home in Rochester.  They took an old, rundown place and turned it into a beautiful cottage.  Chuck was very interesting. He took us for a long boat ride,  fed us lunch and we discussed navigation. 

This area is known for its classic wooden boats and the great wooden boat racer, Gar Wood. More on him later.

There are really a thousand islands along the river. You can buy your own island on either the U.S. or Canadian side and build your own castle.

That's Tom.

The Lustgarten sisters (Jil and Mrs. Phred) have some gross gestalt similarities. Every time we went out to eat some stranger would say "are you related?" or "it's nice to see sisters out together".

Some of the nicer cottages are up at the tip of Wellesly Island where we spent a week last summer.

We stopped in this place, called the Boateak. It's right next to a big old Bordello on the river that closed down in the 1920s. Back then the male tourists would go on fishing trips and spend the day. It's nice that the nature of the average man has changed over the years. Mrs. Phred bought a necklace.