LANSDOWNE, ONT. -- Travellers heading to the U.S. on Monday faced wait times at land border crossings south of the capital.

Early Monday morning, wait times at the Thousand Islands Bridge east of Kingston were an estimated three hours.

Foggy conditions compounded the wait, which snarled traffic along Highway 401 in the area. A section of the Highway near Reynolds Road was closed due to the fog.

However, the lineups later lightened up. As of just before 9 a.m. Monday, there was an estimated 15-minute wait time at the Prescott, Ont. border crossing and a 30-minute wait at the Thousand Islands Bridge.

In Cornwall, there was no wait at all.

At 3 p.m., the estimated wait time at the Thousand Islands Bridge was 30 minutes. The ramps from Highway 401 to Highway 137 connecting with the bridge were closed because of the wait. 

Wait times for travellers remained low in Prescott and Cornwall Monday afternoon, though commercial lanes in Cornwall were closed.

By Monday night, the delay at the Thousand Islands Bridge was down to about 15 minutes.

The sheer number of people trying to cross, however, continues to cause backups in areas near the border. Many of the travellers are snowbirds with RVs starting their commutes south for the winter.

That includes the Langevins, travelling from Laval, Que. to their Florida retirement community. They will see friends they haven't seen in more than a year.

"We have people from all over the province of Quebec, from Ontario, from the Maritimes," Serge Langevin said. "It's going to be avery emotional to see each other. There's going to be a lot of hugs and kisses."

Hundreds of RVs were camped out in spots near Gananoque and Brockville Sunday night, ready to hit the road Monday morning.

Daryl White, of Whitby, Ont. was an eager traveller Monday, hoping to get back across the border to visit relatives in Maryland.

"We are the closest relatives," White said, of reuniting with her sister. "It’s going to teary seeing her because we normally see each other a couple of times a year."

At nearly 80, White says this is probably one of the last trips like this she will take. 

"This is the last hurrah," she said. "We've got our vaccines, our little papers. Happy to go."

The U.S. reopened its land border crossings to fully vaccinated Canadians travelling for non-essential reasons. The border had been closed for 20 months because of COVID-19.

- With files from Kimberley Johnson and Nate Vandermeer, CTV News Ottawa