June 6 : When we last
left you we had done a long day’s ride across the Erie Canal. The following day we did the same –
completing 130 miles of the Canal and 22 canals in two 10 hour trips. Given that the locks are only open 8-6 and
that most of the canal is under a 10 mph speed limit you can’t do it in less
than that. We got increasingly
comfortable with the locks, and after rising for 20 locks, took rides down in
the last two. Lock 17, the highest at 40
feet, found they couldn’t seal the door behind us due to debris at the
bottom. Finally, they turned on all of
the valves anyway, and flushed it down the canal – before they solved the problem,
we were discussing how long could we make it living inside a lock, on our
current provisions (since that day, several locks have closed due to high water and other Loopers are stuck in between locks).
The goal was to get to Lake Oneida (settled in the resort
village of Sylvan Beach) before the weather turns bad, which could be any
minute now. Otherwise we could be stuck
for several days in a less desirable location, and not be able to take
advantage of any break in the weather which will allow us the opportunity to
cross the 22 mile lake when it is relatively calm. During a long stretch, I looked out on the bow to see a most peculiar site - Debi all bundled up in her sweat pants, with her lock gloves...doing PILATES!!
Our marina adjoins a rather upscale trailer park, the kind
people choose to live in, instead of have to live in. I think Debi said they were people that had
life by the tail instead of the other way around. Last night we had dinner at a beachfront restaurant,
watching the sun set over the lake. On
the way there we passed through the town square, where a bluegrass band from
Syracuse was performing the summer Wednesday night concert in the gazebo. Each Thursday night everyone brings out their
classic cars from miles around. And
Friday nights are fireworks nights (just like Turner Field!). I was talking to Steve on the phone at the
time and noted that this was Garrison Keillor country. It even has an old small amusement park with
a roller coaster on the beach (with a carousel with baby tanks as the seats)!
June 10: After enjoying
some low key time in Sylvan Beach, we took the ride across Oneida Lake. It’s not a Great Lake, but it’s a Pretty Good
Lake – a warm-up for things to come.
Again, we are going to hang here in Brewerton (just north of Syracuse)
until we get a couple of good weather days to head to Oswego on the coast of
Lake Ontario – and then to cross the narrow end of the lake and into the St.
Lawrence on the Canadian side. Enjoyed a riverfront bar on a beautiful Sunday afternoon
yesterday. Today we will borrow the
marina courtesy car for some provisioning.
June 12: Provisioning
day went well – had our neighbors over for drinks. The following day (yesterday) we made a
decision based on weather.com that couldn’t have been more wrong. The result was a rain-soaked, wind-battered
trip of five hours finishing our portion of the Erie Canal and turning north
onto the Oswego River. Holding onto
those ropes while getting lowered into the locks and holding the boat off the
walls in the wind and rain was particularly fun. Debi laughed at me multiple times – it gave
me great pleasure to be the source of such amusement standing there in soaked
clothes and shoes. Hey – it’s an
adventure – not a luxury cruise!
We made it to Oswego but were too tired to go explore the
town, other than a bike ride to Radio Shack for a camera cable. We were finally blessed with a nice sunset –
Debi cooked a delicious salmon dinner for us - and a good night’s rest.
That led to an early morning departure and
our first experience with a GREAT Lake – Ontario. We had taken that long, wet boat trip
yesterday because today was going to be our only good window for the crossing –
and it was great. Sunny and smooth – we
were appropriately impressed with the huge body of water. Landed in Cape Vincent, on the U.S. (New
York) side of the St. Lawrence River – just off the lake. We had to get here today, because tomorrow we will be joined
by Bob and Peg Webber – who are driving up from Rockville MD to spend 4 nights
with us. And crossing tomorrow would not
have been an option – 20-25 knot winds in our face. Serious waves. Friday we will cross into Canada - not to
return until early August. Met some great Canadian boaters - very lively conversation....which led to p.p.s. below.
That led to an early morning departure and
our first experience with a GREAT Lake – Ontario. We had taken that long, wet boat trip
yesterday because today was going to be our only good window for the crossing –
and it was great. Sunny and smooth – we
were appropriately impressed with the huge body of water. Landed in Cape Vincent, on the U.S. (New
York) side of the St. Lawrence River – just off the lake. We had to get here today, because tomorrow we will be joined
by Bob and Peg Webber – who are driving up from Rockville MD to spend 4 nights
with us. And crossing tomorrow would not
have been an option – 20-25 knot winds in our face. Serious waves. Friday we will cross into Canada - not to
return until early August. Met some great Canadian boaters - very lively conversation....which led to p.p.s. below.
We are on a free dock – which sounds great – but it comes
with no electricity, no water, no nothing.
Nowhere in town has the 50 amp service we need. And we are beginning to realize that
electricity is going to be an on and off thing (so to speak) for the next
couple of months. But I think that’s
going to be easy compared to no cell phone service, no wifi, etc. It’s not like we’ll never have these things,
but they are going to be luxuries instead of normalcies – until we get back to
the states in early August. It’s not
that Canada is behind times – but the Georgian Bay and northern Lake Huron are
just extremely isolated. The positive
reframe is that apparently we are going to be in a land of intense beauty –
islands, cliffs, crystal clear water.
Who needs email? (I can’t
believe I said that). You’ll just have
to be patient to get our blog report.
Some of the stories of our travels are dramatic (e.g.,
tornadoes, passing the Statue of Liberty), some are small little slices of
life. While it is not the most amazing story,
see the p.s. for an example of the latter.
Love, Jim and Debi
p.s. While in a bar
watching the Blackhawks’ double overtime win in the Stanley Cup, I was
surrounded by about 10 of the loudest drunkest least competent karaoke singers
imaginable. 10 was about capacity for
the bar (just a small room on the other side of a restaurant). They weren’t exactly obnoxious, but they were
on the edge. All of a sudden, one of the
waitresses from the restaurant appears with a guitar. This girl is 15, looks more like 12 or 13, dressed
in one of those couldn’t-be-less-flattering frumpy waitress outfits, like Alice
wore. She starts singing, “Oh where or
where could my baby be…The Lord took her away from me” – a song that was an
oldie when her parents first heard it. That
was a curious choice, but she got the attention of the small crowd. That was followed by a song she wrote, which
she introduced as “Memorial Day”, written on the holiday a couple of weeks
ago. And while I was expecting some
sort of “I’m Proud to Be an American” schmaltz, nothing could have been further
from the truth. It was an incredible
love song by anyone’s standards, using the colors red, white, and blue to
describe her emotions about different stages of a relationship – I would be
doing it a disservice by trying to recreate it any further. You could hear a pin drop – and I was
watching HER instead of the Blackhawks in the midst of the second
overtime! So weird to be in this little
bar in this little town watching this little girl completely overwhelm this
drunken audience. This trip is as much
about moments like that as it is about seeing the “sights”.
p.p.s. So the p.s. was about missing part of the Chicago Blackhawks overtime playoff game because of an unexpected turn of events in the bar. A couple of nights ago I was back in another bar in another town watching the same Blackhawks in another overtime game in the same Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, once again, an adventure broke out interrupting the game. This time, we were having a fine time with the Canadians in the picture. The guy on the left headed for home...and came back 30 minutes later, calmly explaining he had just wiped out on his Harley, trying to avoid a deer that jumped in the road. So, the three of us guys hopped in his truck with him, leaving our women behind – and off to the bike we went.
What we found was unbelievable. There was no shoulder where his bike went off the road – just a pretty steep bank heading 25 feet down into the St. Lawrence River. The only thing between the road and the river were a couple of boulders, and the bike was more or less hanging off the edge of one of them. He decided we were going to strap that thing to his SUV up on the road, drag it off the rock, up the bank, and into the road. And after several nearly DISASTROUS false starts, we did just that. Then we shoved that 900 pound pile of metal with stuff hanging off every side and end of it up a ramp and into the trailer behind his SUV. He drove us back to the bar – bought everyone a round – and we went back to watching the game. I missed the first OT due to duty with my boys, saw the second OT (no score) and for some reason 5 periods of hockey were 4 too many for Debi and we went home before the Hawks won in the 3rd OT.
p.p.s. So the p.s. was about missing part of the Chicago Blackhawks overtime playoff game because of an unexpected turn of events in the bar. A couple of nights ago I was back in another bar in another town watching the same Blackhawks in another overtime game in the same Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, once again, an adventure broke out interrupting the game. This time, we were having a fine time with the Canadians in the picture. The guy on the left headed for home...and came back 30 minutes later, calmly explaining he had just wiped out on his Harley, trying to avoid a deer that jumped in the road. So, the three of us guys hopped in his truck with him, leaving our women behind – and off to the bike we went.
What we found was unbelievable. There was no shoulder where his bike went off the road – just a pretty steep bank heading 25 feet down into the St. Lawrence River. The only thing between the road and the river were a couple of boulders, and the bike was more or less hanging off the edge of one of them. He decided we were going to strap that thing to his SUV up on the road, drag it off the rock, up the bank, and into the road. And after several nearly DISASTROUS false starts, we did just that. Then we shoved that 900 pound pile of metal with stuff hanging off every side and end of it up a ramp and into the trailer behind his SUV. He drove us back to the bar – bought everyone a round – and we went back to watching the game. I missed the first OT due to duty with my boys, saw the second OT (no score) and for some reason 5 periods of hockey were 4 too many for Debi and we went home before the Hawks won in the 3rd OT.
And the hits just keep happening.
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