August 2, 2002
Little Falls, NY
We have really enjoyed our trip through the Erie Canal. Weve been through sixteen locks (plus one in Troy) with no problems. Finding a place to spend the night is easy
we can tie up at any of the locks, and many towns have docks with electric at little or no charge. We cranked up the air conditioner yesterday and enjoyed a movie in cool comfort while a thunderstorm raged.
The little towns along the way have taken an economic beating as more and more companies have moved operations overseas. We read in one of our guides that Amsterdam had a movie theatre within walking distance, so we made it a point to stop there. The citys municipal dock was a vision with vivid flowers carefully planted in hanging baskets and barrels. It was a beautifully designed park complete with playground and an elevator and overpass to whisk moneyed tourists to a shopping mall. We were disheartened to find the mall almost empty of merchants, and the movie theatre had closed. There was no place for us to shop other than a hardware store. We walked over to a Best Western hotel to ask if there were shops within walking distance. The manager shook her head but gave us a couple of towels and welcomed us for a swim in their pool.
Last night we met some Little Falls locals on the dock who offered us a ride for ice cream. They gave us a tour of their city, and the narrative included ghosts of industries past. This empty factory used to manufacture gloves, that vacant factory used to build bicycles, these buildings were used for dressmaking. With each factory closing came layoffs and subsequent economic spirals.
Well continue our journey to Herkimer. Our guidebooks show a new Wal-Mart Super Store within walking distance. Hopefully it will still be open, and we can do our part to bolster the Herkimer economy.
August 9, 2002
Phoenix, NY
Phoenix has been Taylor Time. We were greeted by Phoenixs goodwill ambassadors The Bridge House Brats, a large group of kids ranging in age from probably 6 to 17. They helped us with the lines and were available to bring drinks to the boat and run errands. After giving Taylor a tour of the Bridge Museum, Dalton, Dillon, and Joshua joined us aboard for video games. Taylor had such a great time we extended our visit another day.
It was good to have a gang of boys aboard all day. Dalton and Taylor dueled with Yu-Ghi-Oh cards. Joshuas mom stopped by to say hello. She said Josh had told her all about Taylor and the boat, and he was happy to find that we had extended our stay. As we head toward Oswego and the Great Lakes, Taylor is busy playing Pokeman and trying out Dillons strategies.
August 13, 2002
Kingston, Ontario
We did a whirlwind tour of the Thousand Islands. The area is gorgeous, and I would have loved to spend more time there. We docked at Clayton, NY for the night and took a tour boat to Alex Bay and the Islands.
We visited Boldt Castle, a beautiful but unfinished castle on Heart Island. The story behind it is a tragic tale. Boldt immigrated to the United States at age 13. He eventually found success in the hotel business, and opened the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. He bought one of the Thousand Islands, Hart Island, and promptly changed the name to Heart Island. Further, he blasted portions of the island to make it shaped like a valentine. His plan was to build a castle for his wife and present it to her on her birthday February 14. Modeled after European castles, he designed the valentine motif throughout the castle from stained glass windows to wrought iron fences. He spent millions of dollars over four years on his project. With less than a year to completion, the construction foreman received a telegram to stop all work. Mrs. Boldt had died of consumption (tuberculosis.) The castle remained unfinished, and Boldt never again stepped foot on Heart Island.
The tour took us around many of the islandsthere are 1800 rather than one thousand. Many are privately owned and some are barely large enough to hold a single house. There are very few homes that are lived in year-round. Most are used only during the summer months; some very beautiful homes are used only a couple weeks per year. Our tour guide told us that almost all the homes use holding tanks for waste disposal, and they have to lug trash by boat to the landfill. Takes a lot of the fun out of vacation living.
August 13, 2002
Kingston, Ontario
We crossed over into Canada at Kingston, Ontario. No problem with customs; it was a phone call from the first marina. Straight-as-an-arrow Ray told them by phone that we had the equivalent of seven full bottles of liquor and 20 beers on board. Cost of tax: $50. The liquor is leftover from Rays retirement party a year ago. Seems like we ought to be able to claim depreciation.
Kingston is another city I will have to add to my list of places Id like to return to. The day was almost gone before we were checked into Customs, and we had to check out of the marina by 11:00 the next morning. We stayed at Confederation Basin in the heart of hotels, parks, and restaurants. We took the dogs and walked across the street for ice cream around 10:00 PM. The city had a party atmosphere with laughing people enjoying the lighted fountains at the park and dining at sidewalk cafes. As usual, our pups were crowd pleasers. They appeared to be well behaved and sat quietly at our feet on the busy sidewalk, but Ray and I know they were simply mesmerized by our dripping ice cream.
I love this country! You buy ice cream for the family and give them a twenty. You get the ice cream and more than twenty back. WOW! With conversion to Canadian funds, our money should stretch pretty far.
August 14, 2002
Deserato, Ontario
We covered quite a bit of territory, and found a spot to anchor in a grassy bank about a half-mile from a bridge. It was wickedly hot and humid, and we were glad to find a spot where we could catch a whisper of a breeze. It got hotter and hotter (and my disposition grew more and more sour) when the breeze turned into a wind. We breathed a sigh of relief as the temperature dropped until the wind turned into a storm. Ray feared we were dragging anchor and the boat was drifting toward the bridge. He set a second anchor, grabbed the small anchor from the dinghy and dropped it over the side to see if the boat was still moving. We set up the computer charts, but it offered little detail for Deserato, and we began to plot GPS coordinates to see if there was any more movement toward the bridge. Our system worked out well, and we could see the coordinates change as the boat drifted around the anchor, but there was no movement toward the bridge. Ray got very little sleep as he woke up periodically to check coordinates during the storm.
August 16, 2002
Trenton, Ontario
I goofed this morning. The refrigerator was getting more and more frosty, and I starting chipping ice away with a little chisel. I put a tiny nick in the freezer tray and was rewarded with a faceful of freon. Well have to postpone the Trent-Severn Canal until tomorrow while it is being repaired. $150 shot. Well, at least our USA dollars bring the pain down to $100.
August 22, 2002
En route to Petersborough, Ontario
While stopped at Frankford, we saw another boat flying the Great Loop Cruisers burgee. Much to our delight, they had a son a couple of years older than Taylor. Even better, the Sass family was taking a year to make the cruise! George is in advertising, Stacey is an art teacher, and Dimitri loves Legos. Dimitris collection of turtles and crawfish fascinated Taylor (Oh, no
Taylor will want his own collection now), and the boys seemed to get along well together. They invited Taylor aboard for the next few locks, and he ended up cruising to Campbellford with them. The boys shifted to our boat for the rest of the afternoon.
We were all disappointed when Sawdust had to leave early the next morning. They were trying to meet a schedule to pick up Staceys mother. Taylor wanted us to rev up the engines and go with them. I explained that our boat goes much slower than Sawdust, and we would not be able to keep up. George will be heading home to work for a month when they get to Chicago. Stacey and Dimitri will remain on the boat, and perhaps well catch up with them there.
August 28, 2002
Lake Simcoe, Ontario
Taylor is having a rough time getting motivated to keep up his journal. I think hed rather do anything else than sit down and write. He says he runs out of ideas, so Im working with him on development of descriptions.
He is fussing more and more about schoolwork, and he complains that he did not get a summer vacation. We remind him that we will be spending about 3 ½ hours a day on schoolwork, and the kids in regular school will have to spend about six hours. Its not really that bad
he and Ray spent an hour and a half swimming in the clear waters of Stoney Lake yesterday instead of completing science and keyboarding.
Were finally getting our long-awaited cool nights, and temperatures are dropping into the 50s with high 70s and 80s during the days. At least I think its low 80s
everything is in Celsius here, and we have to use a conversion chart to determine Fahrenheit. The dropping temperatures are a reminder that we must keep pushing on to get south of Chicago before the weather begins to deteriorate.
Were old hands at locking through now. Its kind of fun to lock in the touristy towns. A crowd gathered as we prepared to lock yesterday in Fenelon Falls. There were the usual ooohs and ahhhs and look at that big boat remarks. After we were secure, I let the dogs out of the cabin. The crowd went wild! You would have thought our mutts were the most precious dogs ever known to man. After we were under way, I told Taylor he missed an opportunity, and he should have come out of the cabin back at the Falls to say hello to his adoring fans. We have so much cute aboard our boat. Give the crowds a show! |
