Carol Sue's Generous Addition

As we mentioned in the last blog, Carol Sue recreated with photos our day together. The following pictures are a few of those she sent to us. While we didn't include all of them, we have put them in safe keeping in the computer and they will ultimately go into a slide show of our journey.

THANK YOU, CAROL SUE! THESE ARE WONDERFUL!!!

This is Lock 51 as it was then......

Lock 51 today.......

The next three photo are self explanatory! Words fail to fully described the thrill of seeing these wonderful creatures. God has a great flair for the beautiful!

These were all taken in Carol Sue and Tom's yard. Imagine!!!

Today and yesterday were non-stop preparations for our trip to Pensacola and getting the boat ready to be hauled for a power washing so she will be bright and shiny for the next leg of the adventure. John spent the major portion of the day in the "holy place", better known as the engine room. He continues to rave about the virtures of Monarch!

We won't be posting again until we return on July 1. We are getting excited about seeing many of you on our return to Pensacola!

Slowing Down

Sunday, June 10

A day of rest for us while Tom biked back to Utica to retrieve the car. His ride was longer than he expected, 31 miles, but he enjoyed it, especially the segment which took him right along the old Erie Canal (Clinton's Ditch,) and the first improved canal.

We had talked about a journey across the bridge for ice cream but that became unnecessary because an ice cream vendor came by in his truck just for us . There is NO room in the freezer (maybe a good thing) for such things so you can imagine the delight we experienced. There is nothing quite like ice cream on a balmy summer night!

Monday, June 11

Since our next leg takes us across Lake Oneida, the time for Tom to return home was upon him. We said our farewells and set sail for Brewerton on the western shore of Lake Oneida just before 8:00 am.



We reached the town dock at Brewerton, NY at about 11:00am after a very pleasant, calm, sunny passage across Lake Oneida.

Once secure at the dock and a brief nap, we took a bike ride that was cut somewhat short by the discovery along the way of a marina with a store that had a multitude of charts, boat gstaffear, etc. After loading up with a few "necessary" purchases, we headed back to the boat rather than continuing our bike ride because of packages. Gail was particularly thrilled to find a flagstaff to fly the great loop burgie and we are now proudly flying the flag on the bow. It is a great way for all the "loopers" to identify themselves.

The flowers that we saw both coming and going were breath taking. As you ride along you can actually smell them. People in even the most humble of homes have awesome gardens filled with every possible blossom.

By the way, we were talking to Durelle about an experience we had in Rome that led to an article in the local paper. She asked that we include the url to the article in the next blog, so here it is:

http://www.romesentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070608/NEWS01/106080190



Since Brewerton is not far from where Uncle Lee's daughter lives,we contacted Carol Sue McMullan. She and her husband Tom offered to pick us up at the boat and show us some of the very well preserved sections of Clinton's Ditch near their town of Jordan, NY.

We were thrilled, but we really needed a day to clean up
the boat, and rest up a bit.

Tuesday June 12

A day of rest and renewal. Felt good!

Wednesday June 13

Tom and Carol Sue showed up as promised (with fresh picked strawberries in hand) . Our first stop was the Salt Museum at Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool. They had a fascinating depiction of Syracuse's salt industry with displays and exhibits including iron kettles, wooden barrels and other equipment used for making salt from the abundant salt springs around the lake. From there we went to see several sections of the original "Clinton's Ditch." We were really thrilled to see these remnants of the canal that constitutes the reason for this portion of our journey.

They then took us to their beautiful home, built in the middle of 100 acres of forest near Jordan. Tom has created a sportsman's paradise with its own population of deer and turkeys. We were treated to an unbelievable segment of nature when we observed from the window's of their house, two does, with yearlings nearby, nursing this year's fawns, while a pair of huge wild turkeys strutted by. Unbelievable!!

After a great dinner Tom and Carol Sue returned us to the boat.

Wouldn't you know ,we didn't bring the camera. The memory of what we saw is etched in our brains to relish for years to come ,but we wish we could share what we saw with all of you.

Thursday June 14

We moved the boat today to the:

Winter Harbor Marina
604 County Route 37
Central Square, NY 13036

The boat will be here until July 1st, while we will be returning to Pensacola on Sunday the 17th to begin preparing for the arrival of Sean and Kate who will stay with us while John and Sheila sail in the British Virgin Islands. We will meet the McVay grandparents on the 19th somewhere near Lake City, Florida and take the kids from there to Wakulla so they can experience the springs and all that entails. On the 20th we will return to Pensacola for fun in the sun!!!

Tomorrow will be spend doing laundry, changing the oil, cleaning the boat and sundry other worthwhile activities.

Guns and Roses -- well -- daisies

Friday, June 8

We stayed in Ilion last night again; got up early and did visit the Remington Arms factory. We got a guided tour (eat your heart out Tom Peters!) and learned a great deal about the art and science of gun making. We were not aware that Remington was the oldest gun manufacturer in the country or that they had developed the first successful breech loading rifle. They produce a lot of Model 870s, and it is the most owned gun in the US, including ours!

After the museum, we set sail for Utica, NY, arriving at 1:27 in the afternoon. Tom saddled up and rode back to Ilion for the car. We were glad he got back before the cold front hit. They were forcasting severe thunderstorms with winds up to 70 mph. We doubled the lines, had dinner, turned out the lights and on the oil lamp as we watched the lightning. Luckily the storms passed just north and just south of us.

Saturday, June 9

We got a fairly early start; decided to tie up at the lock wall at lock 21. It has been reported as a very nice, quiet spot. It is a run of about 21 miles.

Lock 21 is the first descending lock we have encountered on the Erie.

You can see the canal ahead of the lock at the lower level.

Arriving at lock 21 there was a New York state tug tied up, but plenty of room for us. The lockmaster, however, told us we couldn't stay and would have to go down to lock 22, where there was a nice wall. Lock 22 has a very short wall and not very inviting, so we pressed on another six miles to Sylvan Beach.

No, this is not the old man of the sea; it's just Father Tom "navigating on the Erie Canal."

There are a lot of restaurants right at the free city wall, but it is a sunny Saturday, and there are also a lot of boats, and we are exposed to the brisk winds right off Lake Oneida. There are so many locals tied up at the wall next to the town that we had to tie up across the canal. We may wait until the wind dies down this evening and the locals go home, then move across . Tom will wait until tomorrow morning to ride his bike the 27 or 28 miles back to Utica and retrieve his car.

The canal we traveled today is beautiful. There are a lot of yellow flag growing everywhere and it is so peaceful and quiet.

Gail had a little trouble "hooking" the line in lock 22. We have been locking in and being floated up. Lock 22 was just the opposite! Ah well, experience will help!

We will be headed for Syracuse soon, and today we heard from Carol Sue. We are anxious to visit with her!!

For the fishermen out there, you might like to know that there is a little boy about five fishing next to us and he just caught a large mouth bass and a yellow perch. He and his grandmother didn't know what to do with them or how to take them off hook, so Gail jumped off the boat and gave a quick lesson. He will be hooked for life. He was soooooo excited!!

Here are a few pictures we were unable to upload earlier.

This is the team of mules that took us down to the river boat, and Gail and Tom boarding this reproduction of an Erie Canal packet boat.

And, last but not least, a whole field of daisies. This one's for you, Sheila.

Herkimer and Rome

Tom arrived earlier than expected by car, so we all drove back to see the museum and Fort Plain. It was closed, but we did get a chance to visit a very early indian mission church which has been restored by a local society.

We also passed an entire field of daisies. For some reason I am unable to upload any pictures, but will try later.


Tuesday, June 5th

We left Little Falls early and ran down to Ilion, NY. There is a great little marina there and the fuel is less exorbitant than elsewhere on the Erie.

Father Tom rode his bike back and got his car, returned and we drove to the famed Herkimer Diamond Mines. We only found 6 or 7 diamonds, they were very small and ,truth to tell, not really diamonds, but some other clear crystal, but it was fun until the rain started.

We returned to the marina and shortly a cold front fell upon us and it began to blow very hard. We doubled up the lines and went to sleep.

Wednesday June 6

We awoke to a very cold and bleak day and felt that we couldn't send Tom out on a bicycle trip, so it would be a good day to do some more-sight seeing. We drove to Rome, NY and visited the Erie Canal Village. This is a reconstruction of a village along the Erie Canal and is situated at the location of the first excavation for the old Erie canal. The remnants of the old Erie, as well as the improved Erie, built 10 years later, are clearly visible. We took a ride in a wagon pulled by mules down to the reconstructed canal boat, but it was not yet giving the rides on the improved canal this year.

We next visited the Rome city museum, the Fort Stanwix museum and the reconstructed fort. This National Park Service facility is really interesting and worth more time than we were able to give it. Including the museum at the village, we visited a village, 3 museums and a fort.

Sleep came easily.

Thursday June 6

Today is laundry day! We planned to visit the Remington Arms museum here in Ilion, but missed the tour. Hope to visit a cheese factory and a memorial to the Challenger later today.

R & R

Saturday June 2

We spent the day in Little Falls. In the morning we took our bikes down the Erie Canal bike path to the 1764 home of General Nicholas Herkimer. The General is known as the hero of the Battle of Oriskany, for which battle the aircraft carrier recently sunk at Pensacola was named.

In 1777 the British planned a three pronged attack to separate New England from the rest of the Colony and end the Revolutionary War quickly. General Burgoyne was to come down the Hudson, Colonel St. Leger was to come from the West through Oswego, take Fort Stanwix and proceed down the Mohawk, and General Clinton was to bring a large contingent of troops up the Hudson from New York. They would join forces at the Albany.

General Herkimer gathered 800 colonial militamen and Indian allies and headed West from here to Fort Stanwix. On the way, St. Leger's troops and their Mohawk indian allies ambushed the Americans at an indian village named Oriskany. They fought with muskets, pistols, bayonets, tomahawks and hand to hand all day in the bloodiest battle of the Revolution. General Herkimer was severely wounded in the leg, but had his men prop him up against a tree from which he continued to direct the battle.

The result of the battle was inconclusive and General Herkimer returned to his home where his leg was amputated under very primitive conditions. He died 10 days later believing that this battle, that cost him half his men, was a defeat.

In fact ,due to his losses at Oriskany, St. Leger never advanced past Fort Stanwix at Rome. That fact, combined with General Clinton never arriving from New York decided the Battle of Saratoga in the American favor, and that victory was decisive in the eventual winning of the American Revolution.

We can probably say then that, had it not been for the bravery of General Herkimer, we would all probably be speaking English today!

The Herkimer house was a delightful example of a fine Colonial Mansion, and we enjoyed our visit very much.

The trip back along the bike path was through a delightful pass through the rock and is probably the route of a railroad that once ran on the south side of the river.



Along the way we whole fields of wild Phlox.

Sunday June 3, 2007

On Sunday we got a ride from the young lady from the office at the boat dock and attended a lovely old Catholic Church in Little Falls.

As a matter of fact, that young lady Sarah has been a highlight of our trip. She and her husband grew up in the litte town of Little Falls. She went to Albany and got a degree in economics and he is a teacher in the local middle school. Sarah has one 2 1/2 year old and one on the way. They are both happy to raise their family and spend the rest of ther lives in this small town. How refreshing!

Monday June 4, 2007

Today we are getting ready for our guest, Fr Tom Sas. He will arrive about noon and we are going to retrace our path a little bit to see some things that we missed on the boat.

Tomorrow we will take the boat to the town of Herkimer, Tom will ride his bike back and get the car and bring it up to Herkimer and we will repeat that procedure for most of the next week.

Canajoharie / Little Falls

During morning coffee on Thursday, we were amazed to see the "Half Moon" glide by our window. The Half Moon was the ship Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson opening that magnificant river to the Europeans in the early 1600s. There are many legends about Dutch ghost ships sailing on the Hudson, and when this black hull flying no sails ghosted by it was a moment of sheer wonder. Evidently someone is building a replica, and for some reason she was travelling West on the Mohawk.

We left Lock 12 at 7:30 and traversed lock 13. Later we passed between the "noses" which is the pass through the Appalacians (Adirondocks to the North and Catskills to the South) many of our forebears travelled. It is one of two such passes, the other being the Cumberland Gap which we have visited by car.

Our cruising guide told about the floating docks at Canajoharie and the water and electricity available at no cost which make this an appealing stop. Unfortunately, we found that the docks, water and electricity were gone, evidently washed away by the floods the canal were subjected to last year. We had to tie up to a concrete wall with very limited maneuvering room in shallow water, but we were successful and found Canajahorie a quant little village. Of course one of our main reasons for stopping was the art museum said to be one of the best small art museums in the US. At the heart this museum 's collection of more than 350 paintings by American artists is oils and water colors by Winslow Homer. Naturally the museum was closed for renovations. So we had to be satisfied with a slushy the "20 below Choco" at Perussi's Meat Market and Grocery which is mainly a furniture store.

We bicycled extensively, too extensively, around Canajahorie (the bike path was filled with wild phlox) and across the river to Palatine Bridge where we bought groceries.

On Friday we departed Canajoharie at 8:30 and traversed locks 14, 15, 16, and the most impressive, 17. This lock is the highest lift on the Erie Canal at 40' and one of only two in the US where the entrance gate, instead of being opened like a set of french doors, is actually lifted above your head like a guillotine. You pass under the gate as it drips on your head!

At lock 16 we left the Mohawk River momentarily, following an excavated canal for a short while, then back to the River, which is narrowing considerably.

We have been using the term ":Erie Canal" quite loosely. That canal was finished in 1815 and was more than twice as long as any canal in Europe. It was an engineering marvel from several aspects and was a tremendous economic success. At the same time the Champlain Canal was dug to allow boat travel north from Waterford to Lake Champlain, as the Hudson become too shallow for ship travel above Waterford.

The Erie Canal was only 40' wide and 4' deep. All commercial travel was by small barges pulled by horses or mules. The stable was in the bow of the barge, and the living quarters in the stern. When night fell the barge was tied to the side of the canal and the beasts of burden went aboard and were fed. In the morning they were brushed and found their way out to the traces to begin the next days labors.

This canal was dug along the course of the Mohawk River, because the river had naturally found,or perhaps formed, the best course through the mountains over millenia. There had to be a tow path next to the canal, so the river itself was not suitable, and the canal was beside the river.

The canal was renovated several times over the years. In 1915 a new project was completed called the New York Barge Canal. This canal was built for self propelled craft of much larger tonnage, not requiring a tow path. The Barge Canal uses the Mohawk River extensively for its course, and its construction, and that of I-90 and other "improvements" has largely obliterated the original Erie Canal. There are historical sites where one can see remnants of the old canal but they are few and far between.

What this means is that we have not been on the Erie Canal! We have been on the NY Barge Canal, and that is nearly always the Mohawk River up to this point. So if you think we have been travelling down a narrow ditch with concrete banks, we have actually been on the beautiful Mohawk River most of the time.