Thursday Oct 24

Thursday Oct 24

HELLO Everyone!

We are sitting at a dock in Rome New York, where the Mohawk River joins the canal. It was a little exciting pulling up here because the wind was fairly strong behind us and as we approached the dock, we noticed a guy standing with his back to the water (I thought he was crying or taking a photo or whatever... but he was eating a sandwich and had 4 fishing rods sticking out the dock with lines in the water! He also had earbuds in and didn’t hear us coming! I quickly back-up and stopped (because I was grounded in a weed bed!!) and waited for him to bring in his lines.  We apologized after we got tie up out of hi way and talked about fish for a few minutes. I am practising my diplomatic skills a lot on this trip. You never know who’s packing a piece!

It is 5 pm and I am sitting outside, barely able to see the screen for the SUNSHINE and despite the gale force winds, we are NOT wearing coats. OMG it’s awesome.

Sorry... I know I keep going on about the sunshine, but I never realized how much sun we didn’t have this past summer!

So we left Brewerton this morning and the clear sky chased us across Lake Oneida, which wasn’t a swamp after all. It was 20-30 feet deep all the way across, which isn’t much and the waves the Northwest wind kicked up were pretty steep but they were following so it wasn’t so bad. Rick too the first 2 hours while I did the dishes and cleaned up. Then I took it while he worked on ...Oh, yeah, surfing the net! The he took it while I got supper ready but in between there we went through 2 locks and got to the dock here. We have 5 days left on our lock pass in the States but could easily be out in 3 and then down the Hudson to New York City. No firm plans though...we learned that it doesn’t pay to get time lines. That’s when things go wrong.

So it was pretty easy day. We could have gone a little farther but this is a working barge canal and if we anchor at night, we run the risk of being hit because the mast is down and we have no anchor light. Besides this time of year it’s nice to stop  somewhere where we can go for a walk.

While I have your attention, I need to explain something. For those who don’t know me very well (and after 45 years, apparently Rick is one of you), I tend to ...uh...overreact? Or let’s just say I am over cautious, so when I feel a situation is, say, potentially problematic, I start to rehearse scenario solutions.  And once I work out the solution, I’m good. It might sound like panic or look like panic but it’s not!

SO, we’re going to have dinner and go for a walk before dark, then we are going to tidy up and watch TV or read and go to bed. Tomorrow we will head out early in the morning to get through as many locks as we can.

Carol, Trish, Crystal, Garrett and Jon, so sorry to hear about your Dad/Grandpa. I wish we could be there for you but know that we are thinking about you and know how you feel.  He had a wonderful life and you all made it that way for him.  Be happy that he left remembering who you were and knowing that you loved him. Love to you all.