OtherGoose: Oswego to Brewerton Wed Oct 22

Hi there!

So Tuesday afternoon, we got the phone and I managed to text Liz and Barb and Jack before we got to a dead zone. However, after reading the book and attempting to set up a hotspot, we realized that this phone won’t access the PC. That’s why it’s called ‘straight talk’... my bad. I let the woman just keep talking and never realized she had no idea what I wanted or was talking about...

So we got ourselves back to the boat and curled up for another night. I think I was a little surly because I got spoiled the night before in the hotel, but in the middle of the night I woke up and realized my feet weren’t cold and my face wasn’t frozen, so we’re good! Now if I could just remember how to change to the language on my keyboard! Every once in awhile it changes to French and I have to re-adjust the typing!

So yesterday afternoon we left Oswego and got through four locks before they closed at 5 pm. They number backwards from Oswego, so we started at 8 and got through 5. We kept going down river (up river, I don’t know) and stopped at lock 3. (Ha...there is no lock 4. Apparently when the locks were designed they decided to make two instead of three for the one lift and never bothered to re-number them. The same thing happened in other parts of the system.)

When Rick walked up to the lock this morning around 8:15 am to find out what time they opened, the guy laughed and said “We start at 7am. I knew you’d be going through so I let the water out gently so we wouldn’t wake you up!”

These guys were great, they always call ahead for us to let the next lock know we are coming. Today we got to Lock 2 and had to wait because another boat was coming up behind us...USGC cutter from Oswego had caught up to us. We let him go first! In one of the locks we had to make sure we were far enough forward so as not to get squashed under the train bridge!

We had a great run down (up) the river today. It was peaceful and the weather was good...some sunny spots, enough to warrant sunglasses. Still had two sweaters on and fleece pj’s under my wind pants. I hate seeing people walk around in their pyjamas but I figure on the boat I’m at home, so I can dress however I want to. Even driving, I’m just on my back patio!

The colours today were spectacular but the camera doesn’t pick up the nuances the way we saw them. There were some great building along the river and beautiful houses and grounds. We should have a go-pro for this trip and just post videos! At Lock 3 when we asked what had happened to Lock 4, they lock master said “Just old it right there!” He ran inside the office and came out with a book about the canal systems and gave it to us!

We came into Brewerton, at the west end of Lake Oneida around 2:00pm. Lake Oneida is 20 miles across a swamp and there is nowhere to stop in the middle. We decided that it would be best attempted in full daylight so we stopped here for the rest of the day. I called one marina and they didn’t answer so I called EssKay and she came back right away. We got a great discount because i am with Waterway guide and they had a courtesy car-- a cute little green Kia! So we went shopping and got a new phone and an internet stick and we should be good for the rest of the trip now! I got some fresh veggies and made Chinese stir fry for supper!

We might stay here an extra day, depending on what the weather says for tomorrow. We have to call customs EVERY day to tell them where we are which is stupid because we only go about 20-30miles a day. So why don’t they do that to people traveling by car??

One of them asked why we were travelling so late in the year. Then he asked me if I knew what was going on in Canada today. I made a joke and said, “What, it snowed?”

He said no, something happened in Ottawa. I asked him if someone had gotten rid of our prime minister and then I said no don’t tell me.

He said, “Are you sure?” so I answered, “Ok, tell me because I’ll have to watch the news now to find out.” He said, “Oh, you’ll find out. It will be all over the news.” And then he told me what happened in Ottawa, and in as much detail as the radio had! He sounded really concerned about it, too.

Anyway, its 8:30 and it’s raining so we’re going to drink our tea and go to bed. Oh, and we get TV here! The antenna works and we can pick up some off cable channels... the programming is crap but we might actually find something we want to watch! And at last we can watch the news.

Well I’ll say it now...really sorry about leaving y’all behind. But here’s some pictures.