Hopefully, the readers of my blog, 2nd Knot, are also reading Ann's blog, Serendipity. Since Ann's blog provides you with a detailed picture with a great narrative of our Looping Adventure, I am going to share this part of our trip using pictures as my narrative.
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| The above pictures are travels on the Hudson River Valley Area. After leaving New York City we traveled on the Hudson and had an extended stay in Half Moon Bay in the Hudson Valley. It is incredibly beautiful. We rented a car which gave us the freedom to tour Franklin D. Roosevelt's home, West Point, The Culinary Institute, and a Winery. We really were tourists. The next few pictures will be about our tours. |
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| This picture should get a laugh from friends and family: It is about cooking, baking. Not my forte. |
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| Future Master Chefs |
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| A view of the West Point Campus |
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| One of the Chapels on the West Point Campus |
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| This view as well as the following views are from a viewpoint on the West Point Tour. |
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| Part of the West Point Campus |
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| We were allowed to take pictures inside this chapel. Can you imagine a bride walking up this isle? |
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| The outside of the chapel. |
The next 2 pictures are from the FDR estate. It gave us a better understanding of our parents' Era.
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| The True Story about our bike ride at Half Moon Bay. Get on bikes. I quietly said: Rod, my pedal won't work. He turns around and falls off his bike. Ann turns around and falls off her bike. Injuries for Rod and Ann. We continued on our ride. It was beautiful. |
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| A tour of a Winery produced several purchases including a wine that I actually can drink with no migraine! The verdict is still out. Sipping ever so slowly. |
We continued on the Hudson River traveling to Poughkeepsie, Catskill with our ultimate goal: The Eric Canal. 2nd knot encountered a little engine problem which brought us to a very nice marina for one night. The issue was a non issue. Just part of the boating experience. The next few pictures are of the Hudson River Valley and marinas.
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| The lighthouses are all different and interesting throughout the entire trip. |
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| We take pictures of the bridges because they are immense, different and many. |
The Erie Canal portion of our trip was quite the experience. There were a total of 36 locks to go through. As we entered each lock, we were never sure if we needed our lines or if we were to hold onto the lock ropes. The water level was raised for several locks and lowered for others. If we used their ropes, I wore bright purple kitchen gloves because the ropes were covered with slime. We each purchased a ten day pass for the Canal. The 1st day we went through 10 locks - a very long day. The 2nd day we went through 7 locks. By covering that much water, it gave us time to stay somewhere for a couple of days to catch our breath and enjoy the small towns along the route. The towns and landscape were beautiful - nothing like I expected. We also traveled at a speed of 7- no more than 10 mph and sometimes 5 mph. No wake zones were also prevalent.
I have to talk for myself but I was very happy when we finished the last lock. Another tidbit of info - Rod or Harley notified the lockmaster that we were coming so he/she could adjust the water level. The boys also made sure to say thank you following the lock through. Most of the lockmasters were friendly. Ann was a premier photographer. She took a picture of each lock #, each lock, each lockmaster. The other interesting facts: most of the Erie Canal is in the state of New York and we were very close to Niagra Falls. The following pictures are of the Erie Canal Experience.
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| Harley's boat, Serendipity is about to enter a lock. |
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| Each lock is numbered and give specific information that boaters may need before entering. |
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| Some lock doors open vertically like a garage door. Others open like huge doors in a castle. |
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| Scenic view along the Erie Canal. |
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| One of the dams next to a lock. |
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| This is a picture of what many locks look like from land. The little building is where the lockmaster opens and closes the locks. |
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| A typical building where the lockmaster can relax, watch TV etc. while waiting for the next lock-through |
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Our Great Loop flag proudly flying in the wind.
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| Because the waterway in the Erie Canal was sometimes narrow, we were able to see these rock climbers up close. |
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| Our niece, Heidi and husband Bill with 2 very cool kids were able to visit on our Canal trip. |
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| Just a sample of some of the beautiful landscapes along the canal. |
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| Information about bridges: Rod and Harley had to research the height of all the bridges to determine whether they had to climb on top of their boats to put down the antennas. Some of the bridges were fixed while others needed to be lifted for us to pass. That required calling a bridge Tender to ask for a bridge lift. |
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| At all the locks the girls were on the bow of the boat holding lines and the boys were on the stern doing the same. You couldn't hear each other because the force of the water was loud as well as a strong echo. |
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| Love this house and pier. |
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| Rod was impressed. First time in a long time that we saw cows. Traveling by water gives a different perspective of our beautiful country. |
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| One of the working barges used to do repairs on the locks. Some of the locks were in need of repair with crumbling walls. |
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| Someone bought this boat on the internet and didn't realize it didn't run. So there it sits on the Canal. |
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| In one of the Canal towns we found this beautiful waterfall. |
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| A family rented this boat for a week's vacation on the Canal. It is like a pop up camper. |
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The water level in the lock indicates how far the water has to rise.
The next few pictures are taken as we near the end of our Erie Canal Adventure.
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| Our Last Lock to complete the Erie Canal. The lockmaster was kind enough to take a picture of the 4 of us on our boats. |
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Before we leave the Erie Canal, this picture has a good story of survival and humor. The boat leaning on its side is ours: 2nd Knot. We were in one of the 1st locks and I was watching Ann and not what I was supposed to be doing. As the water level rose, I did NOT let the line loose. All of a sudden Rod is running up to me, trying to loosen the line. Too tight so he got a screwdriver and finally it was loose. Harley and Ann were watching and snapped this picture but I guess we were leaning a lot further. Rod said we could have capsized. I was still pretty clueless on how serious it was.
Days later as we were discussing it with some humor, my usually quiet husband said with a deadpan voice: I thought the cleat was going to spring off, hit me in the head and I would be dead! It is one of those stories where you had to be there.
After the Erie Canal we are on a River System that eventually takes us on Lake Erie.
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| I should have thought of this as a clever way to get on the boat when the piers are fixed. |
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| This picture is out of order. My birthday celebration at Wolverine Marina. |
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We spend 2 days in Cleveland, Ohio in order to tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I didn't take pictures inside. We took our dinghies over to the R and R. and tied up right there. We could have spent an entire day enjoying the music and history of many musicians.
Following Cleveland, we stayed on Kelly's Island and we were able to take a Ferry to Put In Bay for a tour. We rented a golf cart on Kelly's Island and toured the Island. We saw the Glacial Grooves which are very different from the Glacial Areas of Wisconsin. Put In Bay is party city especially on the weekends. Kelly's Island is more laid back. We stayed longer than planned due to weather. Weather does dictate a lot of our travels.
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We actually stayed at a nice marina in Detroit where we met our new friend. Always making new friends.... Just don't remember names!
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| On the Detroit River, Canada is on one side and US on the other. So cool. Both sides have both flags flying. I love Canada! |
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There were quite a few large ships on Lake Erie.
After leaving Lake Erie we were on the Detroit River, then St. Claire River which leads us to where we are as of August 21,
2016: Lake Huron. We are staying in Port Austin as of Aug. 21 with intentions to travel on Lake Huron to Harrisville, MI. The following pictures are travels on the Detroit River, St. Claire and
Lake Huron.
Now the marinas look like home. And like I said on Facebook, I can smell Wisconsin! Not cheese, not fish, just home!!
P.S.: Sorry for the long blog!
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