What we've been up to in Canton (MI) (6-29-11)

 

     We've managed to see a few friends while we have been here in Canton.  We did not get a chance to see any of our old neighbors, but we had several of my friends from work over for lunch or dinner.  I spent an afternoon at the company that I used to work for, visiting with a lot of people.  I ran into one of the Vice Presidents about 5 times in the 5 hours that I was there.  I finally said "I'm leaving, I'm leaving" but she just laughed and said it was fine.


Pennie, Don and MASON!!

   As usual, when we are visiting people, I forget to get the camera out.  One day I did, but its mostly because there was a toddler around and having kids around brings out the camera bug in me!
    We had the brilliant idea of getting a day pass for the gym we used to go to.  We've taken two aerobics classes- the same ones we used to take when we lived here, and boy did we realize how out of shape we are.  Hiking and biking are great but it's not the same as doing a full workout.  We may have to change something in our lifestyle to make sure we work in some more cardio and weight lifting.  We also watch what we eat better when we are working out, probably because we don't want to waste the work out, but also because working out keeps us more aware of being healthy.
          We have stayed here longer than we originally intended, because our new trailer is not going to be at the dealer until late this week, so there's no rush getting there.  There is a very slim chance that we'll  pick it up this week, but its much more likely that we'll get it after our trip to Traverse City MI for Cherry Festival.  We'll pick up our recliners at least, and put them into the new trailer

Erie, PA (06-20-11)

    Coming across NY towards MI, we had a couple of days to spend, so we found a place we had never been before and booked a nearby campground for a couple of nights. This place is right on the water, but access to the “beach” requires rappelling down a steep grade.  We were up for the (slight) challenge and wandered on the very tiny beach for about 2 minutes.  If the weather had been swimming weather, it would have been an ok place to go into the water, but we were just checking it out.

The next day we got the bikes out, packed a lunch, and  headed to Presque Isle State Park, PA for the day.  Its a huge peninsula with miles of bike paths, about 12 beaches and 4 boat launches.  If we had been staying longer, we would have loved to have put the dinghy in the water.  As it was, we still had a great day.  the weather was perfect, not too hot, and not too sunny.  We biked about 12 miles, stopping along the way to check out the views of the lake and read the history of the area.

       During the war of 1812, Admiral Perry and his men were stationed in Lake Erie, near the area where some of the war ships were being built for the American side.   Lake Erie is very shallow, and there is a sand bar near the harbor with only 4’ of water, which prevented the British from bringing their ships all the way across the lake, but since two of Perry’s ships were in the harbor and needed 9 feet of water, he was also stuck and vulnerable to attack.  Luckily, the ship builder had foreseen that problem and had built 2 “camels” to lift Perry’s ships over the sandbar.  Camels are huge wooden boxes that are attached to either side of a ship, and then filled with water to sink them.  They are then pumped out and are so tightly attached to the ship that they lift it out of the water, so it can be moved over the sandbar.  They had to empty the newly stocked ships of all their supplies, gear and guns, and then it took 3 days to get the process finished, but in the end, the ships were free to pursue the British.  Admiral Perry is probably best known for coining the phrase “Don’t Give Up the Ship”.
     We are now in Michigan, visiting with friends, getting stuff out of storage, and trying to figure out when we can get our new trailer.  It’s not looking good for next week, but we may be able to go to the dealer to at least take a look at it before we head to Traverse City for July 4th. 

Grand Canyon of the East (Letchworth State Park, NY-6/17/11)

    We made reservations at this park based on a recommendation from a couple we met in PA, and it is a great park (although the “real” Grand Canyon has nothing to be worried about), but I thought it was much closer to Joe and Judi in Rochester than it actually was.  It took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get to the boat on Saturday.   Also, I had to cheat the system.  They had no more “pet” sites available so I said I had no pet.  Poor Dozer had to stay inside, with the shades down, the whole time we were there. Not an ideal situation, and I don’t think I’d do it again. 
   

  The Park was partially built on land donated by William Letchworth after his death in 1910.  He was a conservationist during his lifetime and spent a lot of time and money collecting artifacts to preserve them for future generations.  The land is along the banks of the Genesee River and includes 3 major waterfalls.  No one is allowed along the riverbed unless they are part of a group rafting trip, however, which is very odd, except in most places the gorge is a few hundred deep anyway.    Things really got built up here in the 1930s, when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) came in and built most of the structures, trails and picnic areas.

  

       One of the longest and most popular trails here is the Gorge trail but at 7 miles long (with a 7 mile return), its a bit much to do in one day.  The ranger suggested starting at one end one day, hiking halfway, returning, and then doing the other half another day.  We took the advice and ended up hiking about 7.5 miles the first day.

We also saw all 3 major waterfalls the first day.  Hiking here is pretty easy- the trails and waterfall views  are pretty accessible by road, all along the way, so we didn’t really have to hike as far as we did, but we wanted the exercise anyway. 

    We spent one day exploring by truck, driving down tiny little dirt roads that we probably shouldn’t have been on, and we found a trail that follows an old canal that was built in the 1800s to carry lumber and materials to distant towns. The canal was used, by a series of locks, to raise and lower barges over 900 feet in elevation. Not much of the locks are left, but it was still an interesting day.  Our travels also brought us past a small town that didn’t have many stores, but did have a great place to get ice cream!

2nd Love revisited (06-18-11)

   When we sold our house 2 years ago, we also sold our 39’ Sea Ray, 2nd Love. We sold it to Joe and Judi, a couple who live outside of Rochester NY.  We have stayed in contact with them and have actually met up with them to go hiking.  We all have similar interests and conversation never seems to lag.  On this trip through New York, we were close enough to visit them and they invited us to go out on the boat for the day on Saturday.  Well, they didn’t have to ask us twice!  We got up early Saturday and drove to their Marina, which is essentially on Lake Ontario.  As a bonus for me, Ontario is the only Great Lake I haven’t seen yet, so I have officially seen them all now.


Officers saluting as we go by

     Saturday was an action packed day, since it was the “annual inspection” day.  A parade of boats from the yacht club snaked past the Officers of the club, who were standing at attention on a sail boat, all decked out in officer garb.  After the parade, each vessel was boarded and “inspected” by the Officers, to see which ones were decorated the best.  Really it was more a question of who bribed them with the best food and liquor.




  Lunch was served by the Yacht Club after the contest.  After grabbing a quick bite, we left the dock again and took 2nd Love out onto Lake Ontario for a ride.

Joe seemed to enjoy having a chauffer for a change of pace and left most of the driving to Paul. Meantime, Judi and I just relaxed in the cockpit, enjoying the picture perfect day.

After our ride we anchored outside the harbor and several other boats came along and tied up with us, and the afternoon was spent partying.  A typical boating day!  We headed back in once it started getting dark, and just made it to the Yacht Club restaurant in time for dinner before they closed up for the evening. A very full, and very fun day!

Biking along the Erie Canal (6-15-11)

    (Post delayed due to lack of internet)
      While looking for a place to stay in NY along the way to Rochester, I came across the name of a small, municipal campground/marina right on the banks of the Mohawk River, in the very small village of St. Johnsville.  I couldn’t find any reviews of the place, but google map showed that we should be able to have room to maneuver, so we headed that way.  It was a very well kept place, with easy access sites for us, and a small but very nice marina, although we decided not to put the boat in. It also came complete with what seemed like a never ending supply of trains chugging through the rear of the campground. The track was so active that many times there were trains traveling in both directions at the same time.  Surprisingly, they didn’t bother us that much though.

        After spending the last few weeks doing nothing but eating, we got the bikes out and headed to the Canalway Trail, which travels along the Erie Canal for hundreds of miles. This section of the Erie Canal follows along the Mohawk River. We traveled a total of about 23 miles, but it was broken up  by interesting things to check out along the way.  Our first stop was at Lock #16, where we took the time to eat lunch and watch 2 boats go through the locks. 

 

     It was my first close up encounter with the Erie Canal, which was built in the early 1900s to connect Lake Erie to the Hudson River.  While we were there, Paul got a lesson on how this particular lock works by the “lockmaster”.
      Our next stop along the way was the Herkimer House- the house of General Nicholas Herkimer. Herkimer owned riverfront property back in the 1700’s and made his living offering portage for vessels to go around the falls (before the canal was built).  In 1775 he joined the Revolutionary War and soon became a general.  In 1777 he led 800 local men into a battle to protect nearby Fort Schuyler. They successfully beat back the British, but Herkimer died 10 days later from wounds received in battle.  We wandered the grounds of his house, but we couldn’t tour the house because there was a private Tea taking place.
     Back on the bikes, we pedaled  for another few miles before arriving at Lift Lock #17. 

This lock is much deeper than the previous lock, it’s one of the deepest Lift Locks in the world.  

  Getting to the lock was a bit of a challenge for our bicycling coordination.  We actually rode our bikes down this maze, and then back up again.  Up was actually easier, it was easier to control the bikes.

      Once we made it back up the maze, it was time to turn around and head back home.  Since we just backtracked the way we came, there wasn’t too much new to see, except, apparently it was egg laying time for the local turtles.  We came upon several turtles in varying stages of laying and burying eggs along the side of the bike path.  We were very nosy and stopped to watch several times.  I actually got some video of one “procedure”, but since the internet here is ridiculously slow on the rare occasion I can actually get signal, I am not sure I can post it





I have no idea if I will be able to get this posted today, if not, I’ll hold it until we get to civilization tomorrow.  It’s already quite late, since we’ve been in Letchworth State Park for 4 days now.

leaving home

         They say that home is where the heart is. If that's the case, I guess I have several homes. My heart is partially with my daughter in Muncie IN, and of course, partially with my son and family in Boston. Plus, I am very partial to the people I met while I lived in Canton, MI as well. BUT, really, overwhelmingly, Boston is my home. I grew up here, my parents are buried here, most of my family is here, and the ocean is here. I know the ocean doesn't really count, or seems like it shouldn't, but to me, the ocean is home as well.               

 Whenever we come to Boston, there is never enough time, and I am never ready to leave. There are so many people I want to see and so many things I want to do, it's impossible to fit it all in.

 Really, I want to be here long enough to casually call a friend and say, "hey, let's do dinner some night". I don't have that luxury anymore. Instead, before I even arrive, I call people to see if they are available on "X" day at "X" time, or to at least give them a heads up that we will be in town for a specified period of time. My retired friends laugh because they are available most of the time, but the rest of my friends and family have to fit us in, in the evening and on the weekends.

   This time, in addition to family, I managed to meet up with two women that I have known since before I could walk. We haven't seen each other in the last 20 years, but because of Facebook, we keep tabs on each other.  This trip, we managed to meet for breakfast and a walk along the beach in Gloucester.   What a great time!  I talked so much I had a sore throat by the end of the day.

There are other people that I wanted to see, and meant to see, but couldn’t quite manage it.  Hopefully next time.  Or, better yet, they could fly out and meet up with us along the road somewhere.  That would be awesome!

      Naturally, the weather took a turn for the worse again, while we were in MA, but Paul and I just put our feet up and enjoyed the show.

I got a great picture of the lightning show, although I definitely cheated. I took a movie and made a still from it.

River Trip (Gloucester MA 6-7-11)

        The weather forecast for Tuesday changed just enough so that our plans changed along with it. It went from an "iffy" day to a beautiful day, so we decided to take advantage of it. We put the dinghy in the truck and headed down to Newton to pick up Stephen, who was missing his boating days and anxious to get out on the water.  We had a choice of two rivers to put the boat into- the Charles River and the Mystic River.  We chose the Mystic because if the weather got hot enough to get into the water, the Mystic is a little cleaner than the Charles. 

         Our adventure started out a little ominously.  Our 11 year old dinghy engine, which has never so much as blinked when we tried to use it, decided that it didn't want to run that day.  Paul spent a while fiddling with it, and he got it so it would run for a few minutes before dying, so we decided to just tool around in that part of the river, staying within "rowing" range of where we put in.  It wasn't bad- we'd drive for a bit, then let the wind float us back.  Eventually though, whatever was clogging the engine cleared up and we felt confident enough to take off for Mystic Lake, a few miles up the river.  It was a beautiful day for that kind of ride.  After zipping up the river, we floated on the lake and ate the picnic lunch I  had packed.

Eventually we made our way back to our put in point, and after a day in the sun, we were pretty tired, in a pleasant, had a good day,  kind of way.  We didn't deflate the boat since we are hoping to use it again before we leave here.  We drove back towards Newton, had dinner at a casual restaurant, and dropped Stephen off at his house.

   

Massachusetts!

So, now we've been here a week, and I am somehow supposed to remember what I have done for the last 7 days?  If I hadn't been so busy having fun, I would have taken the time to blog. 

  The day we arrived in Littleton, we went out to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law.  I'm hoping to see family as much as I can while we are here, so we were off to a good start.  The following day my son came to stay with us for almost a week.  I am not sure he thinks it was such a great "vacation" for him, since we started the week off with Tornado warnings.  I am sure most people are aware that 3 tornadoes landed in MA, killing several people.  At one point we were in the path of the storm that contained some tornadoes, so we had the bags and cat packed, ready to leave if necessary.  Luckily for us, the storms veered and dissipated before they reached us.  We barely got any rain, although the sky was lit up with almost continuous lightning for a while.



Rockport Harbor


   We just hung out with Stephen for a few days, doing some errands and taking some joy rides. We drove up to Gloucester and Rockport, which are two of my favorite towns (with Rockport coming in first place).


      He wasn't feeling 100%, so we had no major plans.  On Friday we went to a "friends and family" tent sale at Puma, where my brother works, and of course we all came away with some awesome new clothes!                                                           Sadly, on Saturday, we had a funeral to attend.  One of my cousins, who is slightly younger than me, died suddenly last week, and the funeral was Saturday.  I have a huge family and it was nice to see them, but not under those circumstances.  Afterwards, my brothers and sisters came back to the trailer for dinner, which was  a relaxing end to a stressful day.  I opened the beer that we bought at Ommengang Brewery and shared it with my brother Ray and Stephen.  Ray enjoyed the lighter of the two ales and Stephen enjoyed the darker one. To each his own!



Ray and Stephen enjoy a brew.

    Today we moved to Gloucester for a week.  The park here isn't as nice as the one in Littleton, but the view out our window is of the Annisquam River, not too tough to take!