Erie Canal - Days 2 and 3

Whew! Yesterday was a very long day!

We cruised from 7:00am to 5:00pm and went 44 miles, going from lock 11 to lock 18. One of the locks (13, wouldn't you know it?) had a barge sitting close to the entrance and also had lots of water coming over the dam. It was pretty hairy! We did alright, but the boats in front and behind us were bobbing around and got caught up in the water flow. Everyone survived... but no photos. I was hanging onto the side ropes for dear life! One of the locks yesterday was a 39.5 ft rise. When we went into the lock, we felt like we were in the bottom of a very deep bathtub.

After we tied up at a wall in Herkimer (pronounced Herkheimer), we had cocktails with Bob and Jane from Sea Flat and then had a great dinner at a restaurant near the docks. We crashed after that - no blog, no skype, not even any reading!

Herkimer sounds like an unusual name for a place... turns out that (Brig Gen) Nicholas Herkimer was a Revolutionary War hero from this area. He fought in the French and Indian War as a captain, with some distinction. At age 49 he fought a very bloody battle near Utica, NY, in command of Colonial forces during the Revolutionary War. He was badly wounded, but rallied his troops to win the day. He died shortly after from complications after his leg was amputated. An interesting aside is that his brother was a Loyalist and fought with the British in that same battle. The brother survived and moved to Canada.

Today was a much shorter day. Yay!  We only did about 20 miles and two locks to arrive in Rome. We walked into town and had some fabulous burgers - dinner is in the crockpot. I am still working on a cotton sweater for myself, what you see in the photo is a sleeve. When I'm not grabbing lines on the sides of locks or taking pictures, I'm knitting. After so many locks, Ryder doesn't even get excited about it anymore. Lock 20 (the one we just did) is the last lock going up as you go west on the Erie Canal. From here on out, we will be going down as we cruise to Brewerton to pick up Becca and then head north to Oswego for the crossing to Canada.

Ryder and her friend Gigi

I just love the goose families. The parents keep watch.

The first lock of the day

When we got up to ground level, we saw this building. It is a museum of sorts with information about the canal.

Still lots of downed trees and debris

They were painting this bridge. It needed it.

More geese.

A few young ones.

This is the Auriesville Shrine. There is a memorial here to seven Jesuit priests who were killed by the Mohawks in 1646. 

Some beautiful farmland here.

The infamous lock 13. Note the barge to the left.

All of the dams are letting a great deal of water out. It really stirs up the water.

Ryder just supervises.

Cute little homestead.

I think these are tiger lilies. They are blooming all along the canal.

We passed by where they make Beech-nut baby food.

These two kayakers came out of the lock before we went in.

They are working on getting the big stuff out of the water.

These Amish kids were fishing. There was a horse and buggy in the trees, but it didn't photograph well.

Nicholas Herkimer's house.

This was the really tall lock.

Mama and baby duck were helping themselves to bugs.

When we came out of the lock, we saw these guys rock climbing.

The ground is lower than the canal. We were in an elevated trough of water.

This boat was giving water tours of the Erie Canal. They were with us in the lock.

All of the canal boats are painted like this. We think this one is a "bus".

We were right next to the interstate. Herkimer exit to be exact.

This one's for you, Pappy. You need a camper top for your boat!

Ryder in her element.

There were several spillways along the canal. You can see the difference in the water level.

These families were learning about the canal on their vacation. They watched us go through the lock.

These doors can come down to prevent flooding. We went under them.

This is Ryder's post when going through a lock.

The view from our spot in Rome.

This is right next to where we are docked. Note the guy fishing by the spillway and the trees caught at the top.

I found some nice wildflowers. It makes me smile.

The latest project - a sweater for me!