When we left Baldwinsville at 7:50 am it was already about 70F, which was not a good sign... Our destination was Lyons, NY about 49 miles to the west. Once again we were headed into a current of about 1 mph so the trip was slower than our usual slow cruising speed of 8 mph. Well, we were not in a hurry as usual... Over night the water levels have gone down, and the weeds that had already begun growing in the shallow areas now were visible on the surface. This was especially true in places where the canal followed existing stream channels. For example, streams are deepest on the outside of a bend and shallowest on the inside. Thus, we saw more weeds growing on the shallows on the inside of a bend. In the places where the canal is an artificial cut the depth is pretty uniform and too deep for the weeds to grow.
The wildlife viewing was very good today, but unfortunately, not all of it was captured by the camera. We "followed" this bald eagle for several miles as it appeared to be after some easy prey. It finally landed in this dead tree fairly close to the canal. We also saw deer, 2 snow geese, llama, muskrat (?), and of course hundreds of geese and ducks. I slipped the llama in there just to see if you were paying attention, but we really did see a small herd in a farm yard.
We only went through 2 locks today and both of them raised us 6 feet. After the first lock, we lowered the bimini top since we were approaching several low bridges, including the lowest one on the Erie Canal. The top (blue) and frame have been folded and tied down to the railing on the flybridge. Wow! All of a sudden it was very bright in the full sun. In addition to the direct sunlight, I am surrounded by plenty of white fiberglass and off white seat cushions. We travelled this way for the last 2 hours of the trip in the hottest part of the day, and I did not realize how much the sun had gotten to me until we docked for the day. When I went inside the main cabin, it felt so cool, dark and comfortable...
We lowered the bimini so that we would not hit several low bridges. Any boat using the western portion of the Erie Canal must be able to get under a 15 foot bridge, which restricts the traffic on the canal. Larger pleasure craft cannot get down this low and must use other routes. In the photo at the left I am sitting down in my captain's chair and touching the bottom of the bridge. If the bimini top is up, I can stand comfortably with several inches of extra headroom.
Of course I have to include an obligatory train picture for Grandson Will. This is a CSX freight train that passed us. Unlike the eastern part of the canal, we only had a railroad track along side for a couple of miles. In the eastern canal the railroad, NYS Thruway and the Erie Canal are all crowded into the relatively narrow Mohawk River valley. Today the terrain was relatively flat and wide open so the transportation corridor is also pretty wide.
Next on the left is my "favorite" picture of the day. Here comes a genuine red neck cruise ship... I do not know if this vessel had wheels on it, but it sure enough looked like a travel trailer on the water...
The picture on the right shows Lucky Us at the free town dock/wall in Lyons, NY. Last night the dock in Baldwinsville was free, but we did have to pay for electricity. Lyons did them one better with a free dock and free electricity. Wow! That's a deal that is hard to beat - free electrons. There is a dam and lock just out of view to the left, and the town of Lyons is in the background where you can see several domes.
Last, and I may not be kidding about the "last" part, this was my dinner this evening. We had an unofficial greeter stop by the boat with brochures, and she made several suggestions about restaurants and shops. We chose a 1950s retro style diner for dinner. My dinner (picture at left) consisted of a double hot dog topped with pulled pork and covered with cole slaw and chopped onions. Yes, it was served on paper with the lovely home made French fries. Most of you probably know that I generally eat pretty healthy, but this sandwich was off the scale! Guess that I will need to eat healthy for a couple of years to make up for this???
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