July 21, 2015 - On the Erie

On Sunday we made it to Waterford, NY, after traveling through the first lock in a long time. We found the Hudson River to be a great surprise.  It simply was one of the most beautiful parts of our entire trip.  Once north of New York City, we immediately noticed how the river carved its way through the Catskill mountains leaving behind gorgeous high cliffs with some spectacular homes high on the mountain sides.  The river ranged between 1/2 mile to about 3 miles across, and at times was very choppy due to strong currents and winds. You may recall that Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow took place along the Hudson River in the Catskill mountains.

Upon arriving in Waterford, NY, we have turned to the west and are now headed down the Erie Canal system...another nice surprise.  Actually, only parts of the Erie are canal.  Most of it actually is a connection of rivers and lakes that follows along side of Interstate 90 and a major east/west railway line.  Again, we have found this part of the journey to be quite beautiful - kind of a miniature Hudson river with numerous picturesque sites along the way.  There are many locks on the Erie system which remind us of our times on the rivers last fall.  However, it is just like riding a bike to us now, one of those techniques that you never forget.  Many of the small towns along the way welcome the canal traffic with free docks, some with electricity, water, and showers, to entice us to visit their town by making a deposit into the local economy.  Actually in anticipation of the high costs of alcohol for our upcoming journey into Canada, we spent last night on the wall in Amsterdam, NY, where we purchased about $100 in booze.  That of course is mostly for Connie, since I (Jim) don't drink much!