51. Almost home

Spring is here! Spring is here!

Everywhere we can see evidence of new birth in the buds, flowers, trees and most of all, in the animal world.
Canada geese are very protective of their little ones. When I tried to go near, one of them hissed at me. At Phoenix, when they were crossing the walkway near the docks to get to the grassy area, one goose went first while the other waited until every little gosling had crossed, even the one that was dawdling.From Oswego we made the trip to Rochester where we stayed at the Yacht Club for 2 days while Roman changed the filters on the engine and fine tuned it. I worked on catching up on our blog.
When we were in Rochester Yacht club, there were goose droppings all over the grass and pavement and the dockmaster suggested that we take the Canadian geese home with us. We replied that we were only trying to be good neighbours by sharing the geese with them. Why should we have all the fun?

Approaching Youngstown

Looking onto the Youngstown Yacht Club from the town.

In the picture above, our boat is on the dock just before the picnic bench. As our mast is down, we are waiting for calm seas and winds to cross home to Lakeshore Yacht Club. Hopefully we will be able to cross tomorrow.

Yesterday was the first of June and we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in Youngstown. We had a fabulous dinner at the Yacht Club and found both the service and the food exceptional. What a wonderful memory of our anniversary! We opened up the blinds to show the harbour but the sun was just setting and the background light was too strong for a good picture.


This is the end of our trip. We have travelled several thousand miles and have had many wonderful and some not so wonderful experiences. We would not have missed any except maybe our return trip to Atlantic City. I cannot stress enough how terrific it was to meet so many many people along the way, both boaters and non-boaters. Some of them have become good friends and we plan to keep in touch and even travel with them again.

We are glad that you were able to share our trip with us through this blog. I have become much more computer and photo savvy but, the more I learn, the more I realize how much more there is to learn.

You may ask, where will we go next? When will we go? All that is in the future. It is the present that is a gift and that is what we will focus on for now.


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50. The last of the Canals

The Oswego Canal drops from 118ft. to Lake Ontario in 7 steps and supports 8 hydro plants. Originally completed in 1828 and widened and deepened in 1917, the 7 locks are more modern and in better shape than the ones on the Erie Canal. We found the towns and people very welcoming.

Phoenix, at the first lock, provided free power, water and a modern dock with picnic areas, laundry, and a gazebo and even lounge chairs. Unfortunately, it was too cold to make use of the chairs although we did eat our homemade pizzas outside in our fleeces. We met a young couple that lives right across the street from the canal. They had an endearing young "pup" , a cross between a labrador and a large poodle, that weighed 120 lb. and was still growing!

As all young dogs do, Ronan, the dog wanted to play with Roman, the boat captain.
Time for a morning coffee before we go through the locks.

Going into the lock at Phoenix

The lock at Phoenix had a bridge painted bright yellow that swung up after the lock. In the second picture below you can see all the cars waiting as we go through the locks.We continued through the locks, one by one.

Along the canal we passed many beautiful properties.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a place here with your own boat dock? The winter, however, would be a different story. This year many places documented record snowfalls. I think I prefer the warm southern areas for the winter.

At Oswego we spent the night on the east wall just south of the last lock in a well-protected area. We said our fond goodbyes to Richard and Janice from Carpe Diem IX who would wait for good crossing weather to go to the Trent-Severn Waterway into Georgian Bay and home to Lake Superior. From what they have told us, Lake Superior would be a wonderful place to visit but only in July and August. Another trip to take! We will miss them and all our pot luck suppers together.

Again it is the people we meet that makes this trip so special.