Adventures With My Family

I did it. It was ugly.  I had my eyes closed the whole time.  At the end of the day, when we passed by it on the way out...I was shocked I did it.  I thought the Matterhorn ride at Disney a challenge.  It's not.  The name of the ride The Valravn.  Look it up on Utube if you dare! After that one, I stuck to the milder rides...but milder is relative.  I hate to be a wimp but these rides are insane.   Brian did not flinch a whisker.  John accompanied him on many but there were a few even he could not abide.  Suffice to say, Brian loved it.  He had been chomping at the bit to go to Cedar Point.  He could barely control his excitement the day before.  The next day we indulged in a day at the adjacent water park.  I happen to love these places though I find as the years progress they are an increasing ergonomic challenge---wrestling myself in and out of inner tubes is not always a pretty sight.  Bu...

There is something about wide open spaces that is mesmerizing. I have the cockpit to myself at the moment, and off to starboard is one long crisp horizontal line. Below the line is a placid teal green sea, above is a cerulean blue sky with wispy clouds. The picture can never do justice. Today is our longest leg so far, almost 100 miles. We decided to skip Cleveland and make a dash for Cedar Point. To make sure we get there before nightfall, we're motorsailing. The weather tomorrow is not in our favor...winds at 15 -20 knots out of the west with intermittent thunderstorms and rain. Now I realize that insects are an important link in the larger ecosystem but it is hard to ignore their rude intrusion into our warefaring paradise. The scene, the carnage, that greeted us this morning was apocalyptic. We've encountered these buggers along the way but lost them the next day. Curiously they visit us on the lakes, not the Erie Canal. But today's swarm in the hardou...

Lots of French influences in this part of the US so its appropriate to invoke the word rendezvous, which loosely translates into "present you" or "meet you." We rendezvous-ed with my brother Stu and his family at Preque Isle state park, PA. Presque Isle is French for "Almost Island." The first order of the day was to load ourselves up into his van and have lunch at Sara's! This place is famous! Articles have been written about this joint. It has the best classic summer waterfront diner food...bugers, hot dogs, drippy steak and cheese, with onions and peppers, great fries, milkshakes....you name it. Order, eat outside. It's an opportunity to overeat but the good, juicy calories were worth it! Highly recommended. We toured the historical sites and then hung out afterwards at the beach on the lake side. A bit windy so I didn't go in but Brian the Brave, did. Plus, he got to hang with Sara and Xavier his cousins...

What do cheerios and clevis pins have in common?  They are part of our current experience of stepping the mast.  We are in Buffalo, NY getting our mast, which we carried all thru the Erie Canal, reinstalled.  It's scary watching the mast hanging on a crane with a muscleman holding on for dear life.  With all this large and very heavy  equipment, success depends on a simple clevis pin.  Just enough to keep a massive peice of metal in place.  I find this fascinating. Conjures up the poem..For Want Of A Nail. Whilst all this is happening, whafting through the air is the slightly distinct odor of toasting grain with a hint of vanilla. Turns out immediately opposite us in the channel is the General Mills/Gold Medal Plant.  We are smelling toasting cheerios. We may, or may not, get underway into Lake Erie today, if we (that would be John) are able to get the boat ship shape for more open water.  Lake Erie is for all practical purpo...

I like history and soaking in the scenery along the way.  John likes walking around the small canal front towns.  Brian likes activities.  The last few days we’ve immersed ourselves swimming in the intermittent lakes along the way, Brian’s delight.  Lake Onieda was first, Cross Lake yesterday and Lake Cayuga, one of the finger lakes today !  We barely drop anchor in a protected bay and bust out the bathing suites.  But immersion in the lake requires a certain inner fortitude.  Oneida was 62*.  Cross lake was 68* but honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference---it was all cold.  Brian and I are the hearty souls.  John…well…he requires considerable persuading.  So we expound the virtues of the water—brisk, clear, refreshing water…which, curiously, after about 2 minutes is how it feels.  It clearly cools me off and functions as my bath for the day.  Brian and I have fun while we wait for John (about 15 minutes or longer) to sl...

If you've ever tried to make the top of a bunk bed you get the idea.  Trying to tuck a sheet under something that you are lying atop of is...well absurd.  Early efforts resulted in fits of uncontrolled laughter.

Spent two nights at Lock 22...just downstream from Rome, NY.  Lots of great historical events occurred along the Mohawk...Ft Stanwix and Oriskany Battlefields.  These were not numerically large battles but the outcome drove a stake in the Brits plans to split the colonies along the Hudson...leading to his defeat at Saratogo.   Brits tried to capture the fort by starving it into surrender.  Continental forces accompanied by Oenieda Indian came to the rescue and were met by Brit and other native Indian allies. The Continentals were ambushed and decimated in a narrow ravine near a village of Oriskany.  Though a tragic loss for the continentals, the native tribes supporting the British were demoralized and abandoned the Brits when they discovered their camp ravished by militia from the fort.  The brit allied natives withdrew forcing the British to abandon their efforts to capture the fort and retreat. Couldn't help but ponder the significance of thi...

Ilion, NY does not have a whole lot going on but it is home to Remington (as in rifles not razor blades).  There is a major factory here and museum that was recommended to us.  But the winds are peppery today and the air temp in the 50s...so we decided to lay over here at the Ilion Marina.  Dollar a foot, so that runs about 43 bucks per night for us, with tax.  They have water and electrical hook up, showers, bathrooms, washing machines and something we've come to prize...wifi. Well the factory was a bit of a disappointment but the setting here in the marina is lovely albeit a bit noisy.  Highway runs by close and the railroad across the channel.  So today we loaf.  Take a nap, read books, post to the blog and breath fresh air. Dinner out tonight.  Get to walk, say 20 feet to the shack (see picture) for a steak sandwich.  That comes recommended too. Will see.  I get a night off from cooking. We are docked next to a snappy looking...