Blue Horizon Adventures: Tues Aug 3 and Wed Aug 4 3: Ft Edward to Waterford freewall + bonus day in Waterford

In which we are 'go' for long sleeve shirts!

What glorious days the last couple have been! It feels like fall - the sun seems low in the sky, the leaves are twinkling in the breeze and the temps are PERFECT at 68-72 (well, my friend Donna would think that was too cold). If we are going to complain about the yucky days, we should remember to celebrate the good ones.

We waved goodbye to our new boat friends, and headed out. Today will be long, as we opted to stay and bike ride yesterday. We have to be in Albany on Fri for our flight to ATL. I’m not saying we need a break from the boat….but I’m also not NOT saying that.

This is what we are locking around, today on the way down. Better this way, you’ll have to trust me on that. Blue Horizon does NOT want to go tubing over those falls…

Apparently the Hudson is also a runway ??

We ended up in Waterford by 3pm - perfect for my 3:30 conf call. This is the little town where, 3 weeks ago, we went right at the blue sign to get to Lake Champlain. Now we are on the other fork...

It has come to our attention that we are possibly wearing the EXACT same clothes in every picture. Please just disregard that glitch in the Matrix. It's a small boat and we don't have many options along. Just be glad this is not a scratch and sniff boat. I'm not gonna lie - it’s many days between laundry loads.

There is a long freewall, and it’s being used by people coming or going on the Erie Canal.

You can see Blue Horizon at the front of the pack.

This is our, rather intimidating, view of E2; the lock that will start our flight up the Erie on Thursday.

Lots of people to talk to-Rick and I each had a perfect afternoon, in completely different ways. Rick got to help people dock, share beers with and talk to them. I got to sit inside and work, and NOT talk to anyone. Excellent afternoon!

These two ol salts were REALLY happy to see other people. That’s their little tug behind and to the left.

The Peruvian owner of this sailing boat was very happy to get to speak Spanish with Rick. You will note that their mast is 'unstepped', that is - taken down so they can make it under the low bridges that pepper the Erie and Champlain canals. With a big, heavy mast like theirs it will have to be professionally 'stepped', using a crane. Only a few boat yards will do such a job.

We walked the waterfront a bit, and were able to get up on top of and walk the whole of lock E2. It will be our deepest lock yet-a 33.5 ft. lift.

Inner doors.

Outer doors.

This is a very cool look at the old lock, on the right, and the one we will use tomorrow. Those were some narrow boats!

We also learned about a paddle trail that allows canoes/kayaks to travel the Hudson from here to NYC. That would be a HECK of a long way to paddle, if you ask me. Later on we were treated to a spectacular sunset. Thank you, Mother Nature!

Wed morning began with the super scary sound/sight of the water surging out of the lock as it opened. We clutched each other and waited for it to hit us. Somehow it must get dispersed quickly because it was barely a ripple by the time it got to us ... Whew.

After breakfast at a local diner (where the waitress was apologetic that the corn beef hash was from a can and not scratch, and I was super excited because for me it's not the real thing unless it comes in a Hormel can, like my mother used to 'make') we jumped on bikes to make a LONG tour of the local bike paths.

The area around us has some great old houses-but most need TLC

Rick planned our outbound bike route, so that went smoothly. I planned the return, so we got lost. But it turned out to be a good thing-we ended up by accident at the Cohoes Falls (plunging 100 ft), which we would never have seen otherwise! This is exactly what we will be locking around and up on top of tomorrow.

It still looks very much the same as when it appeared in this ye olde ad. Which is reassuring. So often natural things have been ruined by humans.

Finally we ended up at the Waterford Historical Museum, which Rick had on his to-do list. I did not, so I got to sit outside and read. Everyone was happy.