Slow Boat

Can you find the canal boat in this picture?  This is where we stayed  LAST night: Anchored on the Scotia waterfront.

So I'm sitting on the boat.  And the boat is bouncing up and down, and the bow is rotating in tight little circles, and underneath my feet, stuff keeps thumping--boom--hard, against the metal hull.

Close your eyes. Feel the sickening motion and hear the roar of fast water, and you might think, "This is the end of the world."

Luckily, the world did NOT end today. (No refund for the folks who signed up for post-rapture pet sitting.)

But we ARE close to the end of our trip.  People keep asking, "Are you sad it's almost over?"

I feel like I SHOULD be sad. This has been a grand adventure.  We've enjoyed the fresh air, the scenery, the chance to learn so many new things, the chance to meet people from all walks of life. Each day has been different.  Each day has been jammed with memorable sights and experiences. Who would want that to end?



But no, I'm not sad.  I feel fine.  Our trip has been a circumnavigation.  A Great Loop. We're about to come full circle. To return to the place where we began. It feels right. It feels logical. And it's happening before I am ready to run off the boat, screaming.

Yesterday the black slate banks of the Mohawk River were cascading with dozens of tiny waterfalls

Now, if only we CAN come full circle.  Because of continued rain and flooding, the Erie Canal is currently closed between our current location (Schenectady, NY) and our ultimate destination (just east of Rochester).  The locks will not open today.

They may open tomorrow. Or not. And though we've often joked about our "amphibious assault canal boat" and pretended that she can climb right up out of the river like those duckboats in Philly, she doesn't actually roll on land.

So we're tied to a cement wall just below Erie's Lock #8, bouncing in the current as water booms over the dam.

If there's one thing we've learned from this trip, it's how to be patient and open when plans must change. Stay tuned.