Baldwinsville, NY

Distance Traveled:  43 nm
Total Distance:  261 nm
Days on Erie Canal:  5

Today we made it to the destination that was our goal. We left about 715am, went through 3 locks ending up on the east side of Lock 24 in Baldwinsville, NY about 236pm.  The docks here are very high, about are 2 to 2.5 feet about the deck, so hard to get on them and off them.  We parked at the end of the dock, so at least we don't have to walk down the entire dock to get to the path to get up to the road.  We are also a little sheltered from the winds that are coming straight down the canal.  It was interesting to see the wind lines on the water and how Changes is in a calm area.

View of changes from near the bridge

Baldwinsville a larger town with busy traffic in the center of town but with also a lot of empty store fronts in the old buildings.  There are also renovations going on which I hope is good for the town.  Not much to offer us except Phil got a couple bottles of red wine at the liquor store.  The proprietor was kind enough to give Phil a tasting of a good dry red wine, which turned out to be a red zinfandel.  We were interested in the laundromat, but is a little too far away for our liking.  They do have interesting architecture in their old buildings as do many of the older towns along the canal. 

Today was cool until much later in the afternoon.  It was 60F for a long time, so both of us wore our foul weather gear with me wearing the obligatory many layers.  For lunch we had most of the rest of the cream of potato soup I made yesterday to which I added some of the smoked pulled pork that Glenn gave us.  Boy is that gooood smoked pork!!  He was very generous in the amount he gave us, so though we have been using it frequently, we still have some left.

For supper we had leftovers placed in ziploc bags and heated in very hot water.  It was an experiment that worked out.  The trick is to make sure that you keep the lid on so that the heat from the flame on the stove doesn't melt the top and edges of the bags.  I also cooked the broccoli, as that is the most fragile of the vegetables that we bought.  Sure does make cleanup much easier when you don't have a microwave.

Tomorrow our goal is to get at least to Brewerton, NY which is 22 miles away, and then evaluate about going across Oneida Lake.  The Ess-Kay Yards Marina is a place we'll stop to get diesel and they have a Chandlery.  We're not sure if we'll stay there or not yet.  It depends on whether the winds are ok for us to transit Oneida Lake or not. I'm nervous about crossing this lake.  It's shallow so the winds can kick the waves up pretty quickly and they are close together worse than Lake Erie.  Phil's not worried but I'll be glad when this crossing is done!  If we do cross the lake tomorrow, we'll stop in Sylvan Beach for the night.  An interesting fact Phil just told me is that on the other side of the lake we'll go through 2 up-locks that will be lifting us up instead of down like we have been, but then we'll be going through down-locks again.     

M/V Ladyhawk, 42' Krogan

M/V Ladyhawk, a 42' Krogan that was docked behind us in Fairport, NY, passed us coming out of Lock 24 late afternoon after we came back from our walk around town.  Dick waved as they went by with a toot of their horn as they continued to their stopping destination, Phoenix, which is up the Oswego River. 
We have been searching for a laundromat to wash the sheets and towels.  The one here is a little to far away for our liking.  Phil is also on the look our for propane refill stores.  He's wondering how long the propane will last us with us using it so often. 

Tonight is a lazy night, reading and being on the computer.  We are tired and so I think we'll be making an early night of it.  It's 8pm and already very dark outside.  Sure can tell that winter is on it's way.

One last item - we finally passed a sailboat!  2nd sailboat that we have seen.  

S/V Boomerang