We also went on a special bike ride. This is the Erie Canal Tow Path Trail that stretches all the way across the state of New York. It's a perfectly flat and smooth path, and the birthday girl thinks that is the definition of a good bike trail. This is the tow path that the mules would have trod as they pulled barges up the Erie Canal in the 1800's.
We didn't ride the entire 363-mile tow path this morning. After all, Denisa is getting old. Instead, we picked a 5-mile section that started in the little town of Pittsford, New York.
Soon after we started, we came upon the New York department of transportation vehicles in the water. One boat is hoisting a scoop through the water, dredging out dirt and sand to keep the Erie Canal a suitable depth for boat travel. The tug boat in the foreground is moving a barge load of that sand to keep it close to the scoop. It doesn't take much to keep us entertained, as we enjoyed watching this process that we had never seen before.
The Erie Canal was once a thorough-fare for freight in this part of the country. But now its main customers are pleasure boats filled with tourists that want the historical experience of traveling the canal.
We got to watch as the water in the lock lifted a passenger boat. The gates at both ends of Lock #32 were closed, and the water began pouring in. In the picture below, we can see how far the water must still raise to bring it to the top of the lock.
The lock-keeper came to get the registration information from the boater. We found out that a ten-day pass to get through all the Erie Canal locks only costs $50. The normal passage usually takes considerably less than ten days. But much of the canal has a 10 mph speed limit, and waiting for so many locks to fill can make for a slow journey. So this trip across New York via boat can be painstakingly slow.
Once the water filled the lock, the yellow gates swung open so the boat could continue westward on their journey.
Then the gates swung shut and they began pumping water out of the lock once again. We had experienced another piece of history as we sang, "if ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal."
Our real destination today is the Rochester Airport, since we are picking up Denisa's Mother, Betty, for a week-long visit with us. We took her first to one of Denisa's favorite things--the local lighthouse. Denisa and her Mother are standing out front because it was closed for repainting this day.
The lighthouse is right on Lake Ontario, so we took a walk down to the beach to watch the boats coming into the Rochester Bay. We also did some birthday present shopping while we were in Rochester. After shopping, Denisa's pretty excited that Mark ordered her gift that will be delivered in a few days.
Our birthday tradition is that you get to eat your birthday dessert for breakfast, so we started the day with a slice of chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake. The birthday girl also got to pick where we would eat dinner. Denisa's not sure that she chose wisely, as we ended up at Nick Tahou's cafe for their signature dish. We have read from several sources that visitors to Rochester must eat a "garbage plate" at Nick's. That would be made by combining home fried potatoes and macaroni salad, covered with a choice of hots (hot dogs), cheeseburger, or chicken and then chili sauce.
Eating a garbage plate was an experience, but next year she thinks she will go a tad more elegant than a garbage plate. We got back to the motor home after dark, so Denisa had a good long birthday celebration. We'll tone down the hiking and step up the touring for the next week as we entertain Denisa's Mother--an 86-year-young traveler staying with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment