Start of our 2024 travels!

 

January 2024 travels!

After arriving home in July of 2023, we had some recovering to do before doing any more travel!  Dan went immediately to an orthopedic surgeon, to find that he had some lower discs in his back pressing on nerves.  He was in terrific pain, even using a walker for a time to get around.  He started Physical Therapy three times a week, for over six weeks.  He started feeling better, and was able to start enjoying life a bit more.  

Gena enjoyed being home for an unusual amount of time and for a good part of the summer.  There were flowers in our garden that she hadn't seen for years!  She also enjoyed having time with her three grandchildren, now ages 14, 16, and 18.  Her favorite thing to do was to grab one of them and go on an adventure, just the two of them. We also were able to attend our church regularly, and enjoyed that.

 As 'winter started' we ‘suffered’ an unusually mild winter – no snow at all, temps mostly above freezing, just the usual gray, no sun, that we’re used to. We departed Michigan on January 11, just in front of a huge cold front that brought the first snow accumulation and single digit temps in the winter so far. We spent 2 nights on the road, in Cracker Barrel parking lots, before reaching the north Georgia area where my daughter, Laura, and grandchildren live. We ended up spending one night in a Walmart parking lots in Cummings, near Dan’s cousin Suzie and husband, Mark. They took us to dinner at a great German restaurant.

Next day, we moved to an RV spot near Laura’s home. We got to visit with Laura, her sons, Brody, and Rylan, Rylan’s girlfriend, Katie, and Laura’s boyfriend, Matt. Laura and Matt have been together for a year, and have recently moved in together. If was great getting to know Matt and Katie. We spent 2 nights there, then moved on.

Next stop was King’s Bay Navy Base campground. We just stayed there two nights, because it was still cold! We wanted to get further south and some warm weather!

Next stop was KARS Park, owned by the Kennedy Space Center. It’s located right on the Banana River, directly across from Cape Canaveral – best place to watch space shots! We enjoyed two weeks there. Another advantage of being there was its closeness to Orlando, where our good friends Dennis and Denise Sprenkle live. We exchanged visits each way a couple of times while we were there.

We left KARS Park on 1/30, headed towards our final destination of Key West. Our reservations in Key West started on 2/1. We parked for one night at the Miccosoukee Indian Casino in Florida City, had a nice dinner and quiet evening in their parking lot.

On 1/31, we arrived in Key West, and were allowed to go ahead and park in Trumbo campground and report to the campground office the next day, when our reservations started. We’ve been here many times, and it’s always good to reconnect to many of the same people who return year after year. There have been many changes in recent years – they’ve severely restricted the number of campsites and raised the rates. But, we still enjoy the ambiance and camaraderie there.

And so, we began our two month stay.

The weather, to begin with, wasn’t great – a big cool and very windy. But, the good times are coming! We love the sunny weather, especially when it gets into the high 70’s and low 80’s. It took us a few days of just relaxing, getting into the groove, before we actually started getting out into town and enjoying the Key West vibe.

Our first visit into town, we thought we’d go to a quiet bar, Heroes, for a beer and a sit down. We rode our bikes there, only to find it was swarmed with a huge crowd, many dressed in animal costumes! “What’s going one?” OK, next, we rode to our next favorite quiet bar, Tiki Bar, which is a great people watching place, right off Duval. We were surprised to find, once again, a swarm of people, spilling out into the street, most dressed in animal costumes!! We retreated to a seat across the street, in a good people watching place, ordering a burrito and a beer. Finally, I could stand it no more – I went across the street and asked one of the folks what was with the costumes. Turns out is it an annual event, a onesie pub crawl, an annual event sponsored by a Tattoo bar down the street. Both our favorite bars were on the list of 4 bars included! Cool. So, next time we go, we should be back in our familiar bars, able to just sit, watch people pass, and have a quiet drink!

Mid July - a much quicker than anticipated end to our cruising season!

July 18, 2023

We got as far as Lock #7 of 11 on the Champlain Canal. That canal would take us to Lake Champlain and into Canada and the exploring we’ve been wanting and planning to do for 3 years! The first 2 years, of course, we were stopped by the Covid pandemic – Canada closed her borders. This year, we were really going to do it!! Our decision, though, was pretty easy. Dan was hurting bad.

So, we spent the night after Lock 7, and turned right to head back down to the start of the Erie Canal. We had already arranged for Kittiwake to spend the winter in heated storage at Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY, which is about half way across the Canal, near Lock 20. It took us several days, but we eventually arrived at Winter Harbor Marina. Our plan, at that point, was to get Dan home and come back later in the season to clean the boat, empty the refrigerator, and get it ready to be out of the water for the winter.

A friend, Gary, on Perfect Seas, was docked near us. Watching Dan struggle to walk, he said he knew exactly where the problem was – lower back, at #3 and 4 vertebrae. He knew, because he had been through that himself, and actually had surgery. We tried to get Dan into a local chiropractor, but all the offices said they were booked. Our chiropractor at home, Dr. David Senawi, did some checking, and then got us an appointment that day at a local chiropractor. We were so grateful, and Dan felt marginally better.

We packed pretty quickly, and got on the road for home. By the time we got home, Dr.Senawi had arranged for an appointment at an orthopedic surgeon the following day! Wow. He had an x-ray that day, and was set up for physical therapy three times a week starting right away.

Bottom line, we never went back to the boat that summer! We paid someone at the marina to defrost and clean out the refrigerator – ugh. We still had a car in Virginia where we started our cruising, so I flew to Richmond. A friend at the marina came to pick me up and take me to the marina and our car (about 60 miles one way). I was so grateful! I said hello and goodbye at the marina, and started on the trip home.

We were disappointed to miss out on the cruising we had planned, but, as I said earlier, the choice was easy. We have to get Dan back to enjoying life again.

Meanwhile, I have to say, I did enjoy having much of the summer at home for a change! I enjoyed the flowers I haven’t seen for the past 5 years! I did some yard work. I spent time with all three of my grandchildren, got to attend most of Isaac’s soccer gamer, had time with my neighbors and friends. Attended my church, got to know our new minister.

Now, as I’m writing this, it is just past Thanksgiving, and Dan is much better. He still has pain in his shoulders, but he is working out at the gym2 or 3 times a week and continues to improve. We plan to do our usual trip with our 5^th wheel RV to Key West, leaving January 11. With his back issues, we may have to stop more often than usual, but we’ll get there to our #2 happy place (Number 1 is the boat!).

The following shots are all from the Winter Harbor Marina grounds - so beautiful!  We will be back there in late May to retrieve Kittiwake and restart our boat travels!

Fort Edwards Village Yacht Basin, and BIG Decision

July 17 – 19, Fort Edwards Village Yacht Basin, plus BIG Decision

After leaving Troy, NY Municipal docks, the next step was to transit the Troy Federal Lock. We left at 8 the next morning, and transited the lock with Viva la Vita (Mike and Jille). We parted company with them as they turned off to head out the Erie Canal, and we went north to go up the Champlain Canal. We are so excited to finally be taking the trip through Canada that we have been anticipating for 2 years!

That day, we transited the Troy Lock plus 6 more on the Champlain Canal. We were alone in every one of the locks. Each lock lifted us about 20 feet. The procedure is pretty simple. The lock master opens the gate, gives us a green light, and we drive the boat in until the First Mate (Gena) can grab one of the lines hanging down from the top. The Captain (Dan) has to do a little maneuvering to keep the boat in place, as Gena holds on tightly to keep the boat next to the wall. Once the boat is up at the top, lock master opens the gate, Gena drops the line, and we cruise on to the next lock. We decided to stop for the night at the village of Ft. Edwards, which offers free dockage, electricity, restrooms, and showers for 48 hours! Yippee! We will stay two nights, so both of us can get some needed rest.

We arrived on Monday, and every single restaurant in town was closed! Next morning, we had breakfast at a diner, complete with a long dialogue (almost just a monologue) from the owner, who seemed glad of an audience to hear about his 4 years with the Marines back in the 1960’s!

BIG DECISION:

Dan and I had both been thinking. His symptoms are not getting better, in fact, by some measurement, they are worse. Just walking about 2 city blocks to the diner was a painful experience. This is not the way we want to travel. So, rather than continue on, we are turning back, retracing our steps back to the turnoff to the Erie Canal, and going across the Erie Canal to Winter Harbor, the marina and boatyard where we had already planned to leave the boat for the winter. They said they could fit us in and get some work done that we wanted. So, we’ll take the 4 or 5 days to get the boat there, and then go home for Dan to recover and see his own doctors. We are disappointed, but know this is the right decision for us at this time.

flotsam does collect on the waterways

approaching a lock

entering a lock

inside a lock - the water line is where we'll end up!

our home for the night - free!!  right by a park in Ft. Edwards Village

cool building, seemed to be connected to a church next door

cool mural depicting downtown

lovely old home, with a terrific porch

pretty home, another porch!

a little cluttered,but patriotic!

Three quick stops on the Hudson, Shady Harbor, Albany Yacht Club, and Troy Municipal July 14 thru 17

 

July 13 – 17, three quick stops

July 13-14, Donovan’s Shady Harbor Marina

We had heard so much about this marina! So, even though we missed it last time, we decided to give them a try this trip. Two dock hands met us to help us land successfully in the current and wind. Gena made use of their pool and showers. We passed on their restaurant since it started to rain. Not much to say about this stop – it was fine, no issues!

July 14 - 16, Albany Yacht Club

We continued on the next day to the Albany Yacht Club. We had stopped there last trip. Nice docks, nice people. That night, there was a dinner and vodka tasting, which we did join in!

We had “run off” of all our charts and guidebooks – good grief! So, the local West Marine did have some charts that we wanted. Uber to the rescue – it was quite a ride, but we really wanted those charts!

the following pictures are on the way to Albany...

We share the waterways with these big ones!

Those bad guys are what we try to avoid!!

July 16- 17, Troy Municipal Marina

The small town of Troy has a long dock for transient boaters, so we made that our next stop. We were happy to see another Looper boat parked just in front of us. Jille and Mike were lots of fun. Jille and I went to lunch, then the four of us met for drinks and then dinner. We had so much in common with them – both Gold Loopers, both from Michigan, both couples are grandparents, and both men are handy with mechanical and all boat things!

street in Troy, NY

had a nice beer and burger here, Troy, NY

cool building - hope that ivy doesn't take the building down!

cool little place - closed for a private party

I like the way they made their place private!

cool murals in an overpass

River Place, their main street

Vive La Vita, very nice couple, we spent a few hours with them, then parted ways in the morning.

Beautiful house beside the canal

Next stop on the Hudson, the Hudson River Maritime Museum on Rondout Creek, Kingston, NY

 July 13, 

Next stop on the Hudson River, the Hudson River Maritime Museum, on Rondout Creek, Kingston, NY

We enjoyed this place on our last trip through these parts. The museum is an interesting place, with about 4 buildings. One is the actual museum, with displays about the history of the area, nicely done. Other buildings include a boat building shop, and a place to hold classes for rowing. The revenue from renting the slips goes to the charitable group that runs the museum. The town has been nicely brought back from being deteriorated over the years. There were some interesting restaurants and bakeries. We had a delicious barbecue dinner at Old Susannah that evening. Next morning, we walked a few blocks to a bakery for breakfast. Across the street was another bakery advertising “Fresh Donuts”, so naturally, we had to check it out. The donuts were not just freshly made that morning...no, they were made to your order when you walk to the counter!! Delicious!

On to the next stop, Donovan’s Shady Harbor, a stop we somehow missed last trip.

Rondout Landing - cool place with interesting history

love the colors in this mural

cute building down on the docks

no longer an antiques shop - a cute sandwich and coffee shop

main street in town

Love that they captured this remark ....totally unjustified, of course

AMAZING coffee shop, where they make your donuts to order on the spot!!

docks at Rondout Creek, sailing school, boatbuilding facility

More pretty houses overlooking the Hudson

I love the variety of bridge styles

bridge over the Hudson

lovely house spotted on the Hudson

seen on the banks of the Hudson

lighthouse at the turn off to Rondout Creek

First stop on the Hudson River, the Half Moon Bay Marina in Croton-on-Hudson, NY

July 12, Half Moon Bay Marina in Croton-on-Hudson, NY

We had visited this marina on our first go around, the first stop on the Hudson River after NYC. The dock master is eager to please, and we landed there successfully. Another Looper couple was next door, always a treat to meet these people who have a love of this boating looper life. Their boat was named “Call Me Curley!”, and we enjoyed a couple of hours talking, laughing, and telling stories.

While sitting there, Sharon, the wife, noticed a big red spot on Dan’s leg. She was quite adamant that it looked like a tick bite, and we’d better get to Urgent Care right away. I knew it must have been bothering Dan already, because he readily agreed that we should do just that.

Long story short, we did get to an Urgent Care, they supposed it is a tick bite. Asked if he’d had any unusual aches and pains lately. He had had some fairly significant pains in his legs and butt lately, to the extent it has been hard for him to get out of bed. We thought it was just his age (!), and lots of unusual ups and down stairs and in and out of engine room. They drew blood, gave him a prescription for antibiotics.  We filled it right away, so he could get started on the treatment that evening.

He probably does have Lyme disease, the treatment for which is just antibiotics.

Next morning, we continued our trip up the Hudson River. Next stop, on Rondout Creek, the Hudson River Maritime Museum.

The views along the Hudson are absolutely beautiful!

Bridges that are functional as well as lovely

Interesting homes with a great view

so pretty with all the trees

Dock your boat on the water...could be a job to get to the house!

West Point is a magnificent, impressive sight!

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West Point!

Huge and impressive - very interesting to tour

West Point up close

I believe this is their athletic complex

island in the river

another pretty bridge

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busy train tracks on both sides of the river

home in the trees!

interesting structure