We are looking at finishing the Loop in 2011...our return to New York will depend on weather and water. The Canal opens on May 10th but we understand that high water and cold weather could be an issue. So for now we aren't in any rush and will probably wait until after Mother's Day to head that direction. We figure that gives us plenty of time to enjoy Canada (without the French invasion) and Lake Michigan...we still plan to be in Chicago over Labor Day and finish the Loop shortly thereafter. We'd also like to spend October on the Tennessee River. Time will tell...

Several boaters have reported less than favorable weather while on Lake Michigan this summer. In fact, rumor has it that this was the worst conditions there in a long time. Floyd and I are ever so glad we made the call to NOT go there. We'd have been right in the middle...trying to get to Chicago on a deadline.

Storing the boat and heading home is always a bittersweet occasion. We are glad to be returning to family and friends in Kansas....it has been a long time. But we are also more than a little sad to be leaving our boating friends. We have sooooo enjoyed being in the slip next to Susan and Carolyn aboard the Sojourner in Brewerton. They plan to head south after Labor Day and have announced that they are headed to Norfolk to put their boat on the market. So it is hard to say when and if we'll catch up with them again. They left St Charles just a bit before us two years ago...we met them at Hoppies Marina and spent that first night on the Mississippi in a spot just in front of them. Two novice boats headed down a flooding Mississippi...pretty exciting stuff. They were there to greet us when we finally arrived with BIG BERTHA at Grand Rivers, Kentucky. We've sure enjoyed hop-scotching with them ....wish them great luck at selling and finding another boat...May we meet again somewhere sometime....

As we continued to enjoy the shade and cool temps on the aft deck, we saw this cruise ship poking down the river...we noticed a crew member at the top and it sure slowed down to go under the rail road bridge. As you can see, clearance was pretty close. We understand that it had been in Canada and was re-positioning for cruising elsewhere. File that under something you don't see often on the Erie Canal.

FYI...just so you know, all three flights that hooked us to Wichita did what they were suppose to do, when they were suppose to ...we arrived in Wichita 20 minutes ahead of schedule. And of course I have photos etc of our last week in New York, but for some reason Internet has not been cooperating...hopefully that will be resolved soon and I'll get some new things posted. For now, we are re-connecting with family and friends ...missing the TUMBLEWEED...and planning to return to boating life late next spring. We are here til May.

We have no clue whether they gave any awards...but we picked the one we thought was best...a small fishing boat decorated to look like a little tug. We thought their attention to the details and creative effort was excellent. We loved the mop at the front and small tires...They even had smoke coming from the stack....Can't you just picture Popeye at the helm???

On Sunday, we had the pleasure of being spectators at the Castaway's First Annual Boat Parade...something they were doing to raise money for Make a Wish. True to the parade format, the local Sheriff boat provided the escorts at front and rear...and several boaters had gone to a lot of effort to decorate for the occasion. We clapped, hooted, hollered and, of course, whistled appropriately. We have no idea if they had any fun...but we sure did.