21 May 2014

Last post from Ilion, I promise.

We had a misunderstanding over the opening of the canal. We got told if we wanted to go west we needed to be at the next lock at 7AM. That means a 6:30 departure, that’s not going to happen. So we opted to hang out. Turns out they were trying to say the Canal is open starting at 7AM.

It was just as well, there were still a large number of large sticks coming down the river. We spent some time pulling the ones away from the dock wall where they were wedged between the boat. Some of the larger ones I walked down to the fuel dock to let them deal with it.

We went to the Remington Arms museum. They have rifles from day one (1800′s) to present. Plus some samples of their hand guns and early typewriters. They don’t give factory tours any more, but have a long video that shows the entire process.

Hit downtown again, post office to mail things, another tour of True-Value and went to Froggy’s Burgers for lunch. They were good, but not like the Voss’.

In order to be ready to go at 8 on Wednesday, we did a quick pump out. At the dock met a guy who is single-handing a canoe from Connecticut to Niagara, Ontario. Very interesting guy and he also agreed that the cleat of the lines to get on the wall is a must.

The Lil’ Diamond was last nights highpoint, along with Susan making a cheesy, sausage potato casserole. It was unusual to eat something that wasn’t fried. We topped it off with our last Voss’ sundae of the trip.

Before I leave Ilion, I did want to say that I’m impressed about the train traffic along the Hudson and Erie Canal. On the Hudson we saw passenger trains every 30 mins and freight a little more than that. Once we got on the Erie, freight is king with a train every 15 minutes. They are going both directions, are very long and have a variety of cars. Most times it’s the stacked containers, but many times it’s a train of just UPS trailers. (Wonder if that one has my parts!!)

All in all a good visit to Ilion! We’ll miss Cody at the dock and all the people at Voss’, but it’s time for new adventure!