Just keep paddling...

Whew, we've had some long days of paddling since getting on the canal, but it feels good to get as far as we have in such a short amount of time. Our arms don't exactly agree with us on that. It feels to me like every time I lift my arms even the smallest amount that someone is giving me a charlie horse on my deltoids.

A couple of nights ago at lock 30 in Macedon (aka Mastadon) we met a pair of cyclists, Jim and Joybell, who were doing a four day trip on their tandem recumbant bike. After offering us some Oreos, they proceeded to invite us to stay at their house near Baldwinsville when we were in the area. The mileage worked out perfectly, and tonight we're living it up with Jim, Joybell, their sons Justin and Josh, their dogs Sunny and Houdini, and their cat Santana. After an amazing dinner of salad and pasta, as well as hot showers, Jay and I are pretty beat and ready for some sleep. We figure we've gone about 170 miles or so in the past five days and sleeping indoors in a bed is going to be glorious indeed. Meeting awesome people is amazing and one of the best parts of this trip.

Today we had some issues with a strong headwind that slowed us down, but the biggest issue was inconsiderate boaters who buzzed past on their speedboats. In order to avoid being swamped by their wakes, we would have to turn Boldy so the bow was facing into the waves. Otherwise our boats would have been full of water after the third boat or so went past. There were a few people who slowed down enough so that their wakes weren't an issue, but I can count them on one hand. Hopefully once we get back into the weekdays we'll have fewer encounters with crazy boaters.

We've been seeing a lot of ospreys in this section of the canal. We see about five every hour and even saw a nest with adolescent chicks. Yesterday we saw a bald eagle as well. As Jay said to me today, we have seen a lot of birds on this trip.

Tomorrow Joybell is making us pancakes for breakfast, something I have been craving for quite a while now. We're sleeping until we wake up and then seeing where the day takes us. Depending on the weather we may try to get to Lake Oneida (Oh-nie-dah), but we may also stay here and rest a bit. We'll see what the day brings.

~ Shannon