Thursday, August 26, 2010

To Pittsford

Towns along the canal have bridges which can be raised to let boats go through. Each bridge has the name of the town posted in the center and three flags flying. This is the Middleport bridge:

The Culvert Road is the only road that goes UNDER the Erie Canal. The road lies in a little valley and it was cheaper to build a tunnel underneath.

Much of the Erie Canal reminds us of the Sacramento Delta.

Lock #33 in Pittsford. Two boats wanted to pass through. The lockmaster first drained the water out through pipes.

Then opened the gate so the boats could pass through. The gate was closed and water began filling the basin.


It took about 20 minutes to fill. Meanwhile,, the boats are tethered to cables with fenders carefully placed so the boat doesn't scrape the concrete sides of the lock. The gates open and

out the boats motor out.

Tonight we are staying with Warmshowers hosts, Dave and his mother Jean. They took us to an amazing grocery store, Wegmans. Most impressive was a huge array of choices for dinner all freshly prepared for you on the spot. After paying, you can go upstairs to the dining room to enjoy your meal. Dick was so impressed, "I LOVE a good grocery store!"

This creek, behind Dave and Jean's house flows UNDER the Erie Canal. When the canal was built, they created a one-mile long embankment across this little valley, but left a space for the creek to continue flowing.

Miles completed = 3784

2 comments:

  1. Hello Dick and Arlete,
    we enjoy following your progress and reading your blog so much ! We just got back from our little trip to the iron range of Minnesota where we learned about taconite, attack geese, cold water in mine pits, giant tires, ghost towns and Bob Dylan's boyhood home. Here's a link: http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5210034014/a=133675916_133675916/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

    Jan and Jen
    Bowlus,MN

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  2. Hi Arlete, it was great to meet you west of Old Forge yesterday! I'm sorry to say I could not find your husband, but I did have lunch at the Pumpkin Patch. Speaking of which, I hope your tube patching went well.

    Enjoy the rest of your trip!

    Henry

    http://hpscott.wordpress.com

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