As we approached Niagara Falls, NY, we saw a sign that said the border delay at Niagara Falls was forty minutes, but two bridges east there was no delay. Turns out the sign lied & we waited 45 minutes before crossing back into the USA. After setting up camp in Lockport, NY, we headed to a local restaurant in New Fame, NY. After dinner we drove into the small town of Olcott, NY, on the shores of Lake Ontario for a walkabout. We hadn’t planned it, but for the first time we touched all five Great Lakes on one RV trip.
Monday morning we headed into Lockport, NY, for sightseeing & to pick up our mail (our real reason for spending two days in Lockport). First stop was the Erie Canal Discovery Center, part of the National Park Service Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, where we bought combination discount tickets for their museum, & the Lockport Cave & Underground Boat Ride. According to Wikipedia:
“National Heritage Areas (or corridors)
are not National Park Service units nor any type of federally owned or managed
land. National Heritage Areas are administered by state governments or non-profit
organizations or other private corporations. The National Park Service provides
an advisory role and limited technical, planning and financial assistance."
"NHAs are created by Congress. Each area
has its own authorizing legislation and a set of unique resources and goals.
Areas are considered for designation, have specific elements. First, the
landscape must be a nationally unique natural, cultural, historic, or scenic
resource. Second, when the related sites are linked, they tell a unique story
about the U.S.”We then watched a fifteen minute video on the history of the creation & history of Erie Canal, w/primary focus on the unique five “step” locks built in what soon became Lockport. The video was unique in that the film narrator talks about the creation of the Canal, & then half way thru the video announces we will be bordering a “Erie Canal barge” for a short trip? The screen then rises & an opening in the wall is revealed into the next room! You are then asked to carefully board the barge. People watching the film go into the next room, the opening closes & the film continues; now being told from the perspective of the barge deck hand while you are standing on a barge deck.
Trivia – what is hoggie?
After the film we took a break for lunch at a local diner. After lunch we used our second ticket for a walking tour & boat ride of the five step locks, & the Lockport cave. On interesting thing we learned was that all the “water rights” in the canal were owned by the financers of the canal. One entrepreneur in Lockland bought the rights to the “excess” canal water. He then constructed a cave (ie tunnel) from the high point of the five locks. He then constructed his factory & powered it using this water to drive his machinery. He eventually made more money by selling his excess water to new factories downstream from his! The last part of the tour is a boat trip thru a section of the cave/tunnel. Then it was back to the center/museum to view the rest of their exhibits.
Trivia – the Federal Gov’t refused to finance the Erie Canal, how was it paid for?
http://www.nps.gov/erie/index.htm
Tuesday was a beautiful
drive on NY 104 to Fort Drum Army Base.
After setting up camp we made Commissary/BX run before calling it a
day. We had a small problem using our
GPS for navigation because most of the street names on base have changed to
reflect the recent conflict in Iraq. But
the Toad GPS still got us back to RV.
Wednesday, 24SEP,
was an even more beautiful drive on NY 3 to Lake Placid, NY. The fall colors were already out in northern
New York. While planning our drive Dan
noticed the RV GPS said it was 228 miles & four hours to get to Lake Placid
based on the shortest driving time? Dan
knew this was BS & reprogramed the GPS for shortest distance. Then the GPS said it was 124 miles & over
four hours to get there. With no trouble,
we made it in 2-1/2 hours by taking the shortest distance route!
Our purpose for
staying in Lake Placid was to visit Crew Coach Bill Stowe & wife Barb. Coach Stowe was a 1964 Olympic gold medalist in
the eight man shell (something not repeated by the USA until 2004), & first
crew coach at the US Coast Guard Academy starting in 1970. Dan was a team manager (aka boat driver) for
Coach Stowe for four years at the Academy.
At the time Dan didn’t know what a “mentor” was, & that he could
benefit from one; but looking back, Coach Stowe was the first of the few true
mentors Dan encountered in his CG career.
We won’t bore you
with sea stories about their four year association at the Academy (beside this
is a PG rated BLOG!). But if you want to
learn more about an unique American Olympic champion, who went from rowing on
the Mekong River in Saigon, to a gold medal in Tokyo; check out the Coach’s 2005
book “All Together – The Formidable Journey to the Gold”.
We spent hours on
their deck recollecting before heading out for a great dinner at Liquids &
Solids at the Handlebar. Their menu
& food was very unique & delicious – highly recommended! We all then drove around town & Lake
Placid. Even though it was night, we
could tell the town & area were beautiful & we must come back to visit
longer. After dinner we retired to the
RV to skype with grandson Mason on his one year birthday. Thursday morning Barb prepared us breakfast,
& we reminisced a few more hours before sadly hitting the road.
PS – one unique thing about the Coach & Barb’s house is that it extremely close to the USA Olympic Ski Jumps used during the 1980 Winter Olympics. The jumps are still used for training & competitions. In fact as you sit on their deck talking you will hear jumpers skiing down on “plastic snow”, & then silence as they launch into the air. If you hear screams & cursing, then things didn’t go well? With binoculars you can easily watch them.
PS – one unique thing about the Coach & Barb’s house is that it extremely close to the USA Olympic Ski Jumps used during the 1980 Winter Olympics. The jumps are still used for training & competitions. In fact as you sit on their deck talking you will hear jumpers skiing down on “plastic snow”, & then silence as they launch into the air. If you hear screams & cursing, then things didn’t go well? With binoculars you can easily watch them.
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