RockChalk44: End of the Rideau--What next?

It has been two weeks since my last blog update. We finished the Rideau and spent one night in Kingston, Ontario. It happened to be during the annual Busker's festival. Shelley and I are from small towns in Kansas, but we never had the kind of street entertainers that the Busker's festival brings to Kingston. It really is pretty impressive. Throughout downtown Kingston, on every corner, for four days, street entertainers gather a crowd around them and they do their thing. Some are magicians, many use fire and acrobatics to attract a crowd, and they are all pretty funny. Max and Leo enjoyed the guy who lit a tennis racket (with no strings) on fire and then pushed his body through the racket. Ouch!!

The next day we crossed Lake Ontario on a beautiful, calm day. It was a nice trip. We cleared into US Customs via a phone call in Oswego, NY, and then tied up to the wall between Locks 7 and 8 on the Oswego Canal. We enjoyed a nice evening that gave us plenty of time to ride bikes around Oswego, and play football in the grass beside the lock wall. Everyone on the boat felt the end of this wonderful summer trip approaching, so we were all a bit sad. But Max and Leo were ready to get home, and Shelley and I were ready for a "boat break".

The next day we navigated up the remaining 7 locks of the Oswego, and one lock on the Erie Canal to Brewerton, NY. This is the home of Winter Harbor Marina. We spent a week here two years ago fixing our prop and shaft issues from negotiating the Erie Canal the first time. It is an excellent marina, and a good place to leave Rock Chalk for a month, while we fly back to Austin with the boys.

So this chapter of our journey with Rock Chalk ends. I look back on it as a magical time. We have enjoyed all of our adventures on the Great Loop two years ago, including the Trent Severn and Georgian Bay, the inland Rivers, the Keys, the Bahamas, and all the parts in between. But this trip with our two grandsons through the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, the Chamblis, and the Rideau was truly special. Memories for a lifetime were made. I don't think Max and Leo will truly appreciate this adventure for years, but I am confident that when they reflect on their Rock Chalk cruise, they will smile, maybe laugh, and deep down say, "That was awesome"!