July 1 – Sunday
7:30 AM and we were away from the wall and bound for Amsterdam, NY and another tie up at lock 11 wall. It was another pretty but uneventful transit and it seemed like the fisherman stayed in bed a bit later on Sundays. The 3 locks we encountered were all ready and waiting for us with open gates and we zipped right through. It was a very short day as planned and we arrived above lock 11 at 10:15. We chose the destination because Skipper Bob’s book mentioned some interesting sites within walking distance but they were not available on Sundays. The alternative activity was to drink a beer (after 11AM) and take a nap, which is always available on Sundays – so I (RCB) did. I was way deep in slumber when the train came through on the track located 75 yards from the boat and blew the horn. I think the head liner above the bunk still has indents from my head and hands. This is a serious rail corridor and trains, long trains (Polly has counted 150 – 180 cars), go by often. The train’s wake-up call was for the best since soon after the cell phone rang and it was Gayle Wix. She and John, aboard “Safe Return” had planned to cruise with us from the Monk rendezvous in Portsmouth, VA but a boat problem caused them to delay nearly a week. We had been hearing from them as they progressed behind us and expected they would catch up in another couple days but when Gayle called they were only about an hour and one lock away. They arrived at our wall at 4:30 so the 6 of us dined aboard FLIGHT on Polly’s meatloaf (there goes another train) and mashed potatoes with Kathy’s green salad on the side. We toasted “Safe Return’s” arrival and made plans for stopping near Herkimer for the July 4th holiday.