A quiet 4th

It's hard to believe that the 4th of July has come and gone.  This was the first one in 14 years that we have spent by ourselves.  But that was okay.  First let me tell you about Friday.  We arrived back in Spencerport around noon or so.  There was another boat docked and that was it.  No need to worry about getting a place on the 4th. We were happy to have a place and had some chores we wanted to complete.  Laundry being one of them.  So we packed up all the clothes and such and walked to the laundromat.  It was located in the shopping center right behind where our boat was docked at.  Very convenient.  Upon arriving back to the boat we met the lady from the other boat (Journey)  that was sharing the dock with us. She was out walking their dog Lucy and boy we were attracted to that little cutie right away.  She looked just like our Buddy.

Could have been Buddy's sister

After talking with this lady we found out that her name was Doris and her husband was Wayne, they were from Tennessee and on their way touring the Great Lakes.  Did you ever have one of those feelings when you meet someone that you have seen them before?  Well I had this with Doris.  

Later in the afternoon Mike was sitting outside and I had noticed that Doris and Wayne had joined him.  So I quickly went out and joined the "party".  What wonderful folks these two were.  Came to find out they had done the Great Loop several years ago and they were a fountain of knowledge.  So needless to say Mike and I had lots of questions.  As we continued the conversation I kept having that feeling I knew Doris so I asked her what their last name was.  Well when she told me it hit me, they are one of the couples whose blog I follow.  What a blast that was.  We spent the next couple of hours chatting, touring each others boats and enjoying some snacks.  We gave them some information on Lake Erie since they were on their way to visit that area and they in turn gave us pointers on accomplishing the Great Loop. 

Such a wonderful time spent with fellow cruisers.

Okay now let's talk about a change we have made to our plans.  Our original plan was to cruise across the canal this summer then head our way down the inter coastal in the fall, end up in Florida in December then next year do the Loop proper.  Well we have now decided instead of going all the way east we will continue up the Oswego canal into Lake Ontario and then up to Canada, around Michigan and so on.  In other words we are going to do the Great Loop properly starting NOW!  We still hope to make it to the Florida Keyes by December.  So with that said Mike was off to make new plans and figure out what charts we still needed.  Thank God we have all passports and pretty much everything we need for our cruising into Canada.  All I need to do is contact Verizon and the bank to let them know our plans.  

The Captain hard at work making changes to our plans.

The next morning Doris and Wayne were on their way west on the canal.  We wished them safe travels and helped them on get on their way.  Also snapped a few photos of them as they were leaving and Doris took some of us.  We hope to meet up with them again sometime down south.  But will absolutely keep in touch via the internet.

Doris preparing for departure.

The Journey with crew, Wayne, Doris and little Lucy on their way west.

A view of the Lady J from Journey's fly bridge.

By this time it was Saturday morning, the 4th of July and we were the only ones on the dock.  Their was a Dad and his kids fishing.  Which was great to see, specially when the younger daughter caught a huge carp.  I think the thing weighed more than she did.  

The Dad was hanging over the dock helping pull up the fish.

Wow that was a big one for that little girl to catch.  The smile on her face was priceless.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet.  Mike spent some time working on a "boat bite" that we acquired going through the last lock along with a little boat cleaning while I worked on cleaning up the inside of the boat and baked some brownies.  We skyped with our family during the annual 4th of July get together.  Boy we missed not being there.  Then went for a long bike ride down the canal.  We laughed at the fact that we were riding faster than our boat cruises.  It's all about the Journey.  We ended the evening with a little cookout of brats and hotdogs and then went for a stroll to get some ice cream.  It was a laid back 4th.  Sunday we are looking forward to some visitors.

Mike working on a boat bite.

Happy 4th of July!