See her as she flies

4:30, Sunday morning, 3 June
enroute to Manitowoc WI

I have to laugh at myself.  For several nights this week I have come awake enough to acknowledge that our bedroom was bathed in a soft light cast by the setting moon.  It never crossed my mind to get up and go outside, much less to find the camera as I went. 

Last month's experience was markedly different.  For June's full moon it didn't occur to me not to go out for a better look.  Aboard the Grande Mariner sailing Lake Michigan I couldn't get out on deck fast enough.

Lake Michigan versus Country Club Pond.  Being away versus being at home.  The novelty of places I've not been before versus a certain nonchalance, even a dreariness, for the familiar. 

No laughing matter really.  I think like myself more when I'm away from home.  In fact, I know I do.  I feel more interesting and interested, and maybe I am.  An experiment seems in order.  To look at my everyday surroundings with the same energy I do the places we explore in our travelers.  Something just might come of the effort of seeing home through a traveler's eyes.   

2:30, Monday morning, 4 June
approaching Chicago

  

Amsterdam morning

I had the lounge and deck to myself for a luxurious length of time this morning -- after a memorable night.  Our cabin is on the starboard side of the upper deck, which allows us a window that opens.  The fresh air is welcome, but it came with something of a price here in Amsterdam.  A steady procession of trains.  They didn't keep me awake.  Rather, they were a part of my sleeping.  "Ah, a train," I'd think and drift off again.  I shall always remember Amsterdam -- and that double set of tracks -- with fondness.

This is the sight that awaited me when I stepped out on deck.  I am a little puzzled at the apparent sunrise since I was facing WNW.  But, it was an expansive scene nonetheless.  And, the light in the trees on the right side of the image?  Yes, a train approacheth!

And, while I'm thinking about our starboard side cabin here's a view of it.  The bathroom is at my left shoulder and the dresser to my right.  It's small but efficient, with absolutely no extra steps required.  That said, it's interesting when we both stand up at the same time!  Someone rising early getting out in the morning is almost a necessity.

The morning's travel was leisurely, but steady, taking us through Locks E12 (Tribes Hill) and 13 (Randall) before lunch.  Along the way Sam pointed out to us on our port side a good section of an original aqueduct which canal traffic used when crossing Schoharie Creek.  And, we made our way through a section of the Mohawk River valley known as the "noses," a break in the Adirondack Mountain chain that is judged to have been as important to the opening of this country to the west as was the Cumberland Gap.  The New York Thruway, the original canal, the Mohawk River and the railroad all squeeze through the same space.  A cruise ship sailing through the middle of New York state gets considerable attention from motorists on the interstate!



Looking west on the Mohawk River at the Noses.



A turn in mid-stream

After a third exceptional supper we docked last evening on Rondout Creek for a one day, two night stay to visit the Kingston area. Our historian, Sam Ladley, has been talking since the tour began about the North American westward migration and the development of crucial water routes to the west.

The earliest settlements were established at portages, Kingston being one such town – the second oldest in New York state, only Albany being older. The village of Rondout and the city of Kingston are nearly a mile apart, the distance involving an elevation change of about 400 feet, Kingston on an easy-to-defend promontory. Once one town, Kingston has grown into a modern city, since eventually the road went there. Rondout has remained much like it was a century ago, a quaint, run-down, charming district.

Rondout Creek
Our boat will end up between the large
vessel to the left of the bridge support
and the small white boat to the right
of that support.

Now, a word about our actual arrival. We were in the dining room when out vessel made a turn to port into Rondout Creek, there the person at the helm fashioned a U-turn before reaching the bridge, the array on our stern too tall to pass under. The 185-foot Grande Mariner turning in a creek not much more than 200-feet wide proved to be a tense move, one made with many people aboard and ashore watching. Reminded me of my refusal to learn to back Tal’s fishing boat and trailer with an audience at a launch site one afternoon! The current (the Hudson to the dam at Troy is tidal) was strong making the stern obstinate to come about, but the maneuver was a success.

I have to say I do feel oddly privileged, even conspicuous when the Grande Mariner draws a crowd. We are so lucky to be doing this. How often I’ve seen people doing things I’ve dreamt of, watched and wondered what it must be like. Now I know …

We spent this morning in Kingston. 
The Old Dutch Church has been part
of the town's fabric for 350 years, its
churchyard a roll call of the influential.
Some of the very old markers have had
added to them a protective edge
to slow the deterioration of the stone.

During the afternoon we were bused to the
Delaware & Hudson Canal Museum in High Falls.
This is a detail of one of the five locks built
in 1847 showing the tight, skilled masonry work.