It seems strange to wake up in the morning and not feel the gentle sway of water underneath. Sun streams through the windows above my bed and around me is space…blessed space.
We’re home, but the time is short.
Mail, most of it junk, has been reviewed. Doctors have been visited and prescriptions filled. Visiting has commenced. A history book I co-authored will be launched on the Fourth of July and I’ll be sitting in a booth in the Plaza with the books, hoping I don’t forget a name when someone greets me.
In a little over a week I’ll be back on the boat, planning menus, checking weather, and viewing charts. The New York Canal System was closed when we left…flooding had made the waterways temporarily unsafe. But it should be open now and boats we’ve seen along the way should be ahead of us now.
As I reflect back on our trip to date, I’m awed by what we’ve seen. The country was settled via water and it isn’t hard to imagine the ships used by early explorers skimming the waters off shore or in the rivers we’ve traversed. We’ve passed forts built to protect harbors for the Revolutionary War; we crossed over the site of the clash between the Merrimac and the Monitor, the first ironclads; and we cruised up rivers and canals that were the main source of commerce as the country developed. Sometimes a lone smokestack tells us a mill or plant once stood there.
Most of the travelogue portion of my posts are brief and are located on my Facebook page, including pictures. While the country is no longer a wilderness, it is still easy to imagine what it looked like a hundred, even two hundred, years ago.
Friends say this is an adventure of a lifetime. Despite my personal trepidations, I have to agree.
And there’s a whole second half to come.
Tell Capt. Mark I admire his lust for adventure! As I remember you, you make damn good crew .. so good luck on your 2nd half .. enjoy all your posts!!!