August 10 -- Ernie Canal, Herkimer, NY

    I went for a walk again around this large campground.  I've never seen such a large, mowed, grassy field, that goes on and on, following the Spruce Creek.   It was hot, overcast, and very buggy with mosquitos, so I didn't stop and hang out.  I came back to the RV and hung out inside, with the air conditioner.  Worked a bit on my new knitting sample, with a new pattern I am trying out for my next NICU baby blanket.  We had lunch, then headed out for our day's sightseeing.

   We went on a cruise on the Erie Canal.  It was a 90 minute cruise, that went from Herkimer, down to Lock 18.  We went through the lock, something I have never done.  The lock lowered the boat 20 feet in about 15 minutes.  We continued on for a little bit, then went back through the lock, being lifted back up the 20 feet.  This canal and lock system was built in the early 1900's and is still working today.  Although originally, the canal was intended to move cargo, across NY State, over to the Hudson River and down to NYC and the ocean.  But now, it is mostly recreational boating.  When the first canal opened, in the 1800's, the boats were pulled along the canal by mules.  The canal was entirely man-made.  The second canal was made in the late 1800's, and mostly enlarged the first canal.  This is the third canal, and uses electricity to open and close the massive lock gates.  We got a very interesting history of the canal, which Peter loved.  It allowed a massive exodus of folks to move out of New England and into more agreeable farm land in the mid-west.  Peter was a bit upset that the history narration mentioned that the land around the canal was mostly "uninhabited".  Somehow, the native Americans living in the area didn't seem to count.

   We chatted for awhile with a couple that also had an RV, and used to be full timers, but now only do vacation trips.  We had fun sharing RVing trips and travel experiences.    The route we took from our campground into Herkimer was the scenic route, and boy was it scenic.  It went up into the mountain ranges, and overlooked the valleys.  There were ridges with a stream of wind turbines along it. They looked SO IMPRESSIVE.  After the cruise, we came back to the RV for dinner and then blogging.

Erie canal cruise photos:

Entering the Lock

Being lowered 20 feet in the Lock

Leaving the Lock

Returning into the Lock, to be raised back up.

The scenic route to Herkimer photo:

Spruce Creek campground photos: