Friday, August 25, 2023 - We prepped the RV for travel in a slight shower and we did not leave until around 11:00 am since we only had a two and a half hour drive. All went well until we worked to back in to the parking slot. Not a lot of room and it forced me to make several attempts. At least it was not raining.

Backing into the parking slot was a kind of a disaster. It had rained, so the ground was very soft and I had very little room to move around with the rig. If I did not get it in the first time, it was super hard to move the rig from side to side with no room in front or in back to maneuver. It took a while and I had lots of help from other campers, but I finally made it into a descent parking spot. Whew!

Saturday, August, 26,20232 - Today, we woke to a very nice day. There had been a forecast of showers, but they did not materialize, so we decided to head south to near Syracuse, New York to ride bikes on the "old Erie Canal Towpath." The Erie Canal was built way back in 1825 and was used to move goods across the state of New York until the trains took over in the 1840s. Today, the path alongside the Erie Canal that was used to work mule and oxen teams to pull the barges has been converted into a bike and multiuse path. The entire path is 370 miles long and does have a couple of sections that are interrupted by short lengths of roads. Overall though, you can ride the entire distance on your bike. We decided to ride a little more than half of a 36 mile section between Dewitt, New York and Rome, New York. We rode 21 miles out to the small town of Wampsville, where we turned around to head back to the truck. We ended up with 42.3 miles for the day. We did take a small detour into the town of Canastota to a little pastry and candy shop called "Zems." They had great coffee and cinnamon rolls. We bought on to eat and one to treat when we got back to the RV. We also took a detour into the Green Lake state park which is a great place for families to picnic, swim in the crystal clear lake, and to Sun bathe. The lake is so clear that I would like to have done some scuba diving there if we had our gear. The Erie Canal is part smooth paved surface, but mostly hard-packed, decomposed granite-like composition. It was super easy to ride on this trail and our bikes performed perfectly. We plan to take the drive back to were we turned around (there is a trailhead there) and then ride the rest of this 36 mile section of trail before we leave this area. After the end of the ride, we drove back to the RV to work on the blog.

Sunday, August 27, 2023 - Today, we decided to head over to a place called Mexico Point State Park and check out a place to launch the kayaks. There is a boat launch there and a state park on the opposite side of the river. In the fall, the salmon run up this river and, apparently, it is wall-to-wall fishermen on the banks of the river. There are also lots of large motor boats at the marina that go out into Lake Ontario to fish. We decided that we could kayak this river moving upstream and then returning downstream to the park. Unfortunately, where we are parked at Streamside RV Campground, we have a building behind us and another RV, so we cannot open the rear of the rig to access the kayaks. We will plan on doing things here that do not include kayaking unless we want to rent them. When we get to Fort Drum at Watertown, we could come back to this location to kayak.

After leaving the state park, we drove through the town of Mexico to check it out. It is a very nice little town with a cute, historic downtown. We then drove over to the larger town of Oswego, New York. Oswego is a college town and houses the State University of New York, Oswego there. We decided to go for a walk around the campus and along the shores of Lake Ontario. We found a nice little ice cream shop called "Bev's" so we shared an ice cream there. We then walked around the campus and watched a large number of students with their families moving into the dormitories. We then had lunch (Subway) and then washed the truck at a local self-serve carwash. We then went to Lowes to buy some items that we needed for the RV. Then it was off to the local Walmart for a few food items. After Walmart, it was off to the RV. Once we arrived at the RV, I felt kind of energetic, so I decided to wash the rig. Lisa and I washed the front cap, the left side, and the rear of the rig. We decided to the wash the right side tomorrow, but I did manage to wash the tires and rims. Felt good to have it so clean. The paint on this rig is fantastic. When we get back to the manufacturer in Red Bay, Alabama, I plan to specifically go to the paint department and thank them for doing such a great job.

Monday, August 8, 2023 - I started the day by getting out to finish washing the right side of the RV. Yesterday, Lisa and I had washed the front, back, and left side of the rig. It was getting late, so we decided to wait until today to finish the job. We have found that we can was the entire rig in about two and a half hours, which is not too bad at all. The system that we use (Mary Moppins) uses three extension poles, lambs wool rags, squeegee, and cotton towels to wipe down. We use a five-gallon bucket with a quarter cup of Johnson's Baby Shampoo and a half cup of white vinegar. The baby shampoo is easy on the paint and the vinegar eliminates water spots. It is always a great feeling when the RV is clean and it looks so nice. We get lots of compliments on the paint job and the color.

After cleaning the RV, we drove towards Watertown to the small town of Adams and Wally's Ford to have the tailgate of the truck fixed. It won't stay up by itself and I have had to use straps for the last five days to make sure that it does not come down by itself. I think that we got really lucky with the tailgate in that when we arrived in Watkins Glen, we noticed that the tailgate was down, but we did not have any damage to the front of the RV. I think that the distance back from the hitch to the front of the trailer is longer than normal with the long bed and we did not have the trailer hit the side of the tailgate on sharp turns. Usually, when this happens, the tailgate will gouge out big holes in the front of the generator door. We got lucky. The service coordinator just informed me that the fix is a simple one with the parts that are already there, so we should get out of here for about $40. That is one of the lowest charges we have had at a Ford dealer.

Drove to Fort Drum to explore.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023 - stayed local did chores

Wednesday, August 30, 2023 - rode the second half of the Erie Canal trail to Rome ny and fourght the rain. Wampsville to rome. No rain luckily.

Thursday, August 31, 2023 - erie musesum sysracuse NY walked town

Friday, September 1, 2023 - Salmon falls hatchery salmon falls ride mikes at Onandaga Lake Park, Syracuse, NY

Saturday, September 2, 2023 - Prep to depart for Fort Drum.