July 1-July 5th Whitehall to Port Henry, NY to Colchester, VT

July 1  It rained much of the day and we were boat bound.  During a period of no rain, we toured the Historic Museum.

Just like my grandmothers

Our intention had been to walk 1/2 mile to church, but it rained too hard.

July 2nd:  Sunday  We realized yesterday that river level was rising rapidly.  It had actually risen 3 feet which reduced the bridge (before lock 12) to 14 feet--too low for us to get under it. This morning, due to high water and lots of debris including whole trees, all of the Champlain locks were closed.

We joined Pat and Dirk (Wandering Star) for breakfast at Historic Grounds

and then we walked to church and Stewart's for ice cream afterwards.

Most of the day was spent in anticipation of the lock opening on Monday, July 3rd.  For dinner, we joined Taffy, Paul, their friends Valerie and Ron, and Pat and Dirk for dinner at Sasquatch.

July 3rd The lock is still closed.  We went back to Historic Grounds for breakfast and Pat and Dirk joined us.  Pat and I discussed music and realized that we both played instruments.  We had a jam session which combined my dulcimer and her ukulele. It went really well.

We celebrated tomorrow's opening of the lock with docktails.  Pat, Dirk, Ron and I shared dinner on the picnic table.

Whitehall was a wonderful stop, even though it was longer than expected.  The wall was free, it had free power pedestals, it was within walking distance to laundry, haircuts, restaurants, museums and church.  There were public restrooms with nice showers just past the museum.

July 4th:  0700 the lock opened and we lwere ready to go. Paul and crew followed us into the lock.

Leaving the lock 

 They were headed for Burlington, but we had a much shoter day.....Port Henry, NY to Van Slooten's Harbor Marina.  It was a beautiful day and there was little debris once out of the lock.

 Van Slooten's is a mom and pop marina with nice grounds, friendly people, good showers, cheap laundry.

 Since there were no fireworks, we watched the Macy's NYC fireworks extravaganza on TV.

July 5th  0700  We departed for our 5.5 hour ride to Champlain Marina, Colchester, VT.  This was my favorite boating day so far.

 Flat water with scenic mountains in the background. We were in port by 1300.  Paul, Ron, Taffy and Val stopped by and invited us to dinner at a Burlington restaurant.  We followed that delicious meal with a walk to a nearby Ben and Jerrys.

Thanks to our new friends for a great evening!