Learning to slow down is difficult for us; we have both always been ambitious and industrious. Even our vacations have always been ones where we were constantly on the go. We have never spent a whole vacation at a resort, or, I don’t believe, even in one state. Here we are, with time to be wherever we want, and time to relax if we want, but we still both feel the need to be doing something or going somewhere. John always has a list of work projects to be attended to, and I tend to want to move on even if there is time to stay put. But slow down we must. In this new life of ours, it is impossible to take a walk without meeting someone new who is either interested in what we are doing, or is doing the same thing. Helping or being helped to tie up at a dock starts long and relaxed conversations with other boaters or people on shore. The dogs are icebreakers, although there really is no ice to break. Everyone wants to pet them and give them treats. A walk through the park with a dog on a leash turns into little walking and much petting and talking. These last few days have been productive, but at a slower pace. We are learning.

High Spirits floating in air.

The ripples from our wakes.

All I could think was that this water was as smooth as silk.

Sunday morning we left Oswego along with another couple we met, Bill and Barbara, in their boat, High Spirits and went through the last lock before we crossed Lake Ontario. As always when we cross a large body of water, I wondered if it would be rough and if I would feel any seasickness. That worry was completely unnecessary. The lake was like glass and the only movement that showed on it at all was silk-like and developed from our wake and that of our new friends. It was a surreal experience as it was difficult to see a horizon. The sky and the lake blended into one seamless backdrop and pictures of High Spirits seemed to show her floating in air with just a wake behind her.

About half way across the lake we entered Canadian waters. I pulled in my non-productive fishing-pole as my New York license was no longer acceptable. I’m sure those salmon I wanted to catch breathed a sigh of relief that I had to take a break from luring them.

Views from our anchorage including sunrise this morning.

We anchored in Prinyer’s Cove along with Bill and Barbara and we stayed there until this morning. John had mentioned to Bill that he wasn’t comfortable with the dinghy crane and the difficulties were preventing us from using it. In true cruising camaraderie spirit, Bill showed up in his dinghy with work clothes and a grease gun in hand and the two men got to work. After a couple of hours the dinghy was in the water we were in business. Now lifting it on and off the boat is a quick and easy process and we are so happy to have its use at our fingertips.

I finally tried the washer/dryer. It’s funny to load the clothes and know that they will be clean and dry when they come out of just one machine. It actually worked great, but I think I had the times set too long and the complete cycle took a few hours. The problem with that was that we had to run the generator the whole time the machine was running, so we have decided to only do laundry when we are plugged into electricity at a marina from this point on.

Their first dinghy ride.

With the dinghy now easily accessible, we took the dogs for their first ride yesterday. They seemed to love being on the little boat and we were pleased with how well it worked and ran with the four of us in it.

Peaceful homes and farms lined the banks on our trip today.

This morning we left the cove, motored for six hours and arrived at Trenton, Ontario. We are right at the entrance of the Trent-Severn Waterway, which will be one of the highlights of our trip. From here on, we will go slowly and take the time we need to see the sights and take in the beauty.

One very exciting development has happened. Kelly, Craig and the grandchildren have firmed up a date to join us. They will be driving from Florida and will be with us from July 20^th to the 27^th. This means we will get the fun of having them all on the boat for a week and will even have Kelly here for her birthday. We are so excited to know they are coming!!!

We are at Fraser Park Marina today in Trenton and, obviously, have wifi.  By the way, data is very expensive with Verizon while we are here, so we are only posting on days when we have Internet connections available through marinas.  We will try to keep this blog updated as often as possible though, because we enjoy it as much as many of you do!

Here is where we are today.  Once again, one is an overview and one is detailed.