Dream Chaser's Canadian Segment of the Great Loop

 Dream Chaser's Canadian Segment of the Great Loop  

May-July,  2015

The time has come to resume our Great Loop adventure!  Dream Chaser will be cruising from Ess-Kay Marina in Brewerton, (north of Syracuse, NY) and head through Canada.  You can follow much of our route on the map above.  We will cross Oneida Lake which is north of Syracuse and then cruise east towards Albany.  At that point, we will turn north crossing Lake Champlain, and enter into Canada.  Our tentative plan is to visit Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, The Rideau Canal, Kingston, Toronto, the Trent-Severn  Waterway,  Peterborough, Georgian Bay, and finally to Detour, Michigan.

While Dream Chaser was in winter storage, we continued our travels by car and plane.  Our travels to Europe last December for the Christmas Markets have been posted on dreamchase2@blogspot.com, our new (non-Great Loop) travel blog.  Future posts of our completed travels will be:  Cuba, Paris in April, and Australia/New Zealand.
(or search:  Our New Travel Blog:  Introducing Dreamchase2@blogspot.com)

Sunday, May 17, 2015
After a nice dinner with the family, we took a 9:50 pm flight from MSP to Syracuse, NY.  Due to the late hour, we stayed overnight in Syracuse.  When we were in Buffalo in April, we checked on Dream Chaser while she was still in storage.  Now, she will be at the dock and ready to cruise.  The excitement is building!  Dream Chaser has become part of our lives, and this will be the final leg of the Great Loop.

Monday, May 18, 2015

As we pull into the marina, we were both searching up and down the docks.  There she is! Dream Chaser was waiting at her slip at the dock.  She looks beautiful!
We checked her out as if she were a new baby-to see if all was well.  She's was in great shape, but needed a bit of cleaning after the long winter.  We spent the day doing basic boat cleaning, maintenance of zincs & stuff, and provisioning for our trip.  After three trips into Wegman's (a fabulous grocery store) and one trip to Costco, we are ready!
Seeing that our time in the Syracuse area is ending, we headed to Chorong House in Syracuse for a special dinner.  Last year, we found this wonderful Korean Restaurant and have visited whenever we  get a chance.  We ordered our favorite- Bok-um Bob which is fried rice with a fried egg, beef, shrimp, lettuce, carrot, bean sprouts, and spices served in a hot bowl.  Your meal stays hot up to the last bite!  Delish!

It is hard to believe that we have only ten weeks left of our journey on the Great Loop. We are determined to enjoy every minute.

We heard the rain pattering on the bow of the boat and felt the gentle movement from waves in the river as we drifted off to sleep.  It's wonderful to be back on board!  Mary is feeling anxious about preparations and departing tomorrow (which is normal for her before an event), but soon those worries vanish, and she is lulled to sleep.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015
After an amazing night's sleep, we are rested and eager to be on our way.  We returned the rental car, made another trip to Wegman's (how much food is needed for two people?), and are doing final prepping.  It is a gorgeous sunny day, and the 17 mph winds have blown the clouds away.
Captain Steve wanted to make sure all is a "go", so yelled "all hands on deck"!  So, Mary freed the lines, and Dream Chaser was free to cruise the river a bit.  Everything checked out!
Mary has decided that she wants to captain Dream Chaser during part of this last leg of the trip, and Steve can be "all hands" on deck.

Steve is having second thoughts about giving up his position as captain!  Notice, his latest purchase for the boat was this rescue ring!

Late afternoon has arrived, and the "To Do" list is not quite completed, so Dream Chaser's departure has been delay until tomorrow morning. Wednesday... Oneida Lake and the Eastern Erie Canal!