Clouds, A Sting and Men in Kilts!

Tuesday in Middleport.  The day for me started out a little "off".  I am normally the one that is up and moving around by 4:30 a.m.  This morning though after being up between 1:30 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. I could not sleep to save me.  So at 4:00 a.m I went back to sleep and didn't awaken until 7:00 a.m.  For most that is a normal time, for me that was late and I don't know about you but when my sleep schedule is off it makes for a "jumbled" morning.  Luckily Mike stepped in and helped me navigate through the so called fog of getting up late.  Ok enough about that.

Despite my sleeping in we still pulled away from the dock shortly after 8:00 a.m.  It was an overcast morning and we were headed back to Brockport and yes you guessed it to see the Skoogs one last time before we head back to Ohio.  Our plans are to take them on a bit of a boat ride.  

This was the first morning that the skies were rather gray and overcast.  It didn't diminish the beauty of the canal just simply gave us a different perspective of it.  

So with coffee in hand, for both of us we started our 4+ hour cruise over to Brockport from Middleport.  The morning was picking up already and not just from the caffeine.

Cruising was easy this morning.  With the overcast skies this meant that we weren't staring into the rising sun, as we were heading east on the canal.  

I always love discovering all the fun things you find along the canal.  Check out this little guy below.  A beautiful wood carving fishing from the dock.

The stretch of canal from Middleport to Brockport has many farms along the way that seem to stretch out forever.  Once again another perspective, different from the towns and trees so often seen.

I just loved this little white house with the blue shutters.  

This young lady below was I believe practicing some yoga along the canal. Or simply stretching before a run.

The weeping willows are prevalent along the canal.

This little one decided it was best not to hang out as we came across its path.

During a more desolate part of the canal Mike decided to rev up the engines a little and blow out the dust so to speak.  We were still under the 10mph limit on the canal, but it did cause a little wake.  We normally cruise about 6-7 knots.

The clouds were in and out all morning, but still gave us a spectacular show along the way.

Once again we crossed the aqueduct.

We passed through Albion.  LOVE this mural.

As usual you always see some fun things along the way.  Check out the second story of this orange house.  

The clouds did not disappoint.

Okay the photo below needs a little explaining.  Early in the morning we came across 4 guys with bikes sitting by the side of the canal resting.  The gave us a friendly hello as we did in return.  I had noticed that they were not wearing shirts.  This didn't seem strange as it was warm this morning and I figured they were just hot.  Well later on in the morning they passed us by.  Yes we were passed by cyclist.  But what I am not sure you can see by the photo below is these guys were all wearing "kilts".  Mike and I smiled, gave a little chuckle and gave them a cheerful "YOU GO GUYS".  I am sure there is a story behind this but all that was important is they looked like they were having a great time.  

So we arrived in Brockport a little after 1:00 p.m.  We were the only ones there at the time.  So after getting the boat settled and Miss Millie out for her after the boat ride walk we headed for the showers and had planned to take it easy the rest of the afternoon.  After our showers we headed up to the fly bridge to just enjoy the afternoon and watch the people and boats go by.  Well...as we were sitting there I felt something in my still slightly wet hair, I went to brush it away and WHAM! it felt like a hot needle was driven into my head.  I "kinda" screamed and Mike said there's a wasp that just flew from behind your head.  Yes I had just gotten stung by a wasp in my head no less.  Well after a few expletives that I won't repeat here I went below grabbed some ice in a bag and returned back to the fly bridge.  Ok I can honestly say I don't ever want to experience that again!

Millie loves hanging out on the fly bridge as she can see everything and everyone that goes by.  Later I fixed us dinner.  I roasted some cauliflower, made some Mac n cheese from some things I had left on board and cooked up some chicken I had marinating.  Yes I am back to food pictures.  After dinner we headed over to get some ice cream downtown and sat outside to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the folks in town.

By this time there were two hire boats that had docked on either side of us and we spent the evening once again on the fly bridge enjoying the cool evening and Miss Millie well she kept a look out.