Lovely rural scenery

We are in Madison, WI at good friends Bill and Dee Relyea's home.  It is great to have time to catch up with them and hang out for a few days.
Here in the US we have had trouble finding internet and so I am way behind on my posts.  In Canada almost all of the parks had wifi somewhere.  Here in the US none of the parks we have camped in have had wifi nor did some of the state visitor centers have it.  We are back to hanging out in McDonald's again.
Vermont was beautiful.  The northern part of the state had some mountains, although they are green and not the rocky ones that we have, and beautiful rolling farmland. We enjoyed our time in Stowe/Waterbury and although it was busy it was the ski resort in the summer crowd. Lots of runners and mountain bike riders.  Although I must confess that I hiked not rode the trails there.  Straight up and too many roots for me although Bruce liked it. Before we got too far from the coast we stopped for one more seafood meal.

Not on the coast but someone brought them fresh seafood every day!

This is a meal for one person!  We shared this one scallops, fries, onion rings, coleslaw, roll and butter!

We stopped in Cambridge VT at a beautiful little winery Boyden Valley Winery.  They only sell in state and have a nice line of reds and dessert wines.  I wish we bought more than a few gifts.

We drove north through Smuggler's Notch on the narrowest paved road I have seen since Ireland and into upstate New York.  I remembered Lake Champlain 30+ years ago when there were few people.  Quite different now, very crowded roads and lots of t shirt shops from Lake Champlain all the way along the St Lawrence River.
We decided to forgo the crowds at Niagara Falls and turned the truck to the south.
In New York we discovered the Erie Canal pathway. The canal was built between 1817 and 1825 and opened up a passage from New York City following the Hudson River to the canal and on up to Great Lakes. For the first time freight could be carried from the Midwest to the coast as well as passengers.  This opened up huge areas of land for development.  The canal ways were bustling with freight, tourists even a floating library and a theater.  Today the pathways are quiet and rural.

The canal at the Newark port.

Newark visitor center with free showers and laundry.

Quiet water.

This drawbridge goes up in one piece rather than opening in the middle.  The boat is a rental for a trip down the canal.  They go  about 8 mph so it is a leisurely trip.

Boat dock in Brockport.

The road goes under the canal, creepy!

Towns along the canal are trying to encourage canal visitors by providing docks for the boats with bathroom, shower and laundry facilities.  They would like bikes to camp along the 100 miles of trail  and the facilities are available to them too. We read that there were some designated camping areas but didn't see any in the sections that rode. Beautiful weather to ride and lovely scenery.