Along the Erie Canal

The sun was bright and the forecast was for temps in the hi 80's when we fired up the Model A's in the morning.  Our stay in Syracuse was brief, but we had to make a driving decision right away.  Did we want to visit the canal Museum in Syracuse or go directly to Lockport and visit the canal exhibits there?    We decided on Lockport.  On our trip to Vancouver Nan & I traveled on RT 31 and decided to do the same route again.  This turned out to be a good choice as this road was very Model A friendly,  with few hills and traffic.  And, the road followed along side of the Erie Canal.  It seemed each little town we went through had some kind of exhibit/museum/park related to the canal. 

We cruised along between 45-50 MPH much of the way.  This was inspite of the rising temperatures and the brisk cross winds we were getting.  On those occasions when we slowed down, i.e. for a town, I could hear what seemed to be the speedometer cable making a little noise.  I have a spare cable, so if it breaks I can repair it.  The other noise I heard when we stopped for a rest break was the water pump.  I think my greaseless, leakless water pump might be starting to break down.  I 'm pretty sure it's the front bearing that is going, but at this time the noise is intermittent and bearly noticeable.  I do have another WP, actually, I think I have two spares with me.

 
We arrived in Lockport and checked into the same hotel we stayed in on our trip to Vancouver.  We also had plenty of time to have a little "refreshments" before taking a tour of the Canal and Caves at Locks 34&35.  This was a walking tour and boat ride in a cave that supplied water for factories along this part of the canal.  (Jordan, I don't think you would  have liked this).  The cave was cool (literally & figuratively) and we got a good idea how all the water from he canal was delivered to the factories.  Water was dripping on us from the ceiling, which legend say you were  "being kissed by the cave".  The boat ride was interesting, in fact we asked how they got the boat in the cave, the answer was the wood came in and the boat was built inside.  The locks are still being used daily, in fact a canal boat went through the locks while we were there.  FYI, the lift of the locks is 50 feet.

Back in the Model A's, we were headed to get something to eat when we saw a lot of classic cars parked on a little park.  We made a quick detour and parked.  Turns out it was the regular Monday Night cruise in.   We enjoyed talking to some of the guys and they were of course interested in our trip.  It was a good stop as we got a recommendation on a good pizza place just down the street, which, was good.



We got back to the hotel just before it started to rain, albeit, lightly.