An interesting view from the top of the pedestrian walkway by the River Link Park.  Early morning mist down the Erie Canal.  Looks like the Smoky Mountains!

Then we got this notice from the New York Canal via email:

(https://wwwapps.canals.ny.gov/news/notices/ntm.aspx?id=555)

“Notice to Mariners

Erie, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca Canals

June 18, 2015

Mariners are advised that, barring additional rainfall, conditions will likely permit the reopening of the Oswego Canal, and the Erie Canal between Lock E-23 (Brewerton) and the Oswego Canal Junction at Three Rivers, on Wednesday, June 24th.  At that time, navigation between the Hudson River and Lake Ontario would be restored.”

---

Really?  We just got here and now we wait again?!  Wonderful!

Local trivia:  The actor Kirk Douglas is a former resident of Amersterdam, NY.

The River Link Park in Amsterdam, NY is really a beautiful setting.   The river front.  Walkways.  Electricity and water for boaters.  Geese.  Flowers.  Really pretty nice.

THEN a train passes by. 

There are actually 2 types of trains.  The passenger trains when passing by toots a couple of short blasts on their horns and are just a few cars long.  No big deal.  The freight trains usually blasts for at least 15 seconds or more and are dozens of cars long.  The trains run day and night.  Commerce!!  We didn’t mind the trains too much knowing they were moving cargo from one place to another.  At one point, I did ask Wayne if it was the same train just going back and forth to torment us!  hahaha

This video is 3 minutes and 18 seconds of a train going by.  You really don’t need to watch it, but it is loud.  

Every now and again, while on the boat and a cargo train passes by, we can feel the train vibrations.  The train’s movement and energy transferred from the tracks to the surrounding land and to the river nearby.  Then we feel it sitting on our chairs in the enclosure.  Fascinating!!

There were sunny days during out wait.  There were cloudy days.  There was the Saturday Night Sweet 16 surprise party in the tent next to our boat.  It was fun to watch the “youngsters”.  Is that what 16 year olds look like now?  The best part is that we recognized most of the music!  There must have been plenty of family and friends that were much older than the young lady.  No Rap or Hard Rock.  I even saw Wayne tap his foot a couple of moments in time with the music.  A nice evening, after all.

We did venture into the downtown area of Amsterdam.  It needs help in getting businesses to reinvest in the downtown area.  We found the post office and the city library with no trouble.  Nice Post Office building.  Very prestigious.

Across the street from the library I saw these signs.  Church and Stud Farm.  Hahaha

The Sandford Stud Farm relates to a local Horse Racing Stud Farm that was very big in the area since the 1870’s.  Winning horses.  The Sandford Stud Farm Friends Organization are trying to restore some of the remaining farm buildings to it’s former splendor.

It is interesting that local folks know how to get to the River Link Park.  They must consider the trek normal and don’t think anything at all strange about it.  We found the route a bit unusual.  You have to park your car in the River Link Mall parking lot.  Walk around some old buildings, up a ramp, through this chain link fence, across the pedestrian bridge, and down the elevator ( or stairs).  The pedestrian bridge is the walkway over the railroad track.  Probably explains why we didn’t see too many people come visit daily.

 

On a sunny day, wild flowers around the park just dazzled.

So did the large rock nearby.  This is a reproduction of Indian art found nearby in the 1700’s.  An old watercolor painting in one of the town’s archives gave the artist the framework for this sculpture.

 

Not to ignore the neighbors.  Several families of geese came by to sample the eatables in the grass and along the water’s edge.  One family had 5 little ones.  They are so cute!  Just remember…to watch where you step after their visit.

 

Several mornings looked like this:

Evenings looked like this:

A beautiful place to wait for the waters to recede up the Erie Canal.  Gorgeous views.