July 13, 2011 Kingston

I usually do the blog post first thing in the morning. Generally it is done before Kerry is up. Doing the blog has worked out well as it keeps me busy early in the morning. I have started doing it in the cockpit as it is such a pretty time of the day to be outside.

Laundry was the first order of the day. We carried 3 bags full to the marina office and to our great pleasure we found two of the three washers open – yea! I went back to the boat and Gretchen and I spent the entire time Kerry was doing laundry trying to nail down reservations at Alexandria and Clayton NY and Sackets Harbor. We booked the most expensive dockage ever at Alexandria - $3.50 per foot! Believe me, there were no other options, although I will try to find some while there in case we come again. It’s at Riveredge Resort. Jim Karpinski thinks this might include a room at the inn. It should! This is where Lew got his big infection in the hot tub last trip, so we can’t even use it. We confirmed plans to meet Jim and Jola in Alexandria. Rosemary is going to get a fresh batch of cookies to Jim to bring to us. We ate our last cookie from the first one today. I told her to put them in a tamper proof package! Jim is bring a new Sear’s battery charge to me and also 2 more Welland 4x4 fenders.

I was a little off my game today. First I cut myself while slicing a pepper for lunch. Then I hung some shirts on a hanger on the lifeline to dry in the sun while assuring Kerry they would not blow off. So I thought . . . Then when we left the boat to take a trolley tour I assured her we did not need to close the boat or bring in the laundry. Well, 10 minutes after boarding the trolley the sky was purple, rain was blowing sideways, etc. But, Lew saved me!. He went aboard Excalibur, closed it up, saved the laundry and got trapped inside while the storm blew itself out. Thank you, Lew!

After the tour we shopped Kingston. Kerry walked into David’s Tea and walked out with enough tea and brewing supplies to make David’s day profitable. She has stopped drinking coffee and is enjoying good teas instead. A picture of David’s outside tea room is posted today. I looked for a white Kingston t-shirt but did not find one I liked. We went back to Excalibur for cocktails and dinner. Kerry thought her martini was beautiful so took some still life photos. The sky was also beautiful with dramatic clouds and rainbows over Fort Henry.

Tomorrow we will provision and fill the water tanks for two days of anchoring in the 1000 Islands. The farmer’s market is open today so we hope to get a lot of fresh produce and pastries. We hope to take a dingy ride down the harbor, weather and seas permitting.