Monday, June 30, 2014

Day 7: NYC to Niagara Falls

June 30, 2014

We cycled today from Albany to Schenectady, NY, spending much of our ride on the Erie Canal trail, a comfortable bike path safe from traffic and full of stimulating river views.  


Sho and Saya excitedly pointed out rabbits, chipmunks, Red-Winged Black Birds, Blue Jays, Cardinals and even a Great Blue Heron.  

The route was well marked, although sometimes a bit overgrown.

One of my favorite parts of adventure cycling is meeting new people.  We ate lunch at "Nana's Kitchen" in Cohoes, NY and got a photo with Nana herself!

Last summer, my kids and I re-traced the route Lewis & Clark followed during their epic exploration of the American west in the early 1800's.  On this summer's bicycle adventure, we are following the Erie Canal, a feat of engineering that helped open up the west to settlers beginning two decades after Lewis & Clark's famous expedition.  The 365-mile long canal 
connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River
 was completed in 1825 and played an important role in turning New York City into a major trading center.  





The town of Cohoes lies at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, not far from the end of the Erie Canal.  The engineers who designed the Erie Canal had to build many locks to get boats around the Cohoes Falls pictured here:




We ended the day in Schenectady, which was founded in 1661 by Dutch settlers who had no idea how much fun future Americans would have saying their town's name.

If you'd like to donate to our ride and receive some exciting awards, please go to:  http://familyadventureguy.mydagsite.com/

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