Loop Life with Greg and Reenie: July 2019

On July 11th we departed Kingston, Ontario for a week in The Thousand Islands ⚓️.

The Saint Lawrence River begins on Lake Ontario, where the city of Kingston is located. The first fifty miles downstream (North East) on the Saint Lawrence River is comprised of an area considered “The Thousand Islands”. There are actually about 1,800 hundred islands…But who’s counting,
🇨🇦 Eh 🤣?

This area was one of our favorite stops on the Great American Loop, and better yet we get to visit our good friends, Jim & Lesley who now live in Gananoque. We met them on Joliet Wall outside of Chicago, while both of us were on the “Loop”. We have continued to stay in-touch and enjoy each other’s company 😊.....(Truly, what the Great Loop is all about ♥️ ).

This week has been spectacular … and reconfirmed, no Looper should miss Gananoque (Gan as the locals say) or The Thousand Islands 👍.

We spent two nights at the Gananoque Municipal Marina, two nights “remote” in Parks Canada on Camelot Island, then back to Kingston.

Tomorrow we plan to start the Rideau Canal to Ottawa 🥳 .

Loving summer aboard Thistle⚓️ (Not the numerous 🦟 BUGS 😱!).

❌⭕️❗️

See you on the Rideau Canal.

This weeks journey Kingston to Gananoque, Camelot Island and back to Kingston.

Gananoque
“Gan - an - ock - wee”
Meaning the 🌹Garden of the Great Spirit!

Gananoque was settled over 200 years ago and
is recognized as the gateway to the 1,000 Islands.

Welcome ♥️

Our Looper Friends are the volunteer AGLAC,

Gananoque Harbor Hosts😃!

A interesting and 😜CrAzY craft fair in Gananoque.

Focusing on recycled items…this was our favorite.

A rocking chair made from ❄️snow 🎿skis!

Thank you Jim & Lesley (Harbor Host).

A welcome packet with valuable Gananoque information and

homemade Butter Tarts (😋delicious).

Gan town 🧜🏼‍♀️ mermaid mural.

Our view of the Gananoque Municipal Marina from Jim & Lesley’s condo.

Lots of Loopers in town !

We were all graciously invited for

“Docktails” 🍻🥂in Jim & Lesley’s lovely 🏡 home.

Gananoque Boat 🚢 Show.

A beautiful Trumpy (no politics 😝involved).

🥰Gorgeous:)

This boat goes fast …💦

1,000 Islands tour aboard (the above)

vintage speed boat...Zooooooooom!

😎🇨🇦😎

Evidence of high 🙃water.

More high water 🧐❗️

Thistle in our 💧wake!

Gananoque Boat Line tours all 👍day.

And 🌙night.

To the 1,000 Islands aboard 🇺🇸Thistle & 🇨🇦Tyre-less.

Buddy Boats ♥️.

We were lucky 🍀 to secure two mooring balls at Camelot Island!

Absolutely Beautiful 😍!

We saw Salty (famous four time fellow Loopers)

on Nebo and invited then to join us for dinner.

A great time was enjoyed by all 🥳!!!

A view of Thistle from the Camelot 🌲Island.

We inflated our stand paddle boards and cruised around a few of the 1,000 Islands.

Sunset .

Thistle in the 🌝moon light.

Back to Kingston!

Ahoy friends and family🙂!

It feels fantastic to be back aboard Thistle for the ☀️summer! Our plan is to complete a “Mini Loop” over the next few months. We are excited to have this opportunity, and revisit some of our favorite ports and people from previous boating adventures.

For those of you who have been wondering…Yes, there is a real syndrome called “Looper Withdraw”. After finishing the Great American Loop last summer it took us awhile adjusting to land life. We missed the boating lifestyle, Looper friends and Thistle. Now is our chance to experience that euphoria again, and are back aboard Thistle ♥️ for the summer .

On June 29th we flew from Los Angeles to Syracuse. After spending the night in Skaneateles (a favorite little NY town) we were off to see Thistle. She spent the long cold winter inside a heated building a Winter Harbor Marina in Brewerton, NY.

Thistle SpLaShEd 💦 down on July 1st. We spent the next three days on the Marina Docks, with our Looper Friends aboard Tyre-less (who splashed the same day). We had plenty of good stories and laughs, while provisioning and preparing for the summer. The four of us celebrated with a delicious BBQ aboard Tyre-less, complete with hometown fireworks. The highlight of the evening was the spectacular ⚡️firefly 🦗show right next to our boats that continued throughout the night!

July 4th 🇺🇸was our first travel day back aboard Thistle. We went about 15 miles along the Erie Canal, from Brewerton to Liverpool. Luckily🍀, there was only one lock to practice our skills. We spent two days in Liverpool (a suburb of Syracuse). July 4th was an all American Day including: the Syracuse Mets ⚾️baseball game, 🌭hot dogs, 🍺beer and 🧨fireworks …(A BIG Thank you to Greg 😍).

The next morning we got up before sunrise and started our journey from Liverpool to Oswego, navigating all seven locks on the Oswego Canal. Then spending two nights in Oswego with more fireworks💥and watched the 🇺🇸USA Women’s ⚽️soccer team win the FIFA Cup!

On July 7th we crossed Lake Ontario with two other Looper boats. Once across the Lake (a very smooth crossing👍) we docked at Confederation Basin in Kingston, 🇨🇦Canada. There we cleared Canadian Customs and received our Port Number for summer travel aboard Thistle.

Weather permitting, tomorrow we plan to travel down the Saint Lawrence River to Gananoque.

FYI …We are acclimating back to boat-life very quickly ♥️.

Thanks for traveling with us this summer XO.