Hello World! Again.

It’s been 11 years since my last post here. Eleven years, since I embarked on a kayaking adventure across my home state of New York, along the Erie Canal. Eleven years since countless other life events have unfolded. One significant change occurred just over a year ago when my family and I moved back to New York State after 25 years living in Oregon.

I apologize to all three of my followers from back then for not continuing this blog. Haha. While the memories from that trip are still vivid in my mind, and there were countless other adventures that could have been shared here, I let this site succumb to a critical error many years ago. I recently spent some time with tech support to restore its functionality. Now that it’s back, I should probably revisit and complete all the posts in the drafts folder that it’s been holding onto. Oops!

Since I’m back in New York State, and this year, 2025, marks the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal, I’ve been thinking: “Why not do this trip again?”, this time trading my kayak paddle for bike pedals.

As you may or may not recall, kayaking the Erie Canal meant being confined to the waterway, gazing up at the banks of rip-rap or towering natural and man-made walls that often concealed the outside world until you reached a dock or attempted to escape using the old rope from gym class climbing technique. Doing this trip again by bicycle should allow me the chance to explore more museums and historical sites along the way. Additionally, I won’t be as dependent on finding overnight accommodations right off the canal, and I’ll have easier access to grocery stores for food supplies compared to having to haul my 18-foot kayak and the weight of my gear away from its watery home, so I haven’t done the task of cooking and dehydrating a trips worth of food caches.

While I do believe there are moments that truly are “once in a lifetime,” I find that phrase upsetting when applied to travel and adventure. It’s a bit strange, considering my love for the quote: “No one ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and they’re not the same person.” which has the same idea but conjures a different sentiment in my head. This trip will not be a repeat. As the notion that doing it again, especially when it created cherished memories, could only be done once in a lifetime is discouraging to me. It will be another opportunity to see and experience the history of New York State via a slower pace, fulfilling the original idea that grew in my mind so long ago when I first moved away.