A Night On Fireboat Edward Cotter/Engine 20

Cruising The Niagara River With Neighbors

6:22

It's 7:30, an overcast, 70º morning, and I was out on an empty lake for 65 minutes, photographing an osprey enjoying breakfast and a couple of herons. 

Kayak Morning

Neighbors

Eastern Sky

Osprey Enjoying Breakfast

Heron And Turtle

Same Guy

Yep

Thursday was a good day, beginning with kayaking, followed by yoga, a nap, and lunch, then an early evening cruise on the Fireboat Edward Cotter around Buffalo, New York's harbor. My morning paddle was for an hour. Evie and I then enjoyed discussing the past week with our family as we decided on our day. I wanted to get in at least one yoga class, so I went to Yin Yoga at 10:00 and stopped at Walmart and picked up a couple of camp chairs, on sale by the way, for our boat ride Thursday evening. Lunch was easy, the leftover Chicken Milanese cutlet on bread, and I watched my show. 

One Of the Few Businesses Left In Buffalo

1940 Battleship

Buffalo's City Hall

Floating Tiki

Hobie Cruising

We spent much of the afternoon getting ready for our drive to Buffalo and boat ride. I, of course, got in a brief nap, but by 3:30, we were both showered and ready for our trip. It's an hour and a half drive, but we hit traffic backed up in Buffalo so we didn't get to the Buffalo River dock until 5:15. Our neighbors, Joe and Betsy, won a two-hour ride on the fireboat in a raffle a few months ago and invited  20 to 25 friends and family for the cruise. It was a warm night, in the 80s, but because of the lake breeze, we were comfortable. 

Abandoned Ford Plant

Water Cannons

Yep

Neighbors

Bud With Crew

We spent two hours cruising the harbor, inlet waterway, down past Ralph Wilson Park to the Peace Bridge and back to the Tifft Nature Preserve, where the crew fired up the water cannons and shot streams of water into the area for at least ten minutes, creating rainbows and inviting seadoos to race through the shower.  We were out for two hours, mostly on the headwaters of the Niagara River, enjoying the view of the city and the coastline, as well as feasting on libations and food, compliments of the group. Everyone loved it, and I highly recommend it. We left around 7:45, arriving home by 9:15, tired but happy from our night on Lake Erie. We had a snack before Evie went up to bed, and I followed around 10:00.