Erie Canal

The Erie Canal goes from Albany to Buffalo, New York. I didn't know it still existed. It does, but I don't know if they really use it anymore. Some of it looks like a canal and for some of it I think they used existing rivers. They have a trail that goes along a lot of it. My daughter and I ran on part of it - 3.6 miles worth. It was fun because I had never seen the Erie Canal and had always wanted to. It was a nice day and quite a few people were on it with us. If I lived here I would do this quite a bit. Maybe run the whole length of it eventually in small segments. Maybe once a week you could do a different part. It's like how I've thought it would be cool to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. The Erie Canal experience is a lot more civilized, though. The Trail would involved camping, but I don't camp. Also, there probably aren't that many bears and things, but in my imagination they would be all over the place - like just around the next bend. I don't think I've even taken a step on the Pacific Crest Trail. A suitable goal for me someday might be just to hike any portion of the trail. I could do five miles or so. If it was paved with motels and fast food places every so often I would be all over it. I would hike the whole thing. The purists probably think that would defeat the whole purpose of the trail.

I don't think I had been in New England in the Fall before. New Englanders always like to talk about how awesome their trees are. I think they probably are. We were there after the best part of the year. Even with that, the trees were pretty impressive. I've seen leaves change colors, but it seems like New England might have a greater variety of colors and more vibrant colors. But I'm just guessing.