We spent the of last year traveling along the Great Loop which took us up the Eastern United States and Canada and then back down through rivers that run through the heart of this country. 

Perhaps one of our favorite parts of this trip was spent in the Canadian canals, particularly in the Rideau canal.  This year, 2007, is the 175th anniversary of the opening of that canal, so we thought it would be wonderful to be able to go back and spend a bit more time there.  

The trip we are planning this year will take us back up the eastern United  States coastline, through the Chesapeake Bay and New York.  We plan to take the Erie canal west - then head north on the Oswego canal into Lake Ontario. 

Traveling along the eastern side of Lake Ontario, we plan to travel through the Thousand Islands and back to into the Rideau at Kingtson.  The Rideau will take us north to Ottawa - in the reverse direction of out trip last year.  From Ottawa, we will take the Ottawa river east to the St. Lawrence river and Montreal. 

If we have time (i.e. we are not getting too close to fall and winter), we would like to follow the St. Lawrence river northeast up past Montreal to Quebec city, and maybe a bit beyond Quebec.  Then we will turn around and travel back along the St. Lawrence to the city of Sorel, where the Chambley river travels south eventually taking us back to Lake Champlain and the United States.

The portion of the trip that follows the Erie, the Rideau, the St. Lawrence and the Champlain is called the 'Little Loop' since it traces a small loop through the eastern US and Canada. 

It is, as before, a plan written at low tide in the sand... not really sure where we may actually end up once reality takes over. We will keep you posted with pictures and stories of what we discover wherever our little tug takes us, so stay tuned.....