Dam!

           THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26th.

      Before you get all excited, the title of this Blog
simply identifies our destination yesterday!
      It is not intended to reflect my reaction as our
friend's Pontoon boat cruised over the wakes of
other vessels in our vicinity on Lake Wallenpaupack
although one does tend to express one's self when
one's tummy rocks in time with the waves.
     The lake is a wondrous place.
     It was built by Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company long before the utility dropped the "&"
from its name and became just PPL.
     Water channeled by that Dam still provides
electricity while the lake attracts sportsmen and
vacationers throughout the summer. I wondered
just how close we really were when I saw the
warning to "Keep back 500 feet!"
     In order to form the lake the company had to
flood what had been the town of Wilsonville and
its surrounding valley. I'm told divers still come
across the foundations of buildings at the bottom
of the lake. I prefer to stay on top of the water
and well above any submerged obstacles!               
    Thus it was with slight trepidation that I
watched as my buddy allowed my grandson to take
the helm for his first instruction of seamanship!
Visions of Captain Smith flashed through my mind
although I admit the likelihood of running across,
let alone into, an iceberg was pretty remote.
     Wallenpaupack 's maximum depth of 60 feet
is no where close to the deep Atlantic either.
But 60 feet is still pretty impressive when you're
only 5'11.
     But speaking of impressive, the grandson did
just fine with some simple instruction from our
skipper and the voyage turned out a lot better
than Gilligan's three hour tour! Still, I learned
where all the life jackets are located...just in case!
      Hope you're still afloat and that all your NEWS
is good!