Post # 12

As we continue to head south, we have been blessed with sunny weather. Sunny yet the temp’s have dropped. An extra quilt on the bed makes for comfortable sleeping; the bright sunshine makes for beautiful days and allows for awesome reflection of the colorful fall trees on the river. The feeling of fall is definitely in the air.

Our journey has given us the joy of crossing paths with some of the same/interesting people traveling on their boats. Anything from a pocket trawler, the home made conversion of a pontoon boat, or as they called it…”heck we turned it into a house boat to see just how far we could get her on down the river.” Down right fun folks, we sure had a great time visiting with them. Then there is a very sweet couple traveling on a sailboat (minus the stick) from Louisiana, she loves to cook & loves to collect rocks, driftwood & any artifacts she finds along the way. Dixie and I went out rock hounding in Lake Barkley and had a blast.  Being that Dixie loves to cook she rounded up all of the folks that they had bumped into (that were currently in the same location) and planned a “real” Louisiana Gumbo dinner. Whooo Hoooo now that was a good time and some good fixin’s too. Dixie made the meal from scratch she worked on it all day. It was quite a sight Dixie and her hot plate with two big pots just a cookin’ up a storm. Now you just can’t fit a mass of people on yer boat for a meal so she (along with some help) hauled everything up to the common area at the marina. She even had New Orleans Cajun music playin on her I phone, she encouraged everyone to dance cause it make the food taste better at least that is what she claims. What a great time, we look forward to staying in touch with Dixie & Dickey.Then there are the mega yachts that have captains on board to pilot their boat and there are many more that fit in between. We also found it interesting that people from all over the world travel to the U.S. to experience our waterways. One couple we have crossed wakes with many times on this journey are from Whitby, Great Britain. They started their journey on St. Petersburg, Florida and travelled the Great Circle Loop, their “loop” will be completed in St. Pete this fall. They had such a wonderful time they say they will return to hit some of their favorite spots again. Their boat of choice for this journey was well is a pocket trawler. We’ve meet folks from Australia, Canada, California & some right from Anna Maria Island too! We found the folks with the mega yachts are in a rush, they say the river system is just a means to get the boat from the north to the Florida coast. We found that sad they miss so much of the Heart Land of America. Well at least in our opinion. The Southern Pride, kindness, respect, their work ethic & morals are something I wish would grab hold of all of us, I for one am glad we spent so much time enjoying this area, its people and places.

We spent time anchoring in some beautiful coves along the Tennessee River. A few of the nooks & cranny’s of the Land Between the Lakes. Then after locking through Pickwick Lock, with a lift of 55’raising us into Pickwick Lake we found two sweet spots to anchor, our first anchorage put us at the end of a small split with about a 45’waterfall directly off our port side. The trees hide most of the view of the waterfall. The winds were due to pick up over the next few days so we headed off to another spot. This cove was about 2 miles down river an awesome little cove with a spectacular waterfall in the back. We anchored up right in the center of the cove and had the place all to ourselves. It was so peaceful we spent 3 nights here, we day hiked, fished & took the dingy to the marina for happy hour with some of the boaters we’ve met during our travels.

We travelled up river with a destination to Florence, Alabama where we will spend two nights; we hope to enjoy the town for a couple of days. Then it’s off to Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in Rogersville, Alabama. We will spend 5 days there for the rendezvous. There is a Great Circle Loopers rendezvous where a great deal of information regarding water travel is available. They are offered twice a year and we thought it would be interesting to attend one because we are so close to this one and the timing works out. It should be a good time with many of the folks we have met attending too. Well that’s all for now; enjoy the remainder of October our next posting will probably be in November.