Joe Wheeler State Park & Ditto Landing 9/29/19 - 9/30/19

Stats: Total days - 20, Travel days - 13, Miles today - 57, Total miles - 795

We left out of Florence Marina around 9:00 headed for Wilson Lock.  It was only 3 miles away so we called and tried to time it right.  There were a few birds that decided to take a rest on our boat railing.  Lucy was none to happy about it.

I have not talked about the locks much on this blog, figuring most everyone got their fill after Pittsburgh.  I did take a few pictures of the Wilson Lock as it was pretty cool.  It is one of the highest lifts on the loop at close to 90 feet.  The normal auxiliary chamber that we would use was being worked on, so we used the main chamber.  You can see that the auxiliary chamber actually has 2 chambers.  You go out of the 1st one and then into the 2nd one to get to the top.

Main chamber doors, you can see how high the water needs to be raised.   

This was the most turbulent lock that we have gone through.  Not just on the this trip in all of my trips.  Good thing we had the boat tied and fendered off.  There was no way to keep the front of the boat off the wall, even when using the thrusters.

Another 1st for us was that the upper gate did not swing open like most but instead was lowered into the water and you drove over it.

I know, more houses, but thought the his and her's idea was a good one.  Just a wee bit out of my range.

It was kind of neat to pull into Joe Wheeler State Park.  We drove here last year for the Looper Rendezvous and thought how cool it would be to have our boat here.   A year later and we are doing it.

After I did some washing on the boat, Marcia vacuumed, cleaned and did laundry, we so needed happy hour at the pool.  You can see the top of the boat behind the pool.  We ended up eating dinner at the restaurant and then took it easy the rest of the night.  Cell signal is not good here, even with the booster, and our Direct TV is not working at all now.  Just keeps saying "receiving satellite signal", but remains at 0%.  DTV is of no help.  I am going to try and switch out the coax cable when we get some downtime.  It had been working fine for most all the the trip.  The dish is tracking a signal.  Any other ideas from my Techie friends - Dave Frey - Nate ?????   

This was our view as we left Joe Wheeler this morning.

We had about 57 miles to go today, so I did run about 30 minutes on plane.  Another 1st for us today was we had to call a railroad bridge and have it raised so we could get underneath.  We got lucky on the timing as they were opening for a barge that we had just passed.  After we and the barge got through they lowered it back down.  About 10 minutes later I heard another boat call and they said it was going to be awhile.  They said 1.5 hours or more. 

Beautiful cruise today.  Marcia drove for about an hour.  Cluck Norris was keeping a watchful eye on things.

Lucy really wanted to stop here, but there was no dock.  She will have to settle with getting food from a bag instead of a silo.  (home of Meow Mix)

Lake was pretty wide at the beginning, but narrows to  more of a river after about 10 miles.  Water is really clean here.

We arrived at Ditto Landing Marina.  I know - we thought of Evan Evans also.  He said he has actually been here.  We took on fuel to get a free nights stay, and they also had a free pump out, so we did that also.  Good news is that I hit a new milestone.  Tracker had me getting 1.01 mpg this leg.  I KNOW!  When was the last time someone was happy about getting 1 mpg.:)  They did have a replica of the Ditto Ferry here.  Reminded me of Jose Wales and the Missouri boat ride. 

 Another hot but nice day. 

Dinner on the boat and a short hike afterwards.  Going to try and watch the Bengals game tonight.  We are getting it through You Tube TV, just mean that they are hard to watch sometimes.

Florence Harbour Marina 9/27/19 - 09/28/19

Stats: Total days - 18, Travel days - 11, Miles today - 61, Total miles - 717

Alright, Alright Alright.  Let me see if I can remember enough to get you caught up.  We had a very peaceful night on anchor.  It was pitch black, dead quiet, and the boat did not get rocked once.  We woke up to a very dewy morning and heading out.  We went through Pickwick Lock and into Pickwick Lake, but still on the Tennessee River.  We stopped at Pickwick State Park and took on about 160 gallons of fuel.  I am getting better mileage if I can stay off the gas.  I would like to come back here some day and stay as the park looked awesome.  The lake is really wide here and it was not long before I decide to kick it up a notch.  I know, ignore my earlier comment about staying off the gas.  We did pass the Tombigbee which we will come back to when we head south again.  We arrived at Florence Harbour Marina and got checked in.  Marcia defrosted some of the freezer, did some laundry and then we walked up to the River Bottom Restaurant for dinner.  We had to try the alligator tail appetizer.  Yep - taste like chicken.  Watched Penn State kick Maryland's ass, so all was good.

Marica's anchor nightcap.

Approaching Pickwick Lock.  1st lock in like 7 days. 

 Pickwick Lock

 Pickwick Lake

 Passing the Tombigbee Waterway

 Not sure if this is the same algae that is in Cincinnati.  Guessing not.

 Huge houses in the middle of nowhere.  I know - more houses and trees.

 Florence Harbour Marina

On Saturday, we borrowed the courtesy van and drove over to the Muscle Shoals recording studio.  Pretty cool history to see where a lot of the big name people and bands recorded.  Look it up.  Actually the marina lent us the movie to watch and it was good.  We did not take the 45 minute tour.  We then drove over to tour the Indian Mound and Museum.  After that we saw the Frank Lloyd Wright house and then to Walmart.  We took a break and then ubered over to see the Lions at North Alabama University.   We then took the HOT 10 block walk to the Singing River Brewery.  They had a Oktoberfest party going on.  We missed the wiener dog races, but the beer was good.  After a few beers, and a cigar, (me, not Marcia) we walked up to the Wildwood Tavern to get food.  Specialty hot dogs were their thing, so I got a spicy one.  No surprise.  Marcia got the chicken pesto pasta, but the chicken was mostly imaginary.  

It was 70 steps to the top, and yes we did manage to make it to the top.

 I wanted to take her back to the boat.  Marcia said she wants another cat but was afraid she would not play well with Lucy.

Hopefully the video will work.

Back at the boat now.  Marcia is watching Ohio State struggle against Nebraska.  (that comment was for Mark Evans).  I came up on the bridge to put this entry together.  Yes with a cigar and Bourbon.  I do believe I am starting to figure this Bourbon thing out.  

View from the back of the boat.

We are on the move again tomorrow.  Wilson Lock and then Joe Wheeler Lock, but only about 20 miles.  I know Joe Wheeler state park has a swimming pool, so hoping it is still open with the temps predicted into the 90's again.

Interesting statistic.  We are keeping the majority of our drinks in the RTIC cooler.  Water, beer, soda, etc...   The ice maker is holding up well, and we have not bought a bag of ice yet.  Does not seem like a big deal, but I am now determined to see how long I can go before I need to buy a bag of ice.

Oh yeah - I am bummed that I am missing the Hank Williams Jr and Kidd Rock concert tonight.  Especially since Tony (our son) said he had an extra VIP ticket.  Hope those of you that are out there are having a great time.  Miss being there.

Diamond Island Anchorage 9/26/19

Stats: Total days - 16, Travel days - 10, Miles today - 38, Total miles - 657

Pretty cool day today, but let me wrap up last night first.  We ended up having a couple of drinks at the Clifton Marina bar and had dinner with 2 other Looper boats.  The bacon, habanero  cheese burger was good.  Brought out just the right amount of sweat on the brow.

Thought it was pretty cool the marina had our boat names on the board and were expecting us.  One local thought that they were drink specials.  Guess I will have to come up with one, other than Bud Light.

 Marcia quickly thought of Tony and had to get the Choco Taco.

 View from the restaurant

We left out today headed for Diamond Island, about 38 miles up the Tennessee River.  Still on Kentucky lake, but probably not for long.  Just a couple of pictures from the cruise.

Saw this little fishing boat, and so wanted to play Rodney Dangerfield from Caddyshack.  As you can see from my wake - I did refrain.

 When do you start to worry that your house may fall?

 Guess this guy can tell you.

 Think this one is prepared with some rock

 That is the boat house, the big house is behind the trees.

We got anchored up behind Diamond Island, so off the channel.  Kind of narrow here, but there is a 2mph current.  Can't tell by looking at it because there is not a lot mud and crap floating by like in Cincinnati.  

We decide to take a swim and start happy hour.

Cluck Norris is starting to pick up some bad habits, so I am going to have to have a talk with him.  I did not bring enough stock for both of us.

The water looked so good that I figured I would try to cast a crank bait a few times to see what happens.  After about 20 casts, I caught a bass.   I ended up catching 4 in about 45 minutes.  Guess I am going to have to refer to the boat as Fishing Vessel Boyle-n-Water.  Don't know why Dave Brill thinks this bass fishing thing is so hard.  No comments on my sexiness.  

We grilled up a London Broil for dinner and ate up on the bridge as there was a nice breeze and the temperature was pleasant.  After dinner and dishes, Marcia made a Bombay and Tonic, and I decided to have a Bourbon (OK - 2 by now).  Only 2 fingers, but it is one of the times you are happy you have big fingers :).  It is now pitch black here.  You can't see the shore line 50 feet away.  I was quickly chased off the bridge as the computer light was a beacon for every kind of insect in three miles.  We are running the generator now to cool the boat down before we go to bed.  Hope is that the cooler temperatures tonight will keep the boat cool.

FYI - Several people have asked where we are.  If you click the "location - Where are we" tab from the home page on the blog it show a satellite view of our stops.  It is at the top just below the picture of our boat.  I am trying to keep it updated.