October Log
10/17/2005 Monday 10:00 pm - Well, I have finally had time to sit down and update our page. This year our trip started out strangely. Greg Left on the 12th with our friend Gunner Prins . They crossed the lake and it was flat. They made it down just past O'Brien Lock the first night. The next day they got started heading to Harborside Marina and it was a beautiful morning on the Cal Sag. All systems were running well so far. They got into Harborside at 5:00 pm and had supper at the restaurant. The plan was to leave the next morning but they got fogged in until noon. They made it to Henry Marina and spent the night there. Gunner is an experienced sailor but on this, his first trip down the river, he did learn a new way to handle a tiller. I believe they have called it the keister method of steering after passing by this guy headed south by himself. We bet he'd need Preparation H by the time he got to Florida. On the 15th Judy Prins and her daughter Amanda came to Marion and picked me up and we were headed to Beardstown to catch up with Greg and Gunner. The drive was a long one but we did have fun. Crossing Illinois was interesting. They were harvesting soybeans and it was very dusty. By the time we got to Beardstown we were all coughing up soybean dust. We actually felt like we were in an episode of the Twilight Zone entitled "The Never Ending Road." When we finally got to Beardstown it was a feat to get our stuff onto the boat, but we managed. The next morning we all went to breakfast and we decided it would be a good idea for the Prins family to join us down the river to our next stop. It was a great ride and we had a wonderful time. I had hoped that we would have seen some bald eagles or pelicans but no luck this time. We ended up at Mel's Riverdock in Hardin, IL. When we got tied up Greg and Gunner unloaded the Harley. It was somewhat of a challenge to get the boat off the dock but with a little help from onlookers they managed to get the job done. Greg and I took the bike back to Beardstown and picked up their car. When we got back we all went to dinner at Mel's. It was great as usual. The next morning we got up bright and early and parted ways with Gunner, Judy, and Amanda. We all had a wonderful time and wished they were coming with us at least to St. Louis. Maybe next year. Greg and I headed down the river. Just another 20 miles till the confluence of the Illinois River with the Mississippi. Our goal for today was to get to Hoppies. We weren't two hours out when I spotted PELICANS!! I was so sorry that Judy had missed them. Next year for sure. Still haven't seen bald eagles. The ride down river was beautiful. The falls colors are just starting but they say they won't be as brilliant this year because of the drought. As we were waiting to go down at lock 27 another trawler that had been traveling down also was having shaft trouble. We asked if we could help and they explained to Greg what the problem was. Greg was able to talk them through it and they continued on past St. Louis to Hoppies. When we got there Greg got his tools and helped them repair the problem, at least till they could make it to a marina with a service department where they could get the shaft aligned. We ended up with our own trouble, so today we are heading to the battery place to replace our house batteries. What a lovely expense. Oh, well, it could be worse. We did end the day with a beautiful moon rising over the Mississippi. What a wonderful evening.
10/18/2005 Tuesday 10:00 pm - I am so glad we stayed in Hoppies another day. We borrowed the van and Glen, Warren, Greg and I headed to run our errands. Our first stop was breakfast and then on to Wal-Mart, the grocery store, and the battery store. The rest of the day we spent doing housekeeping chores and the boat is ship shape to leave early in the morning. We were lucky again and had a great moon rise over the Mississippi. A wonderful end to a wonderful day.
10/19/2005 Wednesday 8:00 pm - We left at sunrise this morning headed for diversion channel. It is a 110 mile ride. The current was fast today and we got the boat up to 15.3 mph. I think that is the fastest our boat ever went. It got to the low 80's and was sunny all day. The barge traffic was steady and we had no problems. Our new friends on the Kathy Ann were about an hour behind us and they ran smooth all day also. We got into diversion channel about 4:00 pm and settled in for the night. We have a little television reception and got to watch some news. The Kathy Ann came in about and hour and a half later. We had supper and then visited with Glen and Warren for a little bit. I went to do the dishes and had no water. Greg is working on the water pump now. I wonder what will break tomorrow. I am just glad it isn't anything major and I am really grateful that Greg can fix stuff. I am just hoping for a break free day tomorrow.
10/20/2005 Thursday 7:00 pm - All hopes have been dashed for a break free day. We left diversion channel and got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. The Mississippi was running swift again and we really made good time. There was lots of barge traffic. We got to the Ohio at 11:00 am and it was surprisingly quiet. Not a lot of barge traffic. Maybe they were all on the Mississippi by then. We had heard that the Ohio water was down but still hoped we could just ride over the locks. No such luck. As many times as we have been through here this was the first time we ever had to lock through. The lock guys were very friendly. We also saw a floating dry dock with a tow in it being repaired. It was very interesting. We made it to Paducah around 4:00 pm and got tied up to the barge. There was a houseboat just arriving also and they were waiting for their friends whose boat lost an engine. We also are waiting for the Kathy Ann. They got way behind us and now they will be trying to tie up to us in the dark. Should be interesting. I made supper and we are waiting for everyone to show up. In the mean time I notice a funny smell in the salon. This of course is happening while a 52' trawler is trying to tie up behind us. Greg finally gets into the boat and shuts down the generator. He thinks that is the problem. This could be a big problem. We shut it down and now just waiting for it to cool off and he will check it out. I may be sitting in the dark in a few more minutes. Going to shut down for now and conserve batteries.
10/21/2005 Friday 10:00 pm - Last night Glen and Warren and the crippled boat all made it in to Paducah safely. Greg fixed the generator and things seem to be running smoothly again. We left this morning around 8:00 am and were the last to leave the barge. On our way to the Kentucky Dam Lock we passed the houseboat, the motor sailor, and met up with the 52' trawler at the lock, but no sign of Glen and Warren. They must have continued up the Ohio and maybe to the Cumberland. We got through the lock and headed to Green Turtle Bay to pick up a new water pump, then headed to Paris Landing. It was good to have running water and cable. We met Jim and Brenda on the Delta Mist and went to the lodge with them to have supper. Then Greg and I came back to the boat and called it a night.
10/23/2005 Sunday 9:00 pm - Saturday we slept in and had a late breakfast. Greg got to work on the water pump and I did a little housekeeping. He got the water running and checked out the engine room and generator. All is running well again. The Adlerdice's came to visit their farm in Mayfield, KY which is only an hour from here. They came to Paris Landing and we golfed 18 holes. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. I got my first birdie! It was on the 13th hole. I hit the ball close to the green and then chipped it in for the birdie. Carol and I were jumping up and down screaming. She pared the hole and Ray and Greg each got a 4. It was so sweet! We went to dinner at a place called Seaton's, which was great, and then headed back to the boat. We had some great conversation and then hit the hay. We slept in again this morning and then went to the lodge for breakfast. Ray and Carol took us to the grocery and then they had to head back to Michigan. The rest of the day was cold and rainy and Greg and I spent it watching the Colt's and then old movies. I knitted and Greg napped. It was a great afternoon. I tried Donna's recipe of taco soup and it was great. All in all it was a great weekend.
10/24/2005 Monday 7:30 pm - We left Paris Landing around 11:00 am and decided to go to Pebble Isle Marina which is only about 35 miles from Paris. It was a cold and gloomy ride but when we got here we were met by Randy, the harbormaster, who remembered us from last year. We also ran into Jim and Brenda. Of course now we have to stay here until Wednesday because they are having a big cook out. I am not sure what we are going to do. We did have supper in the cafe and had some of the best catfish. They have their own secret recipe for the coating. It was great. After supper we headed back to the boat and are calling it a night.
10/25/2005 Tuesday 9:00 pm - It was a lazy morning. Greg took the bike off the boat and washed it and got it ready for us to ride. We putzed around the boat for a while and then made a run to Wal-Mart. I needed to refill a couple of prescriptions but I forgot to bring them. We just ended up picking up a few groceries and then went back to the boat. At 5:00 pm they had a happy hour again and Greg went up there but I stayed on the boat and made tortellini soup. It was great. We hunkered down and watched some television.
10/26/2005 Wednesday 10:00 pm - Greg and I got up early, hopped on the bike and went to Jeff's for breakfast. I remembered to bring my prescriptions and we dropped them off at Wal-Mart. We bought some movies in the 5.50 bin and I think I found a replacement camera for the Nikon Mary borrowed from it. It is a Canon. I am still trying to decide if I like it or not. We couldn't pick up the meds because I forgot my wallet that had my insurance card. So we dropped off the stuff we got at the boat, I picked up my wallet and then we went sight seeing. We drove up to the state park and went to the top of Pilot Knob for a spectacular view. We could even see the marina. There was also a great view of the Dupont factory and some other factory too. As we were coming down the mountain there was a side road that led to a cute little log cabin that you can rent by the night, week, or month. We also made a stop to Birdsong and visited the Pearl Farm. We were running late and started back to the marina. We didn't want to miss the cook out so we decided to go afterwards back to Wal-Mart to pick up the meds. The cook out was great and there was lots of entertainment and good food. We met Harold and Kelly there and afterwards we all went back to Wal-Mart. By then the pharmacy was closed and we were out of luck. But Greg was really impressed with the amount of beer that Harold could pile into a cart. We helped them unload and visited with them for a while. It was a great night.
10/27/2005 Thursday 9:30 pm - We left Pebble Isle before noon and headed for Mermaid Marina. Harold and Kelly were leaving at the same time in their boat "Final Approach." They decided to stop into Mermaid also. About an hour or so after we left we ended up a little off channel and touched bottom for a moment. "Final Approach" was right behind us but avoided the shallow water but ended up picking up some sort of vibration anyway. Harold couldn't figure out what it was and was hoping it would fix itself. On the way we saw a tow on land. How did they do that? We got into Mermaid around 4 or 5 and Harold had reserved a car for us. The four of us got into the Lincoln and headed for the Magnolia. It was a homey restaurant and the food was great. We had a great evening.
10/28/2005 Friday 10:00 pm - Harold and Kelly left early this morning. We couldn't talk them into staying and playing golf with us. We will miss them. Greg and I had a tee time of 10:00 am. The golf course sent someone to pick us up. The Tennessee River Golf Club is a wonderful course. The greens were beautiful. We played 18 holes and it was a beautiful day. It occurred to me I didn't have my meds and left my prescription bottles at the Wal-Mart in Waverly. So we borrowed the Lincoln again and Greg and I headed to Waverly to finally get my meds. What a pain in the butt.
10/29/2005 Saturday 9:00 pm - We decided to play another 18 holes at the Tennessee River Golf Club and got a 10:00 am tee time again. They were nice enough to pick us up again. It was another beautiful day. We ended up meeting someone who's father worked at Bell Fiber. His name was VonGeistler, or something like that. When we got to the marina we decided to head for Clifton Marina. On the way there we spotted a pair of bald eagles! They were beautiful. We also were able to see them perched in the trees. As we were floating in the middle of the river a guy from shore called us on the radio and asked us if we were looking at the eagles. He also told us that there was an eagle sanctuary across from Peter's landing. When we got to that spot we thought we saw some of the nests. It had to be the best day on the river yet. We got into Clifton around 6:00 pm and there were 3 or 4 people out there helping us tie up. When we went inside to sign in we ran into Dennis and Cindy from "Pivot Point," We met them last fall in Florence. It was great fun to run into them again. They ended up eating all the catfish and there was none left for us. We ate hamburgers, but they were really good. We also met the great, great, great, bastard grandchild of Ulysses S. Grant. Or at least it is possible that he could be. His name was Ricky Lee. The only resemblance that I could see was maybe the beard and the drinking problem. He of course ended up being Greg's new best friend. He was hilarious. We also met Fred Myers and his wife. They were on the "Liberty Belle." Fred is the author of several guide books on the Tennessee River, Tombigby Waterway, and the Cumberland river. He signed our copy for us. He is a wealth of information. This was by far one of the best days on the river.
10/30/2005 Sunday 7:00 pm - Julie at the marina fixed us a great breakfast. It was a wonderful surprise. Greg and I jumped on the bike and headed for Savannah. We had to pick up a few things and wanted to do some sightseeing. We ended up at Wal-Mart and decided to get hair cuts. I was so glad to get a cut and color. They were really great there. I love my new do! We ate a really late lunch at the Golden Dragon and then started back to Clifton. On the way we decided to take some side roads and saw some really beautiful country. We got back to Clifton and visited with Julie and Ricky again. They are some good people.
10/31/2005 Monday 12:00 am - We got an early tee time at the Bear Trace Golf Course. We were the only ones there for about an hour. We immediately started losing balls. The up side is that we ended up finding more balls than we lost. Evidently lots of people lose their balls in the same area we did. What a tough course. But it was beautiful anyway. We decided to leaveClifton Marina and move onto Pickwick. For some reason Greg thought it was only 30 miles away but it was actually 50 or 60. Then when we got to the lock we had to wait for 3 hours for a barge to get through. At least the lock master let us tie up in the small lock. We watched a movie and just waited. It was a long night.
November 2005 Log
11/01/2005 Tuesday 11:00 pm - We got up late this morning and went to the lodge to have breakfast. It was a cloudy day and cool. We decided not to go golfing after the beating we took yesterday and did a little housekeeping. We met the neighbors and ended up visiting with them most of the day. They were planning to take 3 years off and their 15 daughter on a trip around the world. Kim, Amye, and I took a walk in the woods looking for hickory nuts. We found a couple of bags full. We came back to the boat had supper and watched a movie.
11/02/2005 Wednesday 8:00 pm - Had breakfast at the lodge again and decided we would head off to Florence. It was a warm and sunny day. We had gone about 10 miles when we spotted an anchorage with a waterfall. It was gorgeous. Greg decided to go in there and investigate and maybe we could stop there next year. Well, it was so beautiful and deep we decided to go ahead and stay the night. We got anchored and then unloaded the dinghy and went to shore. Not too long after a pontoon boat came in and beached next to us. They were an older couple that lived in the area. The four of us went beach combing along the river. Found some glass and lots of those little shells I like. We watched the other bank as the sun set and just lit up all the trees and showed off what there is of the fall colors. Not much color this year because of the lack of rain. After they left we relaxed on the back of the boat for a while and another boat beached next to us. They built a campfire and must have had supper up there. Later in the evening they also left. It was a so dark. There was no moon and we could see tons of stars.
11/03/2005 Thursday 10:00 pm - We got up early and headed toward Florence. We were underway for a while when we noticed bass boats headed down river in droves. I don't think I have ever seen that many bass boats. We figured there must be a tournament of some sort. The ride to Florence was a nice one but slow because we had to slow down for all the fishermen. We did see some sort of bird sunning itself. When we got into Florence there was a huge tent set up and all kinds of activity. They were having a fishing tournament and it was right here in Florence. We didn't go to our slip but decided to stay on the gas dock since we had so much unloading to do. We got settled in and relaxed a little when we heard the announcer for the tournament. All the boats were coming in to get their fish weighed. It was a steady stream of bass boats for several hours. There were professional fisherman here with sponsors like Kellogg's, DeWalt, Deep Woods Off, and Fuji Film. It seems like there were hundreds of them. We went to Ricattoni's to eat supper and lament over the fact that our trip is coming to an end. Came back to the boat and watched cable TV! All in all a great day.
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