A Week of Relaxation

Occasionally, we have to stop and put a few things in perspective.  We used to look forward to one week off of school and make a mad dash for a place to "vacation".  Now we look for a place to do laundry, fill up on gas, participate in local activities, etc. before returning to our travels.  We had a wonderful week at Green Turtle Bay Marina. 
We dined at a fabulous restaurant, Patti's, with a group of friends one evening.  Each and everyone of us was please with our meal.  The place reminded us of a giant Cracker Barrel, but the food was quite different.

We also returned for a busy day in Paducah.  We used the courtesy van and hit Walmart for groceries and a few supplies.  One woman needed to see a local dentist for some tooth repair.  One hour and 2,000 dollars later, she was ready to call it a day.  We actually had a great lunch together and then hit the liquor store before returning to Livingston County, which is dry.
One evening we had a "potluck" of sorts.  Dixie made wonderful gumbo, Rick fixed some cajun chicken, Teresa made potato salad and others brought some appetizers.  We visited about adventures past and some of those to come. 
One couple attended who are just beginning their journey.  They had the boat hauled to a marina and will begin the "loop".  They will actually meet family later in the year in Florida.  I found it interesting that Rick and I actually knew more about boating on this journey than this couple did.  They still have to pass through their first Lock.

The weather has been perfect.  It has been in the 80's to 90's each day and cools down in the evening.  Today there is some cloud cover and yet it is still warm.  People filled the marina this weekend and many still got in the water.  We are now moving down the midde of Kentucky Lake just taking in the beauty.  We realize many of you have boated on this lake and now understand why you return.  We will probably stay anchored in a cove for tonight and then proceed to Paris Landing State Park Marina.  Don't be surprised if you get a call from us.  We are going to try to talk someone into bringing our truck to the marina.  We think we will leave it here for the winter and then boat here in the spring and continue down river to Mobile at a later time.
  We watched a great small town Harvest Moon Parade on Saturday.  We got a chuckle when we saw the above car. We also took in a local variety show that was as good as any we have seen in other resort areas.

The lake is fairly empty today.  More boats were arriving at GTB who will eventually go to Joe Wheelers for the Looper's Randezvous.  Me?  I'm reading "Honey, Let's Get A Boat" and thinking that a few years in the future it might be interesting to get a different type of boat and actually cruise America's Great Loop.  I've always wanted to get to the Northeast part of the U.S. and this just might be the way to do it. 

Now it is time to enjoy the last few days of this grand Mississippi Adventure and start thinking about getting to Florida for the cold winter ahead.  We have a wedding and holidays to look forward to sharing with others.  We can look forward to the spring and the arrival of a new grandchild.  We will also look forward to spring/summer travel on "the houseboat". 

I will probably have only one more post.  This should end the first half of our journey.  I will keep the site for our trip to Moblile Bay next year.  Take care  ya all.

A Trip Up the Ohio

We awoke early on Monday morning and found that the lock for the Tennessee River gave a four hour estimate as a wait to go through.  We then decided to follow our friends to the Ohio and spend our time on the move instead of just waiting.  It was a very long day.  We both thought that we would be fighting the current on the Ohio but neither of us dreamed that we would be doing the same on the Cumberland River! 


The Cumberland River seemed like a very small after spending time on the Ohio and Mississippi, but we really enjoyed the scenery.  There were some very interesting activities along this river also.  There is so much mining that occurs here and then the loading of coal or rock.  This is just a little example of it.

Even though we passed a few commercial spots, we found the Cumberland to be more similar to rivers at home.  It is not very deep nor wide, so we had almost no barge traffic.

We could only travel at about 4.1 mph so Dixie and Dickie got far ahead of us.  While they waited for us at the lock, Dixie started cooking some cajun food for us.  She tells us that it is REAL cajun and she mainly uses onions and Tony's seasoning. 

She fixed what she calls rice and gravy.  I'm telling you, it is nothing like we call "gravy".  It was a fantastic sauce of sorts.  We had rice and gravy, beans (like none I've ever had) and greens.  Yes, collard greens.  This lady could give Emeril a real challenge.  And, yes, she has to have a few drinks while cooking. 

This couple raises crawfish and a number of other things.  They have been on the boat on and off for almost two years.  We were very blessed to have met them.


Now that we are at Green Turtle Marina in Lake Barkly.  People we have met along the way, all told us to be sure to make it to this marina.  Were they ever right.  It is HUGE and has everything imagineable for boaters.  It is filled with sail boats and cruisers at this time of year.  Most everyone here are "loopers" and will continue to the Keys or the Bahamas for the winter.  Most of them came through Canada and the Great Lakes.  They also travelled down the Illinois River and then into the Mississippi.  I've been told there is a book called something like "Honey, Let's Buy A Boat" that gets people thinking about this trip.  We would have to sell lots of things to buy a boat like people have that are making this trip.  Many, no longer have homes.

Where we are still looking at a lock like the one above as a challenge, some of the loopers have gone through 90 to 150 of them along their trip.  This was a 57 foot lift and we had a few problems.  In Keokuk, they told us not to tie on to the bollard.  Here, we did not tie on and it got so hard that Rick lost the rope.  They had to stop the lift and then we tied on. So, it happens to many people.  There is a sailboat here that has to have some repairs because of some damage in the locks.  All we have done is broken off a few of our solar lights.

Following our five nights without electricity, etc. we are enjoying T.V., long showers, eating out occasionally and will continue to do so until Monday morning.  I will resume the blog at that time.

We are looking forward to a visit from our friend Deb B. tomorrow.  It is an overnight stop for a trip she made to see her sister.  Take care everyone.

The highway 24 bridge that many of us travel over on our way to Florida,

Pretty Day in Paducah

Spending the nights on the boat while parked on the water is a little tricky.  Sleep is often interrupted by the fear that the anchor will come loose or that a barge will come apart and ram into us.  It is comforting to be with other boaters and we have been lucky to find very nice people with which to travel.

This happens to be on a morning whn we are all breaking apart and heading out for the day.  It is nice for each of us to check about barge traffic or any other hazard that might be presenting itself.  We also give each other an idea of where we might end the day. 

Moving from the Mississippi into the Ohio was very busy.  It is very difficult to see so many tows and barges working away and still try to manuvere through the river.  Four eyes and a marine radio are hardly enough.  We were given a rough time by a work barge and the workers were laughing like crazy.  I was scared to death!  Oh well, I guess everyone needs to have a little fun at work.  I just wish it hadn't been at our expense.  Rick says I need to calm down a little.  Well, when we get on dry land for more than 24 hours, it may happen!



We have been told not to pull up on a beach on the lower part of the river as the depth can change so fast overnight, the boat could become beached.  I think there is more of a story to this boat, but couldn't help wonder what happened when we saw it.

We are now working against the current on the Ohio River.  Everything has changed as we are moving up river instead of down river.  This includes the radio channels and channel markers.  It gets confusing occasionally but it also adds to the challenge of the trip.  We only go 4 to 5 mph and use a lot more gas!

Metropolis gave us an interesting spot to dock.  There was a very small dock at Massac State Park.  Three boats tied on together to spend the night as it was getting dark and we knew we couldn't get through the next lock and dam until after dark.  None of wanted that experience.  The view was beautiful from the hill overlooking the dock.  I don't think anyone got a real good night's sleep.  The barges came very close and we all rocked together. 



In the morning we discovered that one of the boats was stuck.  This was the boat belonging to Dixie and Dicky.  Luckily, we had waited to make sure they were okay and ended up pulling them out of their spot.  We were in a big hurry to "lock through".  The wait was only about another hour.  By that time we had another two boats join our group.

Bob is a marine biologist who has travelled to the Kentucky Lakes from the Alton area a few times.  He was having some motor difficulties yesterday but is doing better today and has joined us at Paducah.  He is looking for a shower, etc.  We are lucky to have those ameneties on the houseboat.  We all had a delicious meal in town at noon.  They even gave each of us a bag of ice since there is no convenient store close.

This is just one of many mural sections on the wall at Paducah.  It is a delightful town and the people are very friendly.  A group of you bio-chemical engineering students just gave Rick a ride to get some gas from a station as there are none within walking distance.  Bob just told me someone else had offered to do the same. 
Our big decision now is whether to go down the Cumberland into Lake Barkley or the Tennessee into Kentucky Lake.  We'll sleep on it and decide in the morning.  Have a great Monday.