Kenlake Marina -- WE ARE HOME.......The TN River Journey is Complete

Today is an exciting day -- the day we successfully complete our 1,500 mile trip of traveling the entire length of the Tennessee River which is 648 miles long stretching from Paducah, KY to Knoxville, TN.  This journey was a bucket list wish for us since our retirement.....like many life events Gene and I accomplished this together --- side-by-side.  Today is also a sad day as it's the last day of our incredibly awesome 1,500 trip where we lived every minute of every day together in a 34' boat......and both of us can truthfully say it was "our best time ever",  We bring Summer 2018's Bucket List journey to a close, but it has opened all kinds of thoughts and ideas for our next adventure.  We will spend a couple of months discussing our options and hone in on what our next bucket list adventure will be......and don't you worry -- there will be a "next adventure" and it will very likely include "water"......

To close out this adventure, we left Pebble Isle Marina about 10AM and had 53 miles to travel to make it back to Kenlake Marina in Aurora, KY.  As we pulled out of the Marina, we see a yellow butterfly flying around Cloud Nine....at that point we knew our trip will be successful -- we saw a yellow butterfly every single day on our trip -- we had no mechanical issues or any other issue on our trip and we give the yellow butterfly sighting credit for giving us the good luck to work with us to be safe and have fun.

We have traveled this particular 53 mile stretch probably 10 times over the past year, but we always enjoy seeing the boats and barges along the way.  On this particular day, we see 6 barges, 16 Looper Boats and 1 Ferry; however, likely the best sighting was when some of our friends from our Marina drove their boat out to meet us and welcome us home.....that was amazing and it was so fun to see them....

After a brief reunion with our friends, Jack and Lisa in the middle of the river channel, it was time to get going -- and get home.  So they rode all the way back to Kenlake Marina with us side-by-side.  We arrived at Kenlake Marina at 1:50PM as Jack and Lisa escorted us into the marina.  When we entered the Marina's no-wake zone, we turned the stereo up while playing the Temptations song:  "Everything is Fine on Cloud Nine"....and it was.  We pulled into our slip and all our dock friends came to see us and welcome us home......it was a long rest of the day and night with us telling stories and celebrating a successful trip with our friends.

We had a lifetime of fun, smiles, laughter, made new friends, learned so much about boating and how to just enjoy the moment and love our time together.  All our planning paid off, we had everything we needed and adjusted to the things we could not control (mostly weather-related situations).

At this time, I'm not sure how we could top this trip we just completed, but we will spend some time thinking of our next adventure and find something that will get us just as excited and motivated to love our next adventure just as much as we did this one.

Thank you to everyone who followed our journey.  There will be a sequel and hope you'll join us on that adventure too...…

Few Statistics to Share:
# Days on the Water = 58
# Miles on the Water = 1,500
# Different Marinas Visited = 18
# Locks Completed = 16
# Pictures Taken = 3,647

Until Next Time...…

Love my Captain......Love Cloud Nine.....

Final 3 Days of our Journey --Bay Springs Marina, Pickwick Marina, Clifton Marina, and Pebble Isle Marina (10/3 - 10/5/2018). One More Day to Go....

It has been an amazing 2-month journey and we are in the last 4 days  of our trip.

We left Bay Springs Marina in Mississippi about 9:30 Wednesday, October 3  and head up the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. We will stay in Pickwick Landing State Park Marina tonight and have dinner at Pickwick Lodge -- one of our favorite places to eat on the River.   From there we will head through our 16th and FINAL lock and wrap up our amazing trip by Saturday!!

 Within an hour on the Tombigbee, we meet "Mr. David", a big barge.  With the Waterway being only 300' wide, we have to make a quick decision whether to pass him on the right or the left.  We radio the Captain of Mr. David and ask which side he wants us to pass him and he tells us to pass him on the "two whistle".  That's boat lingo for us to pass him on his right side with our right side....that's one of the things you need to know when traveling with barges -- you have to know and speak their language.   The other barge we dealt with on the Tombigbee was "Father Pat".  We are pretty confident this was that Captain's maiden voyage because when we came up behind him, we asked which side he preferred we pass him on and he also said the "2 whistle" and as we passed him, he went aground and drove his barge into the side of the Waterway......he was able to get his barge un-stuck, but experienced Barge Captains don't move over for other boats.  He has some learning to do.....

We have seen some beautiful pictures, and this Grey Heron posed for us to take his picture on top of this green navigation can.

We easily make it back up the Tombigbee and back into Tennessee by 2:30 that afternoon so we decide to float near Pickwick Lock and Dam to enjoy the beautiful day and watch the barge and boat traffic going through the Lock.  This is a very busy Lock/Dam and many boats have to wait several hours before being able to go through the lock.  There are at least 2 barges waiting to lock through and 11 pleasure boats (pleasure boats are like us -- just out for the fun of the day).

As luck would have it, we saw the Father Pat barge again wanting to go through Pickwick Lock.  As he entered the Lock, he didn't get his barge stopped in time and rammed the side of the concrete Lock wall with his steel barge.  We were listening to the VHF radio and the Lockmaster was professional, yet clearly told him that was a safety issue and he needed to ensure he didn't scrape a Lock wall ever again.  Newbie.....

There were also 11 pleasure boats (these are privately owned boats like ours vs. a commercial barge) that are wanting to lock through Pickwick.  It takes them about 3 hours to lock through -- and when they finally exit the Lock, it looks like a horse race -- to see who gets out of the lock first and gets in front first.....

11 Boats exited the Lock and head for their evening destination.  The race is on.....

About 6PM we head for our slip at the marina and head to dinner.  We see some incredibly beautiful and large boats as we enter the marina.

And there's always a sweet sunset to bring closure to a gorgeous day on the water.

Thursday, October 4

Thursday morning we leave Pickwick Marina -- head toward Pickwick Lock and complete going through our 16th and FINAL lock on our trip.  We have tweaked our approach and process on every Lock we have gone through and feel pretty comfortable with going through Locks at this point.

Beautiful Calm Water at the Marina

Clear Skies and Calm Waters as we Leave Marina Channel

Leaving Marina Heading Toward Pickwick Lock

Lots of Seagulls on Lock Wall Waiting for Fish

We are now through our final Lock and have 160 miles to our home marina, Kenlake on Saturday, October 6.  We see an interesting sight about 20 miles past the Lock, an Amish family playing near the water.

We arrive at Clifton Marina that completes our 49 mile ride for today.  We always try to capture a nice sunset to cap off a beautiful day.

Sunset at Clifton Marina

Friday, October 5
We leave Clifton Marina and will spend Friday night at Pebble Isle Marina.  We have a 62 mile trip today and this will mark the last full day we will travel on this journey.  IT is a bitter-sweet day for sure.  We are so happy and thankful we have had a safe trip not to mention the forever memories we created while living on a 34' boat for 2 months straight....we had a blast, every day was perfect and I would not trade this experience for anything.
 

Clifton Marina -- 6 Boats Staying for the Night

We continue to see the River's beauty and am amazed at all we have seen and learned on our adventure.  

Looper Boat Headed South for the Winter

Catamaran Boat Headed South for Winter

Sailboat Headed South for the Winter

Rusty Barge Sitting Pretty on Land...

Nice Houses on Shoreline

 We know we are getting close to home when we see the I-40 bridge.  70 miles to the East and we'd be in downtown Nashville.....

I-40 Bridge -- Getting Close to Nashville.....

Mermaid Marina.  Cool Sign.....

Nice house on River

Sunset at Pebble Isle Marina

Our last night on the River was at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN.  The 2 sunset pictures above are the last 2 sunset pictures we took on our 1,500 mile trip.  This may not be the most stunning sunset, but it absolutely has the charm, calmness, and un-dying beauty that brings closure to our sunset views but will never bring closure to the love and memories Gene and I witnessed, created and shared together.

Final Sunset Picture of our Journey at Pebble Isle Marina

Tomorrow we have 53 miles to complete our entire loop on traveling the Tennessee River and arriving at Kenlake.

LOVE...LOVE...LOVE my Captain...…..LOVE...LOVE...LOVE Cloud Nine.....

Grand Harbor Marina to Bay Springs Marina (10/2- 10/3/2018)

On Tuesday, October 2, we leave Grand Harbor Marina and decide to take a "side trip" and go down the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway.  This Waterway is 470 miles long and is a man-made "trench" built in 1972 and completed in 1985.  The trench is 300' wide and 11' deep and ends in Mobile Bay.  This is the route many boats take as they embark on the Great Loop.  It is also a popular waterway for barges to go from the Tennessee River to Mobile and into the Gulf of Mexico.  Building of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway gave many boaters an alternative to taking the Mississippi River that has a big current, lots of debris, and much more boat/barge traffic.

Grand Harbor Marina in Counce, TN

Duck sitting on fuel island at Grand Harbor.  He looked right at the camera when we took his picture.

We had heard many stories about the Tombigbee so we wanted to experience it for ourselves.  We were only going 37 miles to the first marina and Lock.  The "trench" of the Waterway was about 28 miles long then it opened up into Bay Springs Lake.  This lake was the most gorgeous body of water we had seen in our 1000+ mile trip.  The water was dark, clean and crystal clear.  The shoreline was 100% covered in trees.  The view was unbelievable.  We were speechless....so we stopped for at least an hour and a half just to enjoy the scenery -- and took a swim in this gorgeous water.  Many of you may think seeing absolutely nothing and being in complete serenity and wilderness is "boring", but we were enamored at its beauty, calmness, and loved the experience.  There were so many pine trees in the area, you could smell them.  About 4:15 that afternoon, we pull into Bay Springs Marina to spend the night.  The marina had nice showers and laundry, but it had no cell service and no internet -- so it gets a thumbs down from us!!!  However, this side trip down the Tennessee Tombigbee was "so worth" the 37 mile adventure -- it was likely the most beautiful Lake and scenery we had seen on our trip.

Waterway is only about 300 feet wide with large rocks on shoreline

Cloud Nine is in center if waterway and our wake is crashing the shoreline.  Pretty site

I don't care what you say --- that's pretty right there!!

Barge and Tugboat going under railway bridge on Tombigbee

How did we pass that wide barge without going Aground??  We just did.....

Bay Springs Lake - Cloud and Tree Reflections in Water

Bay Springs Lake …. Just Gorgeous … Breathtaking

Sunset at Bay Springs Marina 

Grey Heron on Green Navigation Can

Red Navigation "Nun" on Tombigbee.  They are typically floating  in the water, not on a rock pile

Green Navigation Marker on Tombigbee plus Mile Marker.  They are typically floating in the water, not on top of rocks

On Wednesday morning, October 3, we leave Bay Springs Marina in New Site, MS and head to Pickwick Landing State Resort Park Marina in Pickwick Dam, Tennessee.  Once we go thru Pickwick Lock, we will have gone thru our 16th and final Lock for our trip.

Love my Captain....Love Cloud Nine.....

Joe Wheeler State Park/Marina and Grand Harbor Marina Visits (9/29 - 10/1/2018)

We leave Ditto Landing in Huntsville, AL on Saturday, September 29 and head for Joe Wheeler State Park Marina.  We are now half way home to where we began our Journey 2 months ago with our sights on traveling the entire Tennessee River.

We leave about 10:30, the weather is beautiful and 74 degrees.  The river is really muddy looking but not much debris in the water.  We see a yellow butterfly as we leave the slip at the marina as we have seen every day since we left on our trip August 10.  We consider seeing a yellow butterfly our good luck charm!!

This is the Hwy 231 bridge where I took the sunset picture last night!!  The skies are blue and today is going to be a perfect travel day for our 57 mile trip to Joe Wheeler Marina.

This railroad bridge in Decatur, AL is quite unique.  This bridge only has a vertical clearance of 9'8" so most every boat must call the "bridge tender" and ask he raise the bridge.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for a very long train to go over on the train tracks on the bridge.  After the train passes, the bridge starts to lift about 30' so we can pass under the bridge and continue our ride.

Approaching Bridge.  See how low it is.

The bridge is raised about 30 feet so we can pass under the bridge and continue our downstream trip

We NEVER got tired of seeing the beautiful skies, water and scenery along our journey

 We arrive at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina at 3:15PM and make our approach to our slip right behind the Lodge....which also has a gorgeous pool.....  We notice a Park Ranger waving us off saying we couldn't park our boat there.  We move to another slip and go talk with the Park Ranger to see what is going on.  He lets us know there is a wedding at 4:30 and the bride didn't want any boats in her wedding pictures......what.....she is getting married in a state park that has a marina attached to it and she doesn't want boats in her pictures....what was she thinking!!!

So we decide to go "float" in the Lake until after the wedding ceremony then we can come back and park wherever we want.  There were at least 10 more boats at the marina for the night and most of us left for about 2 hours then returned.  That's when the music got loud, the dancing got crazy and the "party got started"!!!  We parked Cloud Nine front and center of where the ceremony was held....see the seats and our boat in top right!!

Cloud Nine parked in the center of the wedding ceremony!!

Picture taken from Cloud Nine looking at Joe Wheeler State Park and Wedding Party!!

Sunset Starting as we leave the Lake Headed for the Wedding Party!!

Gorgeous Sunset at Joe Wheeler State Park and Marina

The DJ music ends by 9PM and the wedding party breaks up by 10PM.  It was a fun night for all of us in our boats and we presume the wedding attendees had a good time too.....but all we did know was we had so much fun on Saturday, we'd stay another day and have a "pool day".

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Joe Wheeler State Park and Marina, but it was time to move along down the river and see what adventure we can get into next!!

Monday, October 1
Monday morning, October 1, we headed for the "tri-state" marina in TN/AL/MS called Grand Harbor Marina.  The marina itself is in TN but when you step off the dock, you're in MS!!  We left Monday morning by 8:15 because we had 2 Locks to go through plus 62 miles to Grand Harbor Marina -- so we knew we'd have a long day.  Wheeler Lock was within 2 miles of Joe Wheeler Marina.  I called the Lockmaster and he said to come on down.....we did to find out we had a 1-1/2 hour wait.  This particular Lockmaster refused to tell me a barge was coming until we got to the "arrival point" which is within 500 yards of the Lock.  Needless to say, he was not my favorite Lockmaster.....geez - just tell me before we leave the marina that we will have an hour wait.  We finally get through that lock and Wilson Lock is only 18 miles away.  I call that Lockmaster and he is nice enough to tell us we will have about a 2 hour wait because there are 3 barges for him to lock through before he could let us through.  At least we knew we had a wait -- so we decided to take a side trip to a marina near Wilson Lock and fuel up.  That would take about an hour and we needed fuel anyway before we completed our 62 mile trip that day.  There are some incredible homes on Wilson Lake.

Wilson Lock is the largest lock on the TN River.  Once inside the Lock, it lowers us 93' into Pickwick Lake.  These are pictures of the inside of the lock.

Looking to the top of the Lock from inside Cloud Nine.  That's tall......

Leaving Wilson Lock

As we leave Wilson Lock into Pickwick Lake, we see this cute graffiti painted on the bridge.

We now have about 45 miles to get to our next marina, but we are done with Locks that have delayed us today.  It should be smooth sailing now......except for the massive storms we soon see approaching the River.

Big Storms ahead of us

Oh my, really bad storms ahead of us.  

We put all our covers up so we can stay pretty dry....we wait and watch hoping to not get drenched by the storms.  Somehow, we were able to avoid getting wet.  It was a few scary moments, but we dodged another storm....we are 2 lucky folks.....

Then we see the most beautiful double rainbow.  It was so big, we could not capture the entire rainbow into 1 picture!!

As quickly as the clouds and storms arrived, the skies separated just as fast and the sun was shining 

We arrived at Grand Harbor Marina at 6:15PM.  Time for another sunset picture, and a quiet evening before leaving again on Tuesday.

These 3 days were amazing.  Everything from a Wedding, Pool Day, 2 Locks, Storms, Rainbows and reaching the 3-state triangle of TN/MS/AL, this 120 mile trip was both memorable and beautiful.

Tomorrow we will take another side trip down the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway.

Love my Captain......Love Cloud Nine.....