Closing Out 2017 Boating Season

Our 2017 journey/adventure on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers has come to an end solely because freezing temperatures have now arrived in Middle Tennessee.  The good news is, we will continue our journey beginning spring 2018 and we can hardly wait.  The summer/fall of 2017 ranks as one of the best and most memorable seasons in our 39 years of marital bliss!!  We had SOOOOO much fun -- laughing uncontrollably, enjoying each other's company and smiling every nautical mile....and that's a lot of smiling since we cruised a little more than 1,000 miles between August 18th and November 3rd.

During our travels, we visited 10 different  marinas -- several we enjoyed so much we visited more than once!!  We also ate some incredible food but best of all was all the fun and amazing people we met along the way.  We exchanged probably 100 boat cards (these are like business cards with your name, your boat name, phone numbers, etc) so you could contact them again.

We decided to "winter" Cloud Nine at Kenlake Marina in Aurora, KY.  We love the marina, great covered slip, HD cable with over 100 channels, and wifi all included.  The marina is tucked into the Kenlake State Park with numerous walking trails, a lodge, restaurant, cabins and lots of deer, many different types of birds including wild geese, Grey Herons, While Pelicans, Eagles and migrating bird sanctuaries.  Kenlake is about 20 miles from the northern tip of the Tennessee River and the river/Kentucky Lake is so wide and beautiful there, right in the middle of Land Between The Lakes.  We will have lots of exploring to do in the area next spring/early summer.

On November 3, we took Cloud Nine from Pebble Isle Marina to Kenlake Marina.  It was NOT a pretty day -- it was windy and rainy.....2 criteria we try to avoid (luckily we bought new windshield wipers the day before we left -- but we needed to get "her" home so we could get her settled in, and get her washed and waxed for the end of the season.  She was actually winterized today.

Here are some beautiful pictures from our last 54-mile journey from Pebble Isle Marina to Kenlake Marina.  The fall colors on the trees were absolutely gorgeous, unfortunately the rain, fog and wind didn't allow the pictures to give justice to their beauty:

Tree-lined Color leaving Pebble Isle Marina

Our first Time to Have to Use Our Windshield Wipers!!

Leaving Pebble Isle Heading North on Tennessee River

Fog, Clouds, Wind and Rain on Tennessee River

Beautiful Tree Colors on Tennessee River 

Weather Conditions Forced us to Travel Slow.  Finally a Break in

the Weather So We Could Get a "Sweet" Wake For a Few Miles!

Final Barge in Tow We See On 2017 Journey

Home at Kenlake Marina -- Beautiful Colors

Cloud Nine Happy to be Under Cover and HOME at Kenlake

If you didn't get the "gist" of our blog this year, let me reiterate we had the most incredible experience ever.  It exceeded our expectations in EVERY way.  To the family and friends that have followed our Blog, thank you -- we hope it gave you a small sense of amazing adventure.

To the new friends we met along our journey, thank you for sharing your adventures, expertise and thoughts with us.  We learned so much from you in the past 3 months.  We met many folks that were taking the Great Loop -- we wish you safe travels, great fun and creating memories of a lifetime.  Maybe our paths will cross again.

Happy Holidays to each of you.  To my Captain, thanks for all you did to ensure our adventure was everything we hoped it would be -- it was AWESOME.

While this boating season has come to an end -- what we learned this year and the river-boating confidence we gained from the Solar Eclipse to Pickwick Lake, we can't wait to start our 2018 adventures next Spring.