Nov 17, 2011

November 17

We left Demopolis late afternoon to go anchor at Foscue Creek just two miles  from the marina.
Beautiful anchorage with a park like setting.  We met up with the group the next morning at Demopolis Lock and Dam.  We have 100 miles to travel today to Bobby's Fish Camp.  We tried to get into the lock early, but had to wait for a tow to lock through.

Barge leaving the lock.  Now it's our turn.

                                            

Locking with Sweet Pea, Erika Lynn and Nauti Nell.

                                    

Sensation is locking across from us, she's a beauty!!!

                           

Falls at Demopolis.

                                    


We had another successful lock and a beautiful surprise when we pulled out of the lock
to see the water plunging over the long spillway then cascading over the rock ledges.

Our boat parade headed to Bobby's Fish Camp.

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Nov. 14th-16th, 2011

November 14-16

Demopolis is no metropolis, but after passing through more than 200 miles of landscape that hasn't changed much it is nice to get your feet on the ground.  Ken's birthday is today and we will celebrate by going to the marina's restaurant.  Once we arrived at the dock there were a number of Loopers there that we met at Joe Wheeler.  Great to see familiar faces and hear about their experiences. 

Cocktails on the party dock at 5PM.  Radiance captained by Tom and Linda challenged us to a game of train that night...the girls won.  We rock!  The next day we  used the courtesy car and  went for provisions and boat parts.  Nice to have a loaner vehicle for a few hours.  Had a few weather days and tried to catch up with chores.  Thank goodness the remodeled dock offered a newer laundry facility with 4 washers and dryers vs one each!  Yes, the little things in life make you happy.

Lots of traffic headed into Demopolis.

                                     

Jim and Dale on Sweet pea.

                                                           

Nov. 13, 2011

November 13

Early departure, 7:30AM to travel 47 mile to Demopolis Yacht Basin. Normally we cruise at 9mph and sometimes we have to wait for barges to lock through before we can enter  the lock.  Commercial traffic always takes precedence over pleasure craft.  We were able to practice our locking skills again at the Helfin Lock. We passed the spectacular White Cliffs of Epes, this is one of the most picturesque sites on the river. Before the cliffs we went under a twin span of bridges which was I-20 and I-59 which link such cities as Atlanta, Chattanooga and Birmingham to the east and Jackson, New Orleans, Dallas and Ft. Worth to the west.  Today we came to the end of  the Canal section of Tenn-Tom Waterway and entered The Black Warrior River.  It was a great boating experience..

Erika Lynn and Sweet Pea leaving Heflin Lock.  Locks are going smoother for us now.

                               

Erika Lynn and the White Cliffs of Epes.

                                        

Sweet Pea and the White Cliffs of Epes.

                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                 

Loop Dreams leaving the cliffs behind.

Nov. 12, 2011

Leaving early today to travel with Sweet Pea and Erika Lynn and we will travel 40 miles to a quiet anchorage. We will be locking at Bevill Lock and Dam.  Jim on Sweet Pea suggested to leave one of the boat engines running to keep the boat near the wall and throw a  line around the bollard in the center and see if that will help.  Eureka!  It worked!!!  We handled the lock with ease.  We had read that engines had to be off but no one seems to care.  Thank you Jim! Great job Captain Ken!



Bollard tied, cutters in hand in case it sticks.  A successful lock!

                                  
                                                                         

Setting anchors for a night of rafting.

           


Three boats anchored at Sunpter Recreation Area, bow, stern, bow.  Bob on Erika Lynn is taking his anchor out by dingy to set his anchor. His wife Lynda and Jim helps him with the feat. With three  anchors out we should be secure!

Sunset at Sumpter.  Great day boating with our new friends.

                                                                                                
                                                                           

Nov 10-11th, 2011

November 10 - 11

We anchored the night before at Acker Lake and ran into Nauti Nell, another Looper.  We are on our way to Pirates Marina Cove to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We have to lock through the Aberdeen  and Stennis Lock to get there.  We plan to visit Tom Bevill Visitor Center and the USS Snagboat Montgomery.  The town should be close enough for us to use our DiBlasi scooters for the first time.

Snagboat USS Montgomery and Bevill Visitor Center.

          

USS Snagboat Montgomery was the last steam-powered stern wheeler that worked on the South's  rivers. For nearly six decades, the Montgomery, which is 108' long, labored to keep seven of the South's major rivers navigable.  Tom Beville Visitor Center is in the background.

                                                            USS Snagboat Montgomery
                                                                                    

Having a blast on the Diblasi scooters.

                                            

Anniversary balloons.
 

11/11/2011  our 5th anniversary.  We had a great day exploring on our scooters and Ken surprised me with balloons and cards for both of us.  We ate at the local diner, Down Yonder, and had catfish. Yum!  When we returned from our outing we discovered Erika Lynn captained by Bob and Lynda, and Sweet Pea captained by Jim and Dale docked next to us.  Good to see some Loopers.  Time to bring out the Texas wine! 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Nov. 9, 2011

November 9

Leaving Midway Marina and back on the river.  We did two locks today and we were challenged.
First off, the bollards are now lower and I have to reach way down to get a line on the bollard and we
are having trouble with the boat swinging off the wall because we do not have a mid cleat.  Ken used a small piece of hose to put around the line so I could hook the bollard easier.  That worked through a few locks, but unfortunately when the wind was blowing we had challenges with the rope pulling so tight we could not get the line off the bollard.  Intense moments.  There has to be an easier way!

Lock line with hose loop to help lasso the bollard.

                             

Passing barges.  We had to go between them.  Yikes!!  Tow captains are helpful and courteous.

                                                                                                                                      

Phone booth in the wilderness.

Someone's idea of a joke.  Telephone booth on the river....do you need to stop and make a call?
With our spotty reception we were tempted!
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                             

Nov. 8, 2011

November 8

Back on the boat.  Since we have the rental car for another day, we decided to go to Columbus to tour the antebellum homes.  We were able to visit Tennessee Williams Home which now serves as the Welcome Center for the city of Columbus.  Then off to Temple Heights, an 1837 four story home with porches on three side and fourteen Doric columns.  Dixie Butler, owner,  gave us a wonderful tour. Then off to Waverly Plantation Mansion, built in 1852 and one of the most photographed homes in the South.  It stood vacant for over 50 years before Robert Snow purchased the home and restored it to its former grandeur.  If old homes could only talk...the tales and secrets they could share would be fascinating.

We were close to Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis was born.  We drove past, but we did not tour his home.

Rental car in the sinkhole at Midway Marina.
 

           Our rental car fell in a sink hole during the night and we had to have it towed before we could start our tour.   In the background in Midway Marina, where our boat was docked.

Waverly Plantation Mansion, built in 1852.

                                                                        


                                                                         
                                                            
                                                                           

                                                                       

Nov 3-6th, 2011

November 3-6

I received a phone call at 6:15AM from my sister to let me know that my dad died at 6AM this morning.  My dad is in a better place and he does not have to struggle any more.  I will miss his smile, laughter and our every day conversations.  He was a wonderful father. 

We are anchored out at an Island close to the Rankin Lock.  Heavy rain storm hit us last night and the boat was rocking.  You could here the waves slap against the bow and it made for a restless night.
We had to wait for a break in the weather so we could go through the lock and dock at a marina and
find a way home.
We left our anchorage around 11:30AM.   The rain had stopped, but the wind was still up.  The lock was challenging and the boat kept swinging from the wall. Ken got his hand caught in the rope. We need a mid cleat.  Made it through the lock and docked at Midway Marina.  They drove us to Tupelo, Mississippi where we rented a car.  We arrived in Dallas after midnight.

Dad's funeral in Fort Worth.

                                       


Funeral was November 5th. The sanctuary was full and Dad's casket was adorned by hundreds of flowers.  Thank you to all of my friends who sent flowers and called to express their sorrow.  I appreciate your support during this difficult time.

November 2, 2011

We anchored last night at Zippy Branch.  Our first night out on the hook and technically, our first night on the Loop.  It was a quiet anchorage and we heard coyotes howling.  It was a beautiful evening and we ate out on the cockpit by candle light.   We set the anchor alarm and had quiet night on the Tennessee river.

Today we enteered into the section of theTennessee Tombigbee Waterway called the "Divide Cut". The Tenn-Tom Waterway was cut through the backbone of the land here to a depth of as much as 175' for a distance of nearly 25 miles.  We are now on the Great Loop Route!  We will be heading on down the river to the Whitten Lock, with a drop of 85 feet.  It is the ninth highest single lift lock in the US. From this location we will be going downhill, from about 414 feet above sea level
to the Gulf of Mexico.

Zippy Branch, our first anchorage near Grand Harbor Marina.

                     

A stroll on the bank, Tennessee River behind us.

                                                                                                                               

Passing our first barge on the Tenn Tom Waterway.

                  

 

Our wake stirs up lunch for the birds.  Bonn Appetite!

 

Baffles are used to prevent flooded creeks from rushing into the river.

                                 

Time to pop the cork!
 

We are celebrating starting on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, offficially the beginning of the Great Loop for us!   Champagne compliments of Jack and Sukie Murphy, our friends back home.  Fantastic day boating.  We did two locks today and will anchor out tonight close to an island by Rankin Lock and Dam.  Looks like we may be in for some bad weather.                         

Nov. 1, 2011

November 1st

Leaving Muscle Shoals, Alabama to resume our trip down the Tennessee River.  The next lock we have to  transit  is the "Tallest Lift-Lock East of the Rockies," known as the Wilson Lock, which has a 95 foot drop.  This lock is so large, that when you see it from a distance, you figure you are almost there.  It's only when the lock opens and a teeny tiny boat emerges that you realize you are still a mile away.

The story of the Wilson Lock and Dam is a story of superlatives.  Today it's the tallest lift-lock east of the Rockies; at the time it was built (construction started in 1918 and was completed in 1927), it was the most ambitious public works project of the era and the tallest concrete lock-and-dam ever built in the United States. 

The dam was also our government's first-ever federal hydroelectric project (it was conceived of before the TVA was established; in fact the construction of this lock and dam inspired President Roosevelt to CREATE the TVA). And it was also the first time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a multi-purpose dam (besides generating power, the structure allowed big boats to get past the rapids at Muscle Shoals, aiding commercial navigation; it's also used for flood control.

Here's an interesting sidelight in history:  Shortly after construction on the dam started, in 1921, automotive tycoon Henry Ford offered to buy it from the federal government, for $5 million.  Ford imagined building automobile assembly plants and turning the town of Muscle Shoals, a sleepy cotton town, into a metropolis, and pledged to employ a million workers in new auto plants.

Since the initial cost of construction was more than $40 million, the numbers hardly added up and the  government said "no" to Henry. The dam stayed in public hands.

These days there are taller locks--for example, the Ice Harbor Lock on the lower Snake River in Washington State raises and lowers vessels 103 feet.  But Wilson Dam still generates more than 600,000 KW of power, making it one of the highest-capacity hydroelectric plants in the nation. 

As large as the Wilson Lock is, it's not large enough for the towboats that pass us daily. The lock is 600 feet long, while a tow 3 barges wide and five barges long can exceed 1000 feet. To pass through the lock, tows this size have to be untied, locked through in two passes, and then reassembled, which is time consuming and costly.  We were lucky and we did not have to wait for any tow traffic and we were the only ones in this monster of a lock!  We had a great locking experience!

Overlooking Wilson Lock and Dam, before getting on the Loop.

 

                                                                                                

Approaching Wilson Lock by boat, Marriott restaurant in the tower to the right.

                                                                                                                        

In the lock, secured and waiting to drop 95 feet.

                                         

Gates closed, starting the descent.

                                        
                                                                  

Pushing away from the wall to avoid scratches.

                                                          

At the bottom successfully.

                                                                     

Gates opening.  We will untie and be on our way!

                                         
                               

Headed out and down the Tennessee River.

                              
                                                                           
                                                                                                            
                                                                                  
                                                                                     

October 31, 2011

October 31

We visited Shiloh Battlefield in Tennessee.  America's best preserved battlefield site of the Civil War's first major combat is located on 4,200 acres overlooking the Tennessee River with 156 monuments, 217 cannons, and more than 650 historic tablets. Fought April 6th and 7th, 1862, Shiloh, also known as the "Battle of Pittsburgh Landing", gave General U. S. Grant his sternest test, and witnessed the death of General Albert Johnston, the highest ranking American ever killed in combat.  Ken and I took a ten mile self-guided driving tour which began at the Visitors Center, which featured a short orientation film. The battle had 23,746 casualties.

Shiloh Battlefield Memorial

                                                                         
                                    

Farley Field where the battle began at 4:55 AM April 6th when Confederate pickets engaged a Union patrol.

             

Shiloh Monument with cannons.

                                                 
                                                                                                                                     

Shiloh Meeting House, the Methodist log church that gave the battle its name.



Shiloh Confederate Monument marks where Southern troops encircled and captured 2,100 Union troops at the Hornet's Nest

                                                                       

                                                                                     
    
                                                                               

Oct 28th-30th, 2011

October 28-30

We rented a car to go back to Fort Worth, TX.  My dad is not responding to hospital treatments and he is scheduled to go home next week with Hospice care.   Arrived in Fort Worth at  8:30pm and Dad was awake. He lit up when Ken & I entered the room and tears started to stream down his face.  I am so glad we decided to go back home.  This is where I need to be for a few days.  The next morning I
was able to visit Jennifer and see Izzy, my new grand daughter.  She is so cute and starting to have a
personality.  I arrived at the hospital at 9:30AM and dad was sleeping.  Shortly he awoke and was in
good spirits.  He had an appetite and I thought he might be making a turn around, but as the day went on he kept getting weaker and it was harder for him to talk.  He had tons of company. I believe COPD will finally win this battle. I prayed with my dad before I left his side and told him he was a fantastic father and wonderful husband.  He was ready for God to take him.  I left Dad around 4:30pm to go help Cynthia and Mark get the bedroom ready for the hospital bed.  Early Sunday morning we were back in the car for the long trip to Florence, Alabama.

Great Grandpa with Jaxson and Jordan Erkie, October 2011.

 

Great Grandpa with Isabella Palasciano, October 2011.

     

October 27, 2011

After visiting with my sister we decided to rent a car and drive back to Fort Worth, TX.  My dad is not responding to treatments.  We decided to go back to J's Landing in Florence and leave the boat there.  We went throught the Wheeler lock, locking down this time and did OK. Not bad for a rookie!

                     

Boats docked at Joe Wheeler.  Ken put the dingy together.  We are ready to head down river!
                                                                                

Boats in the Wheeler Lock going down...

                                                                            

                                                             
Wheeler Lock gates are opening!  Time to untie from the bollard and move on down the river.