10/14/2017

We are now at Clifton, TN.  We arrived last night after an 8 hour run & decided to stay today & leave early in the AM, barring fog.  We will have a long run tomorrow & one lock.  Fingers crossed the lock doesn't hold us up to long.

We left Green Turtle Bay in heavy fog which eventually burned off, thank you.  While there, we had torrential downpours.  I have never been in anything like it.  With the rain pounding on the metal roof, one couldn't even talk & be heard.  We were glad to be under cover.  Didn't even have to close up the canvas.  Well, the wind swung around while we were sleeping & we SHOULD have closed the canvas.  Did I mention with air conditioning running we cannot hear much from the outside.  Not always a good thing.   Before we left the inflatable had to be pulled up on the swim platform.  Tim is usually able to do that with only a little help from me.  He complained it was extremely heavy.  Once on the platform we saw the lower chamber was filled with water.   I'm surprised it didn't sink.
We dined with locals Saturday night.  They invited us to their steak fry. It was quite a spread.  We even had  homemade ice cream.

 We are now in the land between the lakes.  We anchored in Sugar Creek.  It was sunny & warm.  I decided to go for a swim.  Riley & Tim were on the swim platform.  Riley  jumped in after me.  He has never gone in without MUCH encouragement.  He swam for awhile & decided it was time to get out.  He put his front paws on the platform & unfortunately on Tim's foot.  One of his nails punctured Tim's nail bed. Tim continued to swim that day.  By that night,  his toes was red & painful.  I made him soak it, but by morning it was worse.  Luckily, the boat we were with had a nurse aboard, who was much better prepared than I!  She had some antibiotics & we started him on those, with a drastic improvement.  We eventually docked & took him to an urgent care, where he received IM ATB & oral ATB.  He is continuing to improve.  Another notable events at Sugar Creek, the coyotes were having a party.  Howling much of the night.  

We left that anchorage in the morning for the next anchorage.  Tim's foot improving with ATB & warm soaks, but he had to stay out of the water.  That is a problem at anchor.  It is his job to take Riley to shore which means river water.  I needed to step up to the plate.  Did I mention my spider phobia?  We tried to take him to a ramp, but some locals had set up camp with about 5 dogs.  (Can anyone guess the tune running thru my head?).   They suggested we take him across the cove to the other shore, which of course we did.  It  was rocky & I was wearing flip flops.  On purpose, because I knew I would be walking in the water.  I have never seen so many spiders in one place.  Everywhere I stepped they scattered.  My mantra was, "They are more scared of me than I am of them. " Just kept telling myself that & begging Riley to do his thing so we could get out of there.  Finally Riley complied.  Yea, out of there.  But of course I would have to go back for another outing & it would be dark!  Maybe that was better.  What I couldn't see wouldn't hurt me, right?  Guess I was right, as I am here to tell about it.  A side story to this particular adventure:  While leaving the "camp" water bugs were in front our inflatable.  At least I think they were water bugs, I couldn't see anything, but the trails they left as they swam to stay away from us.  The trails were beautiful.  My best description would be a modern art line drawing that just kept evolving as I watched.
That night the wind kicked up.  The anchor held, but waves slapped the hull all night.  Not a restful sleep.

We went next to Pebble Isle Marina.   We stayed 2 nights.  We used there courtesy car to re provision & take Tim to an urgent care.  He was better, but I wanted him checked & I needed to replace the ATB's I borrowed.  Mission accomplished.  We kept busy.  Tim washed the boat.  I did laundry.  Riley met Lucky & they ran around & chased each other.  Long time since he was able to do that.  Riley & I also went for a long walk/run in Nathan Bedford State Park.  Riley had to be patient while I soaked in the history & then we ran.  Speaking of history, this area is steeped in it.  We saw civil war barracks, cemeteries, cannons & redoubts.  Very cool.  Reading about what those men & horses went through is incredible.  Don't think many today could survive it.
Last, but not least, I had finally had it.  No reception for days.  I decided to get a hot spot from AT&T.  It was not to be.  It's not like being at home, where one can google (remember no reception) & shop around.  Had to go with Verizon.  Anyway I now have a Verizon phone/account to use as a hot spot.  The situation is only marginally improved.  This is really AT&T country.

Next stop Perryville Marina, or so we thought.  The water was too skinny.  We could not get in.  Our 40 mile run turned into a 63 mile run to Clifton, TN.  We made it just before dark.  We left late, not anticipating such a long run. The river was loaded with bass boats.  It was Friday.  I said to Tim, "Don't these people have anything to do but fish?"  As it turns out, there was a fishing tournament going on!  Anyway, Clifton Marina was very welcoming.  Nice people & a restaurant on site.  The burger & fries hit the spot after that day.  We decided to stay another day.  Went to town in the courtesy car.  Very small.  Not much open.  Once again history everywhere & a building that reminded me of New Orleans.  Riley got to run around off leash which he appreciates.  He also got a bath.

Wednesday 10/18/2017

Still have not been able to post or get my pictures due to poor reception, so I will just keep writing & post when I can.

We left Clifton on Sunday morning.  It was hazy, but nice.  We had one lock to get thru & were hoping for the best.  The shoreline among the way was a kept us entertained.  One island was inhabited by wild goats.  Along the the shore it ran the gamut from multimillion dollar houses to trailers.  It was not unusual to see a kettle or committee of vultures.

When we got to Pickwick Lock, we were told it would be awhile & we could tie to the wall to wait.  It took us 3 hours to get thru that lock.  Luckily, we were not going far after that, as storms were coming in.  We got to Pickwick State Park got settled in & the rains started.  Timing is everything.

We took our time leaving in the AM as we were only going 10 miles to Aqua Marina & no locks.  It is a big yard with a lift.  Tim wanted the shafts checked as we were experiencing some vibration.  We arrived Monday & are still here on Wednesday with no idea when we will be leaving.  It has been very slow going.  We are at least a 10 minute walk to the service department.  Our service man brings 1 tool & decides it is not right & walks back to get a different one.  One tool at a time.  & we are paying by the hour!  Hopefully it all turns out well.  Friends we met along the way are here also.  They started out having a vibration checked (which is fixed), but now need an air conditioner which was punctured by the service man when he was checking it.  They also found a slow leak in the bow by the thruster.   Evidently whoever installed the bow thruster goofed.  That now needs to be fixed.

While here Riley did get to a groomer.  He is as handsome as ever! & an added bonus, he now has a Halloween scarf.  He looks better than Tim & I.  He is still trying to make friends with Gypsea the cat.  We call her puppy/kitty so he maybe a little confused.

The locals invited us to use there grill & table.  We had a feast last night.  We also have access to a courtesy car so we have been to town to re provision.

AT ANCHOR

DOWNTOWN CLIFTON

GREEN TURTLE BAY

LIMESTONE ON THE TENNESSE

MAKING FRIENDS???

MIST IN THE AM, PERRYVILLE