By the time we exited the lock the sun was shining and it was a calm day as we continued upstream. An hour and a half later we were arriving at the Joe Wheeler Lock which only has a 48' lift. We waited a short time for an exiting barge to leave the chamber and then it was our turn. Once through the lock we entered Joe Wheeler Lake and travelled past Joe Wheeler State Park Marina better known as Looper Nirvana this time of year. That's right. The AGLCA has their fall rendezvous there every October attracting loopers from all over the country. Officially it doesn't start until the 23rd but the parade has already begun.
We travelled on past Decatur, Alabama enroute to Ditto Landing Marina near Huntsville, Al. where we were going to check out Tumbleweed's slip (read free night!) but the marina guys thought we would be too tall and put us in one of the new transient slips. The price was still right and the staff more than accommodating. The only downside was the laundry which was behind the storage building and shared with the adjacent campground. Not a happy Pamster but laundry got down anyway. The better news was that we were able to watch DWTS & Castle for the first time in a few weeks.
10/18/11 Tuesday The forecast called for thunderstorms moving in by afternoon which caused us to alter our destination plans for the day. We had hoped to anchor for the night but in my condition and with severe weather forecast we decided to stop short at Goose Pond Marina near Scottsboro, Al. This proved to be a good move on our part since fuel was 3.90 per gallon and dockage was a buck a foot. As we pulled up to the fuel dock I recognized a boat at the dock that I had seen in our friends blog. 20 Buck$, crewed by Ken & Pat Goewey from Minnesota who we had not yet met. That quickly changed once we were secured for the day. Seems Pat & Ken had travelled down the rivers with Marc & Michelle (Marc's Ark) who hail from our hometown of Galena, IL. Ken & Pat are hanging around to attend the looper rendezvous before continuing south.
Before we could get down to the serious business of cocktails Pam & I had to run to the grocery store and re-supply. It was fun meeting Ken & Pat and of course exchanging the "dirt" on Marc & Michelle!
10/19/11 Wednesday Since we stopped short yesterday we needed to get going today since we wanted to get to Chattanooga by nightfall. As we left Ken & Pat were wiping the sleep out of their eyes while waving good-bye. The river was quiet with no traffic for miles. Eventually we met a couple of boats headed South and 3 test boats from Yamaha roaring up and down the river testing outboards. Not long after I started hearing chatter on the VHF from the Nickajack Lock. Not a good sign since it means the one lock we have to pass through may be busy. When we got within 5 miles of the lock I gave them a call to see what conditions were. The response was "I've got a tow just about to leave the chamber down bound. A rec craft above to bring down, and an up bound tow below the lock switching barges. We're pretty busy so I don't know how long it will be." Hmmm! I weighed our options and made the decision to speed up since he had to raise the water after the tow left and maybe we could get there before he closed the gates. If not we'll have lunch!
We arrived just as the down bound tow was leaving the lock. A quick call to the lockmaster and after he got over his shock that we were already there we were granted permission to enter the lock and get a ride up without any delay! That doesn't happen often.
The day was cold, overcast, and drizzly making picture taking rather futile. Let me just say the scenery is Awesome! Hopefully when we come back down river the sun will be shining.
It was a long day of 85 miles by the time we pulled into Chattanooga. Of course as we pulled in the wind picked up and the drizzle increased. It felt good to get the power cord plugged in and the heat turned on. Nothing to do now but snuggle!
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