October 28-29

October 28 Car touring day and restock the pantry. See Rock City and so we did. Any body that has driven south has seen many barns painted with the above slogan. If I had seen it before it was before my memory started. Anyway we toured Rock City which sits atop Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. It is really quite interesting with the views magnificent and the rock formations very interesting. Sharon and Don sat this one out as Sharon's leg was bothering her and the walk was lengthy. The picture is of me on the catwalk bridge. In the afternoon a tour of downtown Chattanooga was in order. Very neat waterfront and downtown area with a very very good aquarium. Remember we cruised by the waterfront on the Tennessee River. Krystal Hamburgers (twin to White Castle) was having a hamburger eating contest (gross). Must have been rather noteworthy because ESPN2 televised it. There was some music but not to our liking so we moved on. The day was sunshiny but windy and a high temp of about 68. Our next order of business was to visit a grocery store and laundromat. Judy and Sharon did the grocery shopping while Don and I figured out how to do the laundry but we also got to watch the NFL game (Colts not on here) while the washers and dryers went around. We almost had the laundry done before they got their grocery shopping done. This evening was windy and cool. We had steaks on the grill but it took a little longer, but they were good as they just came from the butcher shop. No frost here because the water is so warm

October 29 A little chilly as we woke up. The Air Conditioner units on the boat are also heat pumps so we activated the heat portion. Okay we have digressed quite a bit from our travels and have made a few turns that were probably unexpected. Several of you asked why. First if we were truly headed South we would have turned right from the Tennessee River at MM215 and headed for Mobile AL. Instead we kept on going up the Tennessee River. First to attend the looper rendezvous, then to go further up the River to see probably the best part and finally to end up in Chattanooga so we could go to Atlanta. The leaves our now starting to turn so perhaps that will be an added benefit. Also hurricane season is a part of this. Our insurance dictates that we cannot be south of Demopolis Al, before November 15th. our boat now sits at MM478 just above Chickamauga Lock & Dam. Now we are ready to turn around and head back down the River(southwest) to MM215 where we will turn left and head down the Tenn-Tombigbee waterway. We are right on schedule and perhaps can dawdle a little. After the sun came up and warmed things up we were able to shed our sweatshirts. The temperature rose to the high 60's-no wind and not a cloud in the sky. An absolutely gorgeous day to enjoy a slow cruise down the river. We are going with the current now so we are averaging about 9mph and fuel consumption today was about 1.75 mpg. On the hook (anchoring) tonight near MM 426 at Little Cedar Mountain. The picture to the left above is from our anchorage. The boat Carol Ann is with us. Statute miles traveled 2032.