Cooler Weather

Two nights ago it got down to 28 degrees.  We were aware that the temperature was going to drop down below freezing, so John winterized the shower on the swim platform and the deck wash, out on the bow.  I guess we didn't go far enough south.  It's only November and it gets cold at night.  The days when the sun shines are still pleasant though.   

The oven quit working.  It wouldn't heat up and the water heater isn't getting the water very warm any more.  So, John ordered a new heating element for the water heater and a heating element for the oven.  Today he installed the one for the oven.  Now I can cook anything I want again.  It was strange having to think about how something needed to be cooked before buying food at the grocery store.  The water heater is on the list of  "Things To Do".  John hasn't been feeling so well for the past two or three days.  It's just a cold, but he doesn't feel like doing much.  We are both hoping that he is back to normal (whatever that is) by the time we come home for Thanksgiving.  We are so looking forward to seeing everyone over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  I am doing very well with my Christmas shopping.  I figured that since we are going to be home for a few weeks and there are only six weeks until Christmas, I better get a move on.  There is still one more thing I want to make for a Christmas gift.   I feel pretty good about my progress so far.  Well, that's pretty much what's been happening recently here. 

November Already

This past weekend was my annual sisters' trip.  My sisters and sisters-in-law have gone away for a weekend in the fall every year for many years.  Over the years this trip has evolved to include Mom and the nieces and nieces-in-law that are older than 18.  I never missed a single one of these trips until we left on The Great Loop Trip.  I missed two years during that time.  We were gone for three years, but one year they came to where we were docked for our sisters' trip.  This year it was only my sisters and Mom.  The four of us went to Clarksville, Indiana.  We started our Christmas shopping, went to a very nice craft show in Louisville, and attended the play "Mousetrap" at the Derby Dinner Theater.  We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and played cards.  While we missed the rest of the girls, we had a great time anyway.

Before I left for this weekend, John told me that he bought me a present that was going to be delivered on Friday.  He said it was something I wouldn't buy for myself.  It's not even my birthday or our Anniversary or anything.  When I got back, he gave it to me.  It is a box of wonderful teas from Mighty Leaf Tea Company.  He was right.  I would not have ordered it for myself, but they are wonderful.  I might have to reorder them because I haven't tried a single one that I didn't like.  Thanks, John. 

There aren't very many people around the harbor since the first of the month.  Pickwick State Park has been working on replacing their docks and, apparently, one (or more) of them has been finished and open for boats.  Several boats left our dock to go there.  Several boats have left for Florida.  Loopers have been passing through here and we enjoy talking with them, but they don't stay more than a night or two.  It's a good thing we have each other to talk to.

That's it for a week or so.  Hang in there.....

Saturday, October 27, 2012

It's been a little more than a week since our last post.  John ordered a reconditioned detail sander because he wore out his old one.  He received an email saying it had been shipped and so a couple of days later, we walked up to the office to pick it up.  On the way, we ran into Tony the service manager.  He asked us what two people living on a boat would want with a weed whacker.  We thought that was a strange question.  He said that a package came for John that says weed whacker on the outside.  Sure enough, instead of a detail sander, he received a weed whacker.  After emailing back and forth with the company, it was discovered that the person who ordered the weed whacker got the detail sander and vice versa.  They shipped us the sander with a label to send the mistake package to the correct person directly.  We got a giggle out of that one.

We visited Shiloh Battlefields again.  This time we bought the CD that narrates the driving tour.  However, they have changed the order of the stops and so far, we have not figured out how to visit each stop in the order on the CD.  We need to go back to the visitor's center for clarification on that.

Two days ago, I fell down the four steps going into the aft cabin and bruised my back.  OUCH!  It's slowing me down just a bit.  Then, the next day, John did the exact same thing.  He cut his knee in his fall.  What's up with that?  The steps aren't any different than they have ever been before.  Oh well.

Yesterday, we finally met Cathryn and Bob on our "sister ship" Next To Me.  We have been playing leap frog for a long while.  John has been reading their blog and emailing them.  They arrived at Aqua Yacht Harbor yesterday afternoon and we went to Freddy T's for dinner with them last night.  We thoroughly enjoyed meeting them and hope that our paths cross again sometime.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

We have been busy keeping the boat in ship shape in case someone wants to come to see it.  John took the van to the dealer to have the air conditioner worked on again.  The freon keeps leaking out and the last time, they put a dye in so that if it happened again, they could tell where it is leaking.  Well, it took them an hour and a half to find the leak because it is leaking all the way in the back of the van.  When the trailer hitch was installed, it was rubbing on the A/C line and rubbed a hole in it.  So, the new line should arrive tomorrow and, hopefully, this will be the last time having the air conditioner serviced. 

I have begun making Christmas gifts.  There are so many really good ideas on Pinterest.  I am excited about some of the ideas I've gotten from this source.  I intend to make a lot of gifts, so the work is started.  No time like the present. 

A couple of days ago, John and I visited the Buford Pusser Home and Museum in Adamsville.  I thought he was a fictitious character made up for the movies, but he was very real.  He was truly amazing.  One time he had part of his face blown off, his chin hanging off of his face.  After many surgeries, he looked pretty good and could even talk.  His wife was killed in an ambush.  He was shot in that ambush as well.  I don't know how he could keep going and doing the job of sheriff. 

We also went to the Savannah River Museum.  It is a typical museum.  It has archaeological displays from around the area.  There are displays about the steamboats, including the Delta Queen.  There are also displays about the Battle at Shiloh.

I am looking forward to going on our "Sisters' Trip" in a couple of weeks with my sisters and my Mom.  We are going to the Derby theater in Clarksville, IN to see "Mousetrap".  It doesn't matter where we go, we always have a good time together.

Monday, October 8, 2012

We were home last week in Cincinnati to visit.  We spent time with our children and grandchildren.  We visited our parents.  I had lunch with my sisters. We attended movie night at Lighthouse Point Yacht Club (our home port).  We had a wonderful time, but now we are back on our boat in Iuka, Mississippi.  Our next trip home will probably be over Thanksgiving. 

 

These are all of our grandchildren.  We so enjoyed spending time with them last week.

 

While we were home, it came to my attention that you might be interested in some statistics of our trip.  The trip took us from October 15, 2009 until September 7, 2012, almost three years.  We bought 4884.3 gallons of diesel fuel for a total of $ 17,781.28.  We spent $22,775.09 on mooring.  We spent $ 34,854.22 on maintenance and repair.  We put 1145 hours on the generator and 1154 hours on the engines. We cruised a total of 9117 miles and went through 135 locks.  Whew!  It makes me tired just to think about it.  We thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip.  We met tons of really nice people everywhere we went.  We are both so glad that we were able to do this trip of a lifetime. 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

We have been so busy since arriving here at Aqua Yacht Harbor.  We have scrubbed, and decluttered, and scrubbed, and decluttered, and scrubbed, and decluttered until we fall into bed at night.  It has been so worth it though.  "Seas 2 Day" looks good.  We had the air conditioner fixed this past week.  It turned out that the problem was a burnt  wire.  Apparently, one of the repair people who worked on it, didn't crimp the wire properly.  It did receive a little shot of freon, but the big problem was the wire. 

We listed the boat with Marine Max on Friday.  We both have mixed emotions about that.  This boat was very reliable throughout the loop.  She is comfortable and there is space for each of us to be together or not deciding on our moods.  We are anxious for the next chapter of our life with our new boat though.  We have all these ideas about what we want to do to the Pluckebaum and where we want to put things on her.  However, we don't necessarily have the same ideas.  :)

Today we went to Our Lady of the Lake Church.  There were only 40 people in Church.  It looks like a pretty new church, but I don't know how they can afford the building if that's all the parishioners they have.  They only have Mass at 5:30 on Saturday and 8:00 on Sunday. 

Yesterday we scouted out a place to watch the Bengal's game today.  The first Sports Bar we checked out, didn't have any TVs.  How can that be a sports bar?  The second one said they have NFL package and one of the TVs could be tuned into the Bengal's.  Well, we got there after the game started because we weren't thinking about the time change between here and home.  First, we found out that they don't have a Sunday liquor license.  Okay, we ordered soft drinks.  The owner tried for 45 minutes to tune into the channel that had the Bengal's game on it, but was never able to get it.  He was on hold to Direct TV the entire time we were there.  We finally gave up and listened to the game on the computer.  Not the same.  We will have to find a different place for the next game. 

We are going to be home on the first week of October.  Hope to see many of you then.

Ron, this boat made me think of you.  The name of it is"The Rockin Robbins".

 

Our boat

 

The pool

 

 

Rack Storage of boats.  Many, many boats.

Our dock for the winter.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

This morning began early again.  We left Perryville Marina at 6:15, hoping to make it all the way to Aqua Yacht Harbor.  It was a trip of 80.5 miles and one, typically slow lock.  We called Pickwick Lock and the Lockmaster said it would be a half hour wait.  It took us about 15 minutes to get to the lock after the call, so we only had to wait for 15 minutes.  Not bad at all.  We arrived at Aqua Harbor shortly before 4:00.  We met a very nice lady named Susan who has a houseboat on the end of our dock.  She had come down to catch our lines. 

John and I had dinner at Cafe St. Claire right here at the harbor.  It is nice to be here.  Our hope is to sell our boat soon so we can complete the sale and move onto the Pluckebaum.  Our fingers are crossed. 

Our daughter-in-law said I shouldn't stop blogging completely like I had planned upon arriving here.  She said I should blog once a month or so.  I am considering doing just that.  So, check back once in awhile to see if I have anything new to say.  You never know.