Cancun Bound

It's been a few days since the blog has been updated. The AGLCA Rendezvous just wrapped up last night. It was so much fun! They kept us busy from 6:45 A.M. until about 9:30 P.M. each day. The most popular of the seminars each described a leg of the upcoming section of the loop, as far as Norfolk, VA and the Bahamas. There was a separate women's and men's talk that was a quite interesting. At the Women's talk, they talked about the reluctant spouse, provisioning of the galley, creative storage ideas, boat sex, and a full ten finger bouquet. Ask me about the last two when you see me. At the men's seminar, they asked them how many of their spouses would be able to dock the boat in an emergency. By a show of hands, 90% said their spouse could do it. However, in the Women's Session, the moderator determined that only 20% of the women thought they were capable of docking in an emergency. We both agree that I could dock if I had to do it. It may not be pretty, but I could get it there.

Two of the days had boat crawls. That's where people open their boats to others to look at. It's fun to see all of the different styles of boats. We saw catamarans, sail boats, Nordic tugs, and an assortment of trawlers. There was a tornado near here Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon, the Chamber of Commerce of Rogersville, AL sent school buses to the park to take us into town to shop and have dinner. We really appreciated their generosity. Later on Tuesday, they took us to a concert at the Longing for Home Bed and Breakfast. The concert was fantastic! Brianna Dean performed with the Randy Basham band. Almost everyone bought one of her CDs. They had a s'mores bar, a massage tent, a cigar tent, besides the concert itself. To us, this was the highlight of the Rendezvous.

Even with all of that, the absolute best thing about the past few days is that we met some really neat people, some of which we hope to stay friends with from now on.There is a family on the boat docked beside us (Google Parrent Family to read about them). The children are 4, 7, and 9 years old and they are doing the loop. The kids went Trick or Treating last night on the dock. The children looked so cute in their homemade costumes. It gave us a chance to experience Halloween even though we are far away from our grandchildren.

Last night after the Awards Dinner, some of us got together for a jam session. There was a hammered dulcimer, a harmonica, and three guitars, one of which was John. It took a lot of prodding to get him to bring his guitar and participate. I am so glad that he did. It was fun.

Tomorrow we are leaving to go to Cancun for two weeks with Norm and Sue. I'm telling you this because I may not be able to blog while we are away. When we return, we will head down the Tenn-Tom. We're excited about having Paul and Patty joining us for the Gulf crossing. So, until next time.....

Saturday, October 23, 2010

The weather has been delightful. It's cool at night and in the morning, but warm during the day. Perfect! Last night we grilled chicken and ate out on the back deck with Sue. It just doesn't get better than that. Tonight there is a "Shrimp Feast" over on the first dock. Everyone is supposed to bring a covered dish. The Rendezvous starts tomorrow, but this way we can meet a lot of the loopers before the actual event. (We have been meeting a lot already. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow they expect quite a few more boats to come in.)

It sounds like we are going to get rain Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. That will interfere with the kayak races and the dinghy races. Everything else is indoors. We are looking forward to meeting the people, the seminars, the food, and the concert on Tuesday night.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Since we are here without a car, we seem to be more focused on things that need to be done on the boat. John installed a new marine radio that has AIS on it. Now we are anxious to see it work as the barges approach us. He and Norm both bought one (I think they were $335 each). The day after ours arrived in the mail, there was a blog on the Active Captain site telling people what a good deal this radio is. Our Captains are pretty smart, huh?

The last few days, I've been sewing. Some of the latches to hold the canvas in place on the back deck had ripped off, so I sewed them back on. I embroidered a jacket for John, made a new cover for the TV on the back deck, and made some "potato bags" like we saw at a craft show.

Sue and I walk every morning for an hour. It's not the same as walking in Florida. For one thing, it's cooler and the biggest difference is it's so hilly here and flat in Florida. We see dozens of deer during our walks. They are so skinny too. There's just too many in too small of a space. They have cottages for rent right along the water's edge. They are only two years old and really nice. A person from the housekeeping staff let us walk through the one she was cleaning. Great place for a sisters' trip (except for how far it is).

Monday, October 18, 2010

Friday night we had Happy Hour on the back of our boat. Sue didn't come over because she was waiting for a phone call. Norm stayed until about 6:30. When he left, I went down to the galley to prepare dinner. John was still out on the back deck watching television. About 10 minutes later, he saw a raccoon climb our stepladder and get on the boat. It was still light outside, for crying out loud. He jumped up and knocked his drink over. He tried to flip the raccoon into the water with the boat pole, but the little devil jumped back on the stepladder and got away. I am SOOOOO glad that the door to the boat was closed because I'm certain he would have come to visit the galley and I would have been very unhappy about that. The next day John went up to the lodge to tell them how brazen these raccoons are, and they said they would set traps for them. We haven't seen any traps yet. We turned our boat around, so that our back deck is facing the water and we are bringing the stepladder into the boat at night.

Saturday Sue, John, and I went into Rogersville for a Fall Festival. They had a car show, a craft show, an art show, a band, and a chili cook off. It was small and only took an hour and a half to see everything. The little girl on the boat next to us won the Pedal Tractor Pull. The mayor gave her a nice big trophy.

Sunday we went to Florence because it was the last day we'll have a car for awhile. We ate a late lunch, got everything for the boat caught up, and enjoyed the scenery. Later, at the marina, the loopers who are already here had Happy Hour together. Two of the couples have finished the loop when they arrived here. We are enjoying ourselves and meeting lots of nice people.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Coon Dog Cemetery

Rattlesnake Saloon

Yesterday was a most interesting day. We went to the Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia, Alabama. This bar is built in a cave. It's actually outside under a rock shelf that extends from the side of a rock cliff. While we were there, some people arrived on horseback. They tied their horses to a rail, like in the Old West, went in the bar for a drink, and then left. The parking lot is at the top and a truck with bench seats in the bed, brings you down this steep, windy, narrow, dirt road to the bar. They are only open Thursday through Saturday, from 11:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M. They have a band each night starting at 6:30 P.M. It was way cool!

On the way back from there, we stopped at The Coon Dog Cemetery. Only pedigreed coon dogs are allowed to be buried there. It was built in 1937 and is the only one of its kind. Supposedly, its the dog cemetery in the movie "Sweet Home Alabama". You just never know what you'll get to see along the way.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tuesday Paul and Patty came to visit. They were in Alabama and they took a detour on the way home to come to see us. We chatted, had Happy Hour, had dinner in the lodge, played Farkle, and then they left the next morning. We really enjoyed their time here.

Last night, we were awakened at 1:15 A.M. to the sound of a crash. We had a raccoon on the back deck. He ate a can coozie and part of the grill brush. Then he pulled the screen out of the frame in the galley porthole. The porthole was closed, so he couldn't get in there. John got up and closed all the other windows. We were grateful that the hatch above the bed was closed. Could you imagine waking up to a raccoon falling on top of you in the middle of the night? Rocky Raccoon was on the boat next to us too. They have children on board and the raccoon broke their water balloons.

Tonight we are going to a place called Rattlesnake Saloon in Tuscumbia, Alabama. This is a bar built in a cave. They are only open Thursday through Saturday and we are told they draw 900 people in one weekend. I'll let you know how it is. Hopefully, I'll be able to take pictures.

Mon., Oct. 11, 2010

Yesterday morning we planned on leaving Florence Harbor Marina at 8:00. So, we called the Wilson Lockmaster to see if there were any tows that we had to wait for. There was one, but it had 16 barges and the Lockmaster told us to wait about 3 hours before coming out of the harbor. Florence Harbor is right outside of the canal that leads to the lock. We listened to the marine radio and later heard him tell a pleasure boat that the wait was 45 minutes. So, we waited 30 minutes and got in line. There were four of us in the lock together. This is the biggest lift that we have seen so far. It says it has a 93 foot lift, but our depth finder before we went up read 26 feet and after it read 104 feet. Wow! It was extremely turbulent and really hard to keep the boat off of the lock wall. Both of us had tired arms when we pulled out of there.

We arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park around 2:00 yesterday. This park is in a beautiful setting. WIFI is only in the lodge lobby, so I hope that I still manage to keep up with the blog. I promise to try.

Today we stocked up on groceries. There is no courtesy car here. Norm's van is here right now, but after the weekend he has to travel in it for work. He won't be back until it's time to go to Cancun. So, what we have now will have to make it until we leave for Cancun.