Yes, finally getting our land legs back. The visit to Midland TX for the CAF airshow was so much fun. The weather was perfect and everything went exactly according to plan. First weekend of October took us to Fredonia KS for the town homecoming celebration. It was a relaxing three days with Linda's parents. Again a beautiful weekend to enjoy a parade and the outside visiting with all those Fredonia grads (even though a few of our favorites were MIA). Linda is getting ready to take Muriel with her to Texas for a week...using an NCATE visit for an excuse to shop. Then we are off to California for three weeks in November. Between wedding planning, catching up on house work and repairs, planning more travel, meetings and get togethers with friends, there just is not much timeto spare. We are making plans to return to the boating adventures in February. In fact, Floyd has already received notice that the new cooling system has been installed. By the time we return the inverter should be working. We hope to be in Mobile by March. Keep in touch.

Time flies and Internet can be soooo very frustrating. We made it back safe and sound on Sunday, Sept 14th. Then left for Midland TX and the annual CAF Airsho. Between getting reorientated to land, re-connecting utilities, and visiting kids and Fredonia relatives, I've not taken the time to let you all know that the Tumbleweed is in dry dock at Demopolis, Alabama. Her engines will be outfitted with closed system cooling by the time we return in early February. Til then, there won't be much of anything to post. Do keep in touch.

Dang that IKE...he's kept us from arriving in Wichita. We are currently holed up in Memphis. Gonna have BBQ tonight. The plane is gassed and still loaded with our stuff. We can handle rain, but not tornadoes. So we'll wait here to see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully, we'll be home on Sunday. Keep us in your prayers.

We knew we'd made it to Mississippi when we saw these guys on the river. Actually, we heard them first. Those air boats make just a lot of noise. Don't know how they stand it.

We made it to Demopolis, Al. Boat is scheduled to be hauled out on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, we have just a few chores to accomplish before that happens. All is good and we are scheduled to fly back to Wichita on Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to getting our land legs back. Will post more later.

One thing we've been able to do on this leg is trying out the inside helm station. The new electronics and the addition of the mini blinds has certainly helped. Still to be added is a depth finder. When the weather is cooler, this sure offers us more comfort and protection. Plus we are that much closer to the Diet Dr Pepper and candy. Notice the captain's new do.

AAAARRRRRGGG matie...bring it on.

Notice the flag blowing straight out...and waves waves waves....still managed to keep our sense of humor. Nope, just not having a bit of fun. Yea, right.

Three locks in one day...add a little rain and then top it off by traveling with that SNAKE...if I could have scaled that wall, I would have. This lock dropped us 85 feet. The largest we've encountered. Piece of cake...I've conquered that whole situation from the rope handling end. Don't try and get me behind the wheel...not interested. I take the front cleat, my boat hook, a rope and floating bollard ...any day, any time, any place.

Three locks in one day...add a little rain and then top it off by traveling with that SNAKE...if I could have scaled that wall, I would have.

Haven't been able to post any photos for a while...here's proof that we visited the Tennessee legend of the man who carried a big stick. Floyd's idea of cop heaven.

Another tip for those of you who may be trying to find us on the map. In your atlas, look on the Alabama map page. Then find that strip of Mississippi along the left side. We think the waterways and small lakes show much better there than on the Mississippi map. Hope that helps. I'm also trying to remember to post the town and marina names since most of the time the marina name isn't really related to the location on the map.

Can we talk a little about liquor? We feel like we entered a time machine and went backwards about 40 years...Aren't these the guys who made moonshine famous???? What is the deal? Dry Dry Dry counties where you can't buy, sell or consume alcohol. Often it seems like they don't even want anyone to hear them even discussing alcohol. Dry Dry counties where you can't buy it, they can't sell it but you can bring it in...in a brown paper bag, sit it under the table and mix your own drinks. Kind of the "don't ask, we won't tell" approach. Dry counties where you bring it in...they slap a big label on it and you order your drink, they mix it and serve it. Of course, you are charged a small fortune for mixing your liquor into their soda. They tell us that we've finally made it to civilization...WET County...tonight we can actually arrive, order and be served...fine dining...we'll see. We'll be glad to get back to Kansas where we won't have those worries any more. Who knew????

BTW, the catfish at the Midway Marina wasn't bad...just not great. (I prefer Scotch and Sirloin)...and they were Dry Dry Dry county.

We have docked in Columbus, Mississippi, and plan to stay put until Monday. They have a lovely cove area and a restaurant for fine dining just across the parking lot. We plan to use the courtesy van tomorrow and visit the home of Tennessee Williams and a few antebellum home/museums. These past few days have proved eventful in ways we hadn't really thought about. Yesterday in one of the locks, I spotted what looked like a pretty good sized stick...something the captain would want to avoid...yea, right, it was a SNAKE. First mate got more than a little skittish about being trapped in a lock with that critter. Then this morning leaving Aberdeen, we discovered ANTS all over the ropes. They'd been coming aboard all night. I've been on a killing rampage. Ant carnage is everywhere on deck. Those suckers should never have tried to stow away here. Ant traps are on the list for our WalMart trip tomorrow. We haven't seen any alligators yet, but the foliage in the water sure reminds us that it is possible. Next week this time we'll be headed back to Wichita. See you soon.

We left. Waited just a little for the weather to clear and then headed out. We had only 18 miles to get to the next marina...the challenge was the three locks. The first was an 85 foot drop. Piece of cake. We plodded on and the other two (30 feet each) were open and waiting for us when we arrived. Wind continued to increase throughout the day. By the time we got hooked into the last lock the sky had clouded considerably and yes, the rain fell...we were both soaking before we arrived at Midway Marina, Fulton, Mississippi. It was plenty early...so we've done laundry and are headed up the hill to their restaurant...catfish is the speciality. We'll see. Weather permitting (What is with all these tropical storms???) we are headed to Aberdeen on Friday (three more locks), and on to Columbus on Saturday (one lock). I'm gonna miss locking through!!!! We plan to then stay in Columbus over the weekend. Tumbleweed is running really well. We have experienced some inverter difficulties yesterday and today. But that is not a deal stopper so we'll keep an eye on the weather and continue on. More later...of course.

Wednesday morning, bright and early, we headed south to Bay Springs Marina, New Site, Mississippi. This portion of the Tennessee River is called the Divide Cut...it is actually a 24 mile canal that connects the Tennessee River to the TomBigbee waterway. More earth was moved to form this channel than was moved to form the Panama Canal. Beautiful it is not...but hey, it sure works. Water was only 280 feet wide and most of the time it was 15 feet deep...and yes, we did cross paths with a couple of tows. Sure narrows that channel in a hurry. Arrived at Bay Springs around 1:30. Met some looper folks and watched the weather...trying to decide whether to go or stay.

Amazing things do happen. During our stay at Aqua, we kept noticing a cute red ski boat (also getting beat to death) come and go around us. Husband, wife and two small children always lugging the assorted water toys and supplies for the day. On Saturday evening, Floyd and I both saw a bar/restaurant that looked like it had lots of character and decided to stop in. Full bar and we tried several chairs before finally locating two together at the very end. Nice young man sitting next to us...before long we discovered that he was the Husband we'd been watching. Small world. Great conversation about owning boats, sail vs motor boating, our adventures, and his dream to someday cruise. Sunday morning they all boarded the Tumbleweed for a visit.

yes, worry about us. Gustav came and is still blowing down here. We've had wind wind and more wind. The three days at Aqua Marina seemed like a month. Their transient dock was the wind break for the rest of the marina. Rather than risk moving the boat, we chose to be tourists. We spent the first day at the Battle field of Shiloh. Cannons, cannon balls, historical markers, graves, and more cannon balls...all very interesting and serene. Floyd and I both remarked how difficult it is to imagine the noise, confusion and violence that occurred here. It is a lovely wooded area now. Day two we ventured into Savannah, TN...found a lovely little museum about the Tennessee River and, guess who talked me into the Buford Pusser Historical Museum. Yep, felt a little like cop heaven. You do remember the guy from Tennessee who carried that big stick..."Walking Tall"???? How we got outta there without one I'll never know. Day three was a challenge....we headed off to Corinth...found North Corinth, South Corinth, and even old historic Corinth. After finally locating the Office Pro shop that didn't have the printer cartridge, we found Super Walmart...and yes, they had one. Then back to Pickwick, I did some laundry while Floyd went for a haircut. Boy, did he get a bargain. We took our chances and left there on Wednesday, Sept 3 headed for Bay Springs Marina, located close to New Site, Mississippi.

We feel like we've been in the black hole of communication. These last two days we've had no cell phones or Internet. Even the TV has been on rabbit ears and not getting much. It is alright by me...you-know-who has been a little fidgety about it. That too shall pass. We are currently in Clifton, TN, home of author T S Stribling. Seems that he won the Pulitzer prize in 1933. Took us about 20 minutes to tour the museum and downtown. Clifton is a quaint little town with lots of character homes. Marina has wireless but we can't use it on the boat; our slip is just out of range. We are headed to Demopolis, Al. and will be staying at different marinas almost every night. There are just a few days where we will have to anchor out. We should arrive in Demopolis on Sept 8. There are 11 locks and more than 300 miles. We decided that 7.5 mph is the way to go. Yesterday we were booking it at a whopping 10.5 mph and you could hear the engines sucking in gas...burned way too much fuel for only 3 more mph. The highlight of this leg of the trip will be a visit to the battle field at Shiloh on Sunday. Til then we are hanging out, catching up, eating and relaxing.

We have spent most evenings this week planning our voyage south to Demopolis. Looks like we will leave here on Tuesday, Aug 26th and traveling at our blazing 7.5 mph we will arrive in Demopolis on Sept 6th. There are plenty of marinas for us between here and there so we think we'll only anchor out once. The challenge is there are 11 lock and dams, two of which are getting ready to close for repairs on the 10th. Timing is everything. We've been delayed for hours in the past so we are not sure how much time to allow. We will stop and visit Shiloh, home of T S Stribling, and some antebellum homes along the way. That's the plan. For now, we are cleaning, washing, waiting for a volt meter, making lists and checking them twice. Lower helm electronics have been activated and the new winch switch works great. Tumbleweed has been running smooth and given us no grief yet. We want that to continue. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Let us hear from you.

Things here are just so dull...and we are NOT having any fun. Yea, right!!!! If you believe that then you also thought that we really saw Trisha and Garth fishing. We are having a blast. I for one really thought that after a week or two on this boat with no where to get away, I'd be ready to kill someone...but, you know, it just hasn't happened. I did take off for a while yesterday to get a haircut. Sure got my moneys worth...we've been trying to measure and we're not quite sure...but Floyd's hair is just a smidgen shorter than my new look. Which was not really what I was after. Oh, my,...sure hope it'll grow!!!!

We thought we'd have an adventure and scope out the other area offerings. Boy, are we glad to be at Green Turtle Bay. Nothing we saw made us wish we were somewhere else. Our courtesy van took us so close to Fredonia, Kentucky...we couldn't resist. Yes, we did encounter the local law enforcement officer...he was curious as to why someone would be pointing a camera at his house...hep, we had some explaining to do. But, hey, we got the photo of Wilson Street in Fredonia.

We left Dover and Fort Donelson bright and early on the 19th. Decided to make one long day and spend a week at Green Turtle Bay getting those last things repaired, catching up on cleaning and laundry while making plans for our trip down the Tennessee River. So here we are, back in slip 6 on the transient dock. Floyd has his list of repairs and things are going quite well today. We couldn't resist posting one more mansion photo...they call this one the Castle on the Cumberland. Yep, maximum security Kentucky State Prison. Seems that they have put more folks to death than any other prison and are most noted for executing 7 in one day ...July 13, 1928. A record of sorts that still stands today. I thought it looked sort of like a high school....hmm, I wonder why????

After trudging up and down the hills in the heat of the day, we returned to the Tumbleweed for our first swim in the river. We had anchored in large buoyed cove in 13 feet of water. No one was more surprised than me to step off the swim ladder and stand on the bottom. Floyd thought I was joking...but there I was in waist deep water. Now we know why there buoys were there. Needless to say, we were extra cautious leaving ...stirred up quite a bit of mud...but no damage. And it was a nice swim. Can I just say that has been my big disappointment of all this boating. The water makes Cheney and El Dorado seem good. Muddy, stinky, green, full of some sort of crud...since arriving on board July 11, this swim on August 18 is our first. Sure hope it is not the last...I bought new swimsuits!

We have seen what we thought were eagles along this stretch of the Cumberland. At Fort Donelson we got conformation of that and the reason why they are here....

While Floyd was admiring more guns and cannon balls...this is what I found napping in the shade of the trenches. She scared me almost as much as I scared her. What a Kodak moment! Sure made the two hours we spent hiking in the heat worth it for me.

We found a huge inlet and anchored, lowered the dinghy and headed back to the Fort. We saw some park rangers on the shore and shouted our request to come ashore to them. One of them pointed to a small path and a place he thought suitable for tying the dinghy. As he helped us ashore, he commented that they hadn't had any visitors from water since 1862. Guess those Yanks just weren't that friendly. The Battle at Fort Donelson gave control of the Cumberland to the Yankees. From here they marched into Clarksville and on to Nashville taking control of the railroads and river. Grant lead the Union forces and history gives him the credit for changing the course of the war. We thought it was most interesting and gave us a great view of the river. Oh, yea, Floyd liked the big guns.

Leaving Clarksville, Floyd radioed the Delta Queen and was able to visit with the Captain at the helm...What a great start to our day. We headed for Dover, Tennessee hoping that we would find suitable anchorage and be able to get to Fort Donelson. We wanted to see the Civil War fort but were cautioned by everyone we talked to that the fort wasn't really water friendly.

She's a pretty sight in the morning as well.

The best things about our stay in Clarksville were learning about the Monkees hit "Take the last train to Clarksville" and the sighting of the Delta Queen. She is on her "Save the Queen" voyage as her wooden substructure is no longer allowed. She will be out of commission soon. We heard that she was to arrive on Sunday then that got delayed until Monday morning. We were watching Olympics on a worse than terrible connection at around 10:30pm when Linda noticed brighter lights. When we investigated that...there was the QUEEN of all steamboats...just docking less than half a mile away from where we were....so night time Kodak moments.

We really enjoyed our time in Clarksville. The roadside downtown docking was free. We walked into the historic area of town and spent a couple of hours at the Cultural and Custom House Museum. They had tons of Confederate memorabilia and a most interesting display of model railroads. Some photos are for our railroad friends. We were most impressed with the architecture of the building and a huge display of porcelian flowers and wildlife created by Edward Boehm. What a deal! Who knew about him???

When Muriel was on board, we tried to fly a kite off the aft deck. Too much heat, lack of wind and/or boat speed quickly turned that into an unsuccessful adventure. On the trip from Riverview to Clarksville, flags were flapping so I got out the Barbie kite. I could have used Muriel's help. Floyd took photos...what he didn't capture was the disastrous landing. Her tail got wrapped around the spinning radar...so she'll have to get a new tail...luckily we have other kites I can steal from....Notice the "boat bum" apparel...

Just so you know, that "little bike ride" to the grocery store just about did me in. When they talk about up hill both ways, it can happen....and I have photos to show it...Me with bike at the top of the bridge before groceries were added...View of boat at the dock from the bridge and then from the boat looking up at the bridge. The grocery store was another mile or more away. Thank goodness for the return all I had in my bike basket was bread. Hope we don't have to do that again anytime soon.

Ashland City was...now we are in Clarksville, Tennessee. Floyd and I rode our bicycles into Ashland's grocery store this morning. Reminded me of Fredonia...small town. Something exciting was getting ready to happen...we noticed soccer teams, band and police escort. We left anyway. No problems getting through Cheatum Lock and Dam ( unlike the two hour delay going up ...tweedle dee and tweedle dum were cleaning some gauges). Today a barge came out, we went in, poof, we were 26 feet lower. Lots and lots of boat traffic on the river today. We saw it all. Arrived in Clarksville around 5. The excitement here is the impending arrival of the Delta Queen steamboat. She was due tomorrow but sources seem to think that has all been delayed until Monday. She is headed back toward Paducah so we might stay around and follow her for a while. The real excitement ,however, is Kelli's birthday present from Lance. Yes, it is official. They are engaged. Ring watch 2008 is quickly becoming wedding planner 2009. We are pumped!!!

We are heading out today for Ashland City. We have reservations tonight at Riverview Restaurant and Marina there. Then on to Clarksville on Saturday. We hope to anchor and explore old Fort Donelson on Sunday. We saw cannons and such coming upstream; people have told us it is a nice place. We'll see about that. TGIF...Kelli is older today, my friends are in learning places, and I'm still on a BIG BOAT with the man I love...life is good.

We spent all day Thursday out and about...walking just a couple more blocks; touring Belle Meade plantation and the Parthenon, riding and waiting on the city bus. We ate a wonderful meal at Demo's, a Nashville family steak spot. Our evening on the aft deck of Tumbleweed was highlighted by the passing of BOTH of the Opryland steamboats; Gen. Jackson and Music City Queen. I don't know who was most impressed...those on board the steamboats taking photos and whooping at us, or us. Notice Nashville art (which Floyd says looks like an unfinished roller coaster) and LP Field (home for the Tennessee Titans) in the background. That night time view of those big guys under way was most awesome. Don't you agree?

Our little spot on the river is at the end of Broadway St. We are just a short walk to bars and honky tonks...Hard Rock, Wildhorse, Legends, Tootsies, BB Kings. Just around the corner from old Ft Nashbough. Amazingly, we don't really hear a thing. Trains runing on both sides of us; barges coming and going; all sirens wailing in the city. Our neighbor is most cooperative...the Nashville Fire Boat.

August 14...Nashville, the Athens of the South. Did you know they have the only full scale replica of the Greek Parthenon in existance? And they let you inside to see the 42 foot statue of Athena. Floyd thought is was more fun than the "real one" cause those Greeks won't let you get this close and their's is falling down. We spent a wonderful morning viewing, reading, photographing and learning more about Nashville history. That blue dot you see at the feet of Athena is Floyd. And yes, these are our photos.

We knew that the Johnny Cash house had suffered fire damage after Barry Gibbs purchased it and was remodeling. Everyone said he was rebuilding and would be finished this fall. This was the only house we thought fit that discription...so here it is.

and we even found a little fixer upper...if only it weren't in Tennessee. You know they talk funny down here.

And they were almost one top of each other...lots of house; not much lot.

And they were almost one top of each other...lots of house; not much lot.

The folks in Hendersonville sure know how to live. Big Beautiful houses...with no one home. There was no indicators of famous...but obviously some wealth...so enjoy these...Muriel the yellow one is for you....

And guess who we saw...Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood FISHING...will I Be!!!! and they look so ordinary!!!!

Can you believe what we saw coming down the river on Monday evening? We thought it was a sad case of a pilot with a sense of humor and too much time on his hands. Had to post these for Floyd's air lovin' friends. What a hoot!