Brenda

We did it!  We crossed the Gulf of Mexico, in just under 20 hours, covering 180 miles.  We were extremely lucky to have a weather window open up for our Gulf crossing the day after we arrived in Carrabelle, FL (on the panhandle of Florida).  Some boats have waited a week or more as this […]

After leaving Chicago, IL on September 9th, we have reached the end of the inland waterways, arriving in Mobile, AL on November 15th.  The side trips to Nashville and Chattanooga were by far the highlights, and of course my side trip to Maui was incredible (but I guess I can’t count that for being on

Although the fall foliage on the rivers is colorful, traveling down the rivers is pretty boring. To add some excitement, we started our trip down the Tennessee-Tombigbee (Tenn-Tom) waterway in early morning fog. We hoped for a sunrise start to reach our next destination in daylight, as the sunlight hours now are much shorter.  We also

After our side trips to Nashville and Chattanooga, we are once again heading south toward Mobile, AL.   We departed Huntsville, AL after saying so long to our gracious hosts, Todd & Mary Brooks.  Our first stop was Joe Wheeler State Park for a quick overnight stay, then back to Florence Harbor Marina for the next

This last week provided a break from our adventures on the loop.  While Dave & Murphy hunkered down in ever decreasing temperatures in Huntsville, AL, I had the honor of flying to Maui for my forever friend, Patty’s daughter’s wedding.   Patty and I have been friends since I was 18 (that’s a very long time!). 

We started our week off with a pre-dawn lock adventure.  Our next lock near Florence, AL was recently damaged.  The floating wall that guides boats into the primary lock had separated and sunk.  Oh no!  They were operating on a restricted schedule and only locking thru pleasure craft right as they open (near sunrise) and then

This week we continue our inland rivers explorations, headed south on the Tennessee River, which is actually a tributary of the Ohio River.  The 652-mile-long Tennessee River is formed near Knoxville, TN and flows southwest through Chattanooga, crossing into Alabama, near Huntsville, back near the Mississippi border then back into Tennessee, running north into Paducah,

As we were getting ready to depart Clarkesville (and no, it wasn’t on the last train), DeeDee (Murphy’s BFF on War  Eagle), me, and Murphy went for a walk and some ball playing.  Murphy was off leash as we headed back to the marina.  I don’t know if you can tell in the picture, but

After spending a delightfully quiet night at anchor off the Mississippi river in a side canal, the crews of Slo Pace and Betty Gail awoke to a foggy morning.  Although departure was planned at 7 a.m., Captain Dave wisely delayed our departure as we waited for the sun to peek through, dissipating the steam fog. 

Our river adventure continues, from the Illinois River onto the Upper Mississippi River.  Our first two stops, Grafton, IL and Alton, IL were very similar marinas.  Grafton is on the Illinois River and just 17 short miles away, Alton is on the Mississippi River.  Both marinas had their entire infrastructure on floating piers…not just the