I would like to apologize for the long period between posts, but we have been having a lot of fun and without good Wi-Fi! This post will cover almost a week of travel!

Last time I posted we had just arrived at Joe Wheeler Park Marina. We spent one night there, and the area was very remote so not much to do. Memphis had fun running around, but the lodge was not offering any services until Thursday. Oh well, maybe next time! Quick picture of our slip at Joe Wheeler where we once again did not fit.

We took our time getting going on Thursday morning, as there was frost on the outside of the boat. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then pushed off around 9am.

Early morning picture as I took Memphis out. Notice the frost on the deck!

We continued to move upstream toward our goal of Chattanooga.

It was an easy day of cruising and we pulled into a free wall in Decatur, AL. We had hoped to go further, but the marina we wanted to stay at was too shallow for our boat draft.

Ended up spending two nights in Decatur so we could get a rental car and drive up to Huntsville, AL and tour the NASA Rocket Museum. We had a great time and learned a lot about the space race and rocket development in the US.

Have to love the moon rock!

The astronauts were little people!

The Saturn V rockets were huge.

As we were getting ready to leave, an elderly gentleman walked through a security gate and asked if we had any questions. We started talking with him and he turned out to be the #3 in charge of the rocket program for almost 30 years under Wernher von Braun. He was fascinating and full of life experiences he shared with us.

Headed back to Decatur and enjoyed a nice BBQ meal out at the famous BIG BOB GIBSON’S BBQ. Great fun, but the loaded baked potato was the best!

Yes, that is pulled pork on top!

The next morning we had to leave the dock quickly to beat a train so they could lift the train bridge!

I don’t think Amy has seen this many sunrises in her life compared to the last few weeks on this trip! She is being a really good sport.

We headed up to Guntersville, AL, going through one lock today. It was an easy day of travel. We were once again blessed with light winds and clear skies.

It was Saturday around noon when we pulled into The Guntersville Yacht Club. We got a warm welcome from the members as they were getting ready for the LSU vs Alabama football game. They knew who we were pulling for with the boat name!!

The club was great and the people were even nicer. We enjoyed a full day and evening with them and enjoyed a close game, for a while!

Outdoor gathering area on the “party dock”!

This was our slip at the Yacht Club.

As we continue to move east up the TN river, each lake becomes more enjoyable. These lakes are the result of dams on the TN river used for electrical power generation through TVA.

We ran about 66 miles Sunday to Jasper, TN. We have now traveled in Lake Barkley, Lake Pickwick, Lake Wilson, Lake Wheeler, Lake Guntersville, and now Lake Nickajack. All of these lakes are part of the TN river power system.

Today was a very special day of travel. We started early once again so we could travel with our buddy boat and friends Capel and Karen one last day. This is their last day on the loop. We are sad to see them stop, but their loop is over. We have enjoyed our time with them and can’t wait to see them in the future somewhere down the road.

We spent last evening rafted together on a 20′ T dock. It was fun to tie to and raft off, but we were once again creative. I think I am getting the hang of putting Who Dat in small places.

We were tied up on a free dock called Shell Mound outside Jasper, TN.

We enjoyed our last cocktails together for the time being sitting out back on Who Dat.

We departed the dock again early this morning after a cold night on the boat. Don’t know why yet, but our generator stopped running last evening and the code simply said check your manual. That was a lot of help. I will look into that tomorrow. This meant no heat on the boat last night.

Today, Monday 11/6/2023, was a very special day for Amy as well. She gave her notice today. She is a soft two weeks from full retirement. She has been great on the trip trying to work and relax at the same time. I know she is very excited to send her laptop back and be done.

We are tied up on the Bluff wall at Erwin Marine right in downtown Chattanooga. Great town so far, and we will explore more tonight and tomorrow. We are spending two nights here. This will give me time to look into the generator issue. Hoping for something simple, but we will see.

So, saving the best for last for those of you still reading. Today we traveled through “The Tennessee Grand Canyon” river gorge area of the TN river. This has been the most spectacular scenery yet. Also got a great picture of WHO DAT from our buddy boat.

That will do it for the catch-up post. Hope you enjoyed. We will be touring the Chattanooga area tomorrow and then starting back west Wednesday morning. We plan to be back in Iuka, MS by Sunday if all goes well.

I will most likely not be able to post again until we are back at Aqua Yachts in Iuka. Until then have a great week.