Trip Diary for October, 2005

Saturday-Wednesday, Oct. 1-5; the AGLCA Rendezvous:  The morning was spent crawling the engine room and tracing wires in a futile search for the port engine's low oil pressure sensor/alarm which had failed.  Finally Larry decided to postpone more searching until Cummins could be called on Monday.  To relieve the frustration we drove into Rogersville for a McDonald lunch, our first fast food in two weeks.  While there we shopped at two nice antique stores, Foodland grocery, and the Upscale Consignment store.  Returning to Wheeler, we found a dozen more boats had arrived for the rendezvous with an equal or larger number expected Sunday.  After showers we enjoyed the conversation and excellent food of an American Great Loop Cruisers Assoc. (AGLCA) potluck dinner.  Sunday we took Cyndi Esch from Fet*Esch (Texas) and Don and Joanne Cameron from Time and Space (Ontario) with us to the Rogersville UMC service.  We were invited to the church's delightful light breakfast following the 8:45 AM service.  After lunch, Ron and Eva Stob, AGLCA directors now docked next to us, organized more than a dozen members including us to stuff 250 registration bags for the rendezvous; we stashed them temporarily in our cockpit as it could be enclosed in case of rain.  Monday morning was registration and our final boat wash and cleaning prior to three days of rendezvous meetings.  More than 250 attendees, arriving by car and about 70 boats, were registered.  Scheduled activities were the welcome reception at 5:30 with dinner at 6:30.  At 4 PM, the entire park and marina lost electricity!  The reception started on time with only emergency lighting in the hall; lodge personnel had sent our lasagna to Athens (20 mi. away) for cooking.  By 6:30 emergency lights were beginning to shut down due to limited battery capacity.  Staff started a portable generator and used extension cords to connect portable flood lights.  Ten minutes later the electricity returned.  With the PA system functional, the program started while we awaited hot food.  It arrived about 7:15 just as we again lost electricity.  So we had a true candle light dinner!  Solid power was not restored until 10 PM.  Tuesday was a full program day with current loopers (us included) introduced and asked to give a synopsis of experiences to date.  Of particular interest to us was Fred Myers' excellent update of conditions along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, our next major trip segment.  David Montgomery, US Power Squadron, conducted a safety inspection/certification of the Lola Marie at 2 PM.  The day culminated with the usual dinner, this time with electricity, and a delightful program by Eva and Ron Stob about their experiences with narrow boats on historical English canals.  Wednesday's morning sessions were devoted to crossing the Gulf and cruising FL and the Keys; the afternoon featured gender specific sessions and the daily vessel safety checks and cruiser crawls.  Thursday morning's program was about cruising to and in the Bahamas from Skipper Bob (Reib).  Following his presentation and the group photos we departed for IN, missing the final banquet buffet.

Oct. 6-18: A land trip back to IN for our periodic doctor and dentist appointments, helping host granddaughter Samantha Swinford's campus visit as she decides where to begin college next fall, and attending a couple of Purdue football games (it was obvious after their home trouncing by arch rival Notre Dame the team was missing our presence and advice about how to play).

Oct. 19-24: Wednesday: An uneventful but very pleasant 9 hr. drive from W. Lafayette back to Joe Wheeler.  To our surprise, there were still almost a dozen AGLCA boats here, several having gone part way up the Tennessee after the rendezvous, awaiting departure for Mobile when hurricane season ends.  Thursday: The delightful cool nights and warm days of fall are in the air.  Lola unloaded/reloaded the vehicle and organizing storage for fall while Larry completed minor engine repairs, replacing two intake air heater solenoids and fixing the low oil pressure alarm on the port engine.  Lola saw her first cotton being harvested during a trip into Rogersville for supplies.  Elvie and Roy Short on Roy El organized a delightful potluck dinner for the 20+ loopers still at Wheeler.  Friday: A trip to Huntsville to return merchandise and software and then to Florence to take Joanie and Fred Myers (author of the excellent river cruising guides) to dinner at Dale's Steakhouse.  After the excellent dinner we continued our delightful visit in Fred and Joanie's home before returning to the boat at 9:30 PM.  Saturday: Cloudy, dramatically cooler weather arrived (55 morning, 74 high).  Sunday: We returned for our second early service at the Rogersville UMC.  We invited Elvie and Roy from Roy El and Clyde and Pat Honeycutt from Mamacita aboard for dessert and conversation following dinner.  Monday: We drove 80 mi. to Grand Harbor Marina at the upper end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway to pick up Lola's brother and sister-in-law, Jim and Barb Kater from Macon, IL, who would crew for our trip back to that marina.

Tuesday, Oct. 25: Our month's stay at Wheeler ended at 9:30 AM as we departed to lock down Wheeler, only 3 mi. from the marina, with 5 other pleasure craft: Geminelle, Main Course, Starsong, Sea Gypsy, and Vedal.  The luxury of no wait at Wheeler was not repeated 15 mi. downstream at Wilson lock; we waited more than 2 hr. for a split tow to finish before locking down 94 ft., the highest lockage in the eastern US. With two locks but only 21 river miles, we made our return to Mystic Harbor Marina in Florence, AL by 3:15 PM.

Wednesday, Oct. 26: We departed at 10:10 AM for the outstanding Grand Harbor Marina under ideally cool and beautiful weather.  We made the 42 mi. to Grand Harbor by 3:15 PM.  We wisely followed staff advice for an outstanding dinner at the Broken Spoke restaurant in Counce, TN.

Thursday, Oct. 27: Barb drove us 150 mi. to Tunica, MS for an afternoon at the casinos!  We returned via a slightly northern route to meet daughter Judy, her husband Glen and granddaughter Samantha for dinner in Collierville, TN.

Friday, Oct. 28: Jim and Barb had to return home, so with a slight detour to their trip, they first took us back to Joe Wheeler to pick up the Explorer.

Saturday, Oct. 29: Laundry, boat cleaning and packing for a return trip to IL/IN; we needed to attend a funeral in IL for Larry's 95 year-old uncle, Victor Hilvety, and then go home for Lola's doctor appointments.

Oct. 30-31: We drove to IL and then IN with the return date uncertain.