OK Boat Trip, Day 2, 4/26/08

Serious thunderstorms last night at Grand Harbor but no problems. Got up early at 5:30 and called the lockmaster at Pickwick L&D to check on delays. His best estimate was 10:00 which turned out to be about right. So, our plans to make Pebble Isle went out the door - we opted for Clifton Marina in Clifton, TN and an easy day of one lock and 56 miles. We went through the lock with a small barge, a first for us. Later, passed a very large barge, the Harvey Hall.



Locking through Pickwick L&D with small barge



The Harvey Hall, loaded with mulch.



The river from Pickwick to Clifton is beautiful but not much to report. It's all about 1/2 mile wide and lined with farmland and pastures (I guess, couldn't see over the banks) and frequent homes. One thing is for sure - if there are economic problems in the country, they haven't reached the fishermen yet. They were everywhere!





Leia enjoying the activity of Clifton Marina.




Clifton Marina and Help Me Rhonda at dock.


Three funny stories to share.

1. Rhonda and I decided to take a walk to the town of Clifton, about a mile from the marina. On our way back, a landscaper working on someone's front yard asked us if we were looking for some work - no joke. I didn't think we looked that rough and we didn't have a sign that said "will work for diesel fuel." Anyhow, I guess we'll have to freshen up a bit before our next walk. After all, this was after only 2 days on the boat.

2. One of our goals in going to town was to try and find a church service for early in the morning. Even though we're out on the river travelling, our Christian faith is important to us and we always try to find a service to attend on Sundays. So, while we were on a roll with the landscaper, thought we'd ask him if he knew of a church with an early service. Keep in mind that by this point, we had told him we were traveling by boat, were overnighting at Clifton Marina, and we assumed he had picked up on the fact that we were walking. After all, we told him we would be walking and there was the visual of us in the process of doing just that. Anyhow, he knew of a church that had an 8 AM and a 9 AM service and he proceeded with directions. "You just follow this road straight ahead until you get to the big curve, turn left and go about 30 (yes, THIRTY) miles." I guess we'll head out after dinner tonight so we can make the 9 AM service in the morning! Maybe someone will give us a ride back to the marina.

3. After we had seen the same 2 guys in the same truck at 3 different location in Clifton, we figured we had seen most of the activity there was to see and headed back to the marina.

In all seriousness, Clifton is a beautiful little town, perched along the banks of the TN River. Everyone is very friendly and apparently there is lots of significant history here as is much the case along our country's riverways. For example, we passed a home on the river today in Savannah, TN where General Grant was having breakfast one morning when he heard the artillery fire that began the Battle of Shiloh (the location of which we had passed earlier).

Tomorrow, we are planning another easy day, 62 miles to Pebble Isle Marina, New Johnsonville, TN. (They still have diesel for $3.49, yahoo! Don't have to get out the "will work for diesel" sign just yet.)