Observer

Another foggy start to the day.  Morning fog on the river More pretty scenery Tim had a conference call this morning from 8-10 but we wanted to keep Observer moving. We do our best not to have distractions when driving so with our capable first mate at the helm, Tim was able to complete his conference call with the only interruption being intermittent cell reception. We passed the bat cave again (thank goodness it was midday again!) and transited the Guntersville lock without delay. Golden ahead of us in the lock We arrived at Lucy Branch Marina at 5:00.  The marina staff had left for the day, gave us docking instructions and asked that we hang out til at least 8:30 Friday morning so we could pay them. Entry to Lucy Branch Marina was by skirting two old barges tied together The white sign on the right says "Welcome Loopers" in magic marker! We grilled up some chicken and watched the bass boats go back and forth and did our best to keep some very

Our traveling buddies on Golden suggested we get going this morning about 8 (around sunrise), Tim went by their boat at 7:30 and they indicated they were ready, but could wait.  We scrambled a bit and were ready in about 15 minutes.  We had come up this section of the river on Sunday with lots of bass boats milling about that we did not want to wake.  Today's travel which started out amidst 42 degree temperatures and it being midweek, help keep the fisherman on shore.  He is hard to see, but in the middle of this photo is a buck walking along the shore Leaves just beginning to turn We traversed the Nickajack lock without delayed.  In total, our run today was 86 miles with the river current to Goose Pond Marina. We arrived at 4:00, having gained an hour heading back into central time zone.  There was a long narrow channel running off the Tennessee River into the marina and we were told stay right in the middle of the channel.  It was a great spot to do a little laundry on

Sunday 10/22   We were up early, fed Millie and then dinghy to shore for 'a walk'.  As soon as Millie jumps on this really short stretch of beach, I heard an animal breathing about 10' into the woods.  "I don't think that's a chipmunk" and I was not going to wait around to find out!  We did a roadrunner speed exit and tried our luck on the opposite shoreline. Success!  Observer at anchor in the morning  We raised the anchor and made our way to Chattanooga.  Beautiful area of shore line along today's route complete with more beautiful waterfront homes. We passed lots of rock cliffs like this one Beautiful natural landscaping Tim thought this house was cool with the lookout tower We have a great slip right near the Aquarium downtown. Observer on the dock as seen from the walking bridge right above her Scullers going by Walking bridge at night We grabbed Millie and had a great walk around the area.  There is all kind of