Are we having fun yet?

Hello All-
One of the disadvantages of a long cruise is that it takes you away from a lot of things you can't bring along; like friends, neighbors, and extended family. keeping in touch via cell phones and the Internet is relatively easy. However there is no substitute for being there, so this week Kathie is visiting her sister in California.

This photo shows the upper end of Pickwick Lake; the Tennessee River approaching the town of Florence Alabama. The farther bridge was built in 1834 and at one time carried trains.

Like many places we've vistied, this area has quite an interesting past. Here's a little info on the Tennessee River canal which bypassed Muscle Shoals (link). We showed a picture of some it's remnants the other day; this canal had a rather short working life since it was itself bypassed by a railroad and spent much of it's time as a diversion for floods.

Here is a scene from our last anchorage just a few miles downstream of Florence. At left you can see a small perfect beach. Hank liked this island and spent a lot of time chasing geese here. You can see here that all the study & hard work by Doug on this custom-built dinghy is paying off... an off-the-shelf rowing dinghy would have capsized a dozen times by now with Hank leaping around the way he does.

It is now five years since we bought the Winnie W. In that time we have done some work, done some cruising, sold a long time home and moved 150 miles to a new city. Now we are taking a pause in this major undertaking, the Great Loop cruise. Next week we will be traveling by car, and preparing to attend the America's Great Loop Cruisers Association rendezvous at Joe Wheeler Park along the river.

This photo shows a glorious sunset from an earlier anchorage.

We hope you all are well & happy-
Doug + Kathie