SLOW FLIGHT

Oct. 30, 2009---Boat-Naming Party at Columbus Marina.
Keith and Maryann were invited to attend their first "Boat-Naming (Christening) Party at the neighboring slip on C Dock. Charlie and his friend Duke re-named their beautiful trawler "Slow Flight" because they were both pilots before retirement. Their goal is to haul her out at Mobile Bay to have some things added and changed. Charlie says she's a fixer-upper, but "Slow Flight" lookled beautiful to us already. Needles to say, a good time was had by all.

MORNING WALK

Nov. 5, 2009---Keith and Maryann have been waking up to foggy, frosty mornings with temperatures in the 40s. Fall is here, as evidenced by changing colors of the leaves.





Just as the birds are migrating south, so too are the boaters. Here is the 7 AM flock leaving the John C. Stennis lock & Dam.











The water level in the Tenn-Tom has fallen dramatically in the past few weeks, despite the recent rain. This walkway below the dam was parially covered by water 2 weeks earlier.



Maryann got a shot of the resident heron and also a cool bumper sticker on her way back to the Dream Manor.

HALLOWEEN -LAND

Oct. 31, 2009-- Halloween on land in Youngsville, LA. Carol, Allen and Crystal surprised many of the neighborhood "Trick or Treaters" when they arrived for treats. A good time was had by all!

HALLOWEEN

Oct. 31, 2009---Halloween at Columbus Marina. Lots of costumed boaters attended the gathering beneath the Marina office on Saturday night. As usual the appetizers were

plentiful and drinks and good cheer flowed freely. Keith and Maryann were especially pleased to see their good friends Roy and Elvie Short in the latest influx of loopers. There were two pirates present and Charlie was the most "in character". There was also a radio-controlled skeleton that kept following people around. Very Spooky! The festive atmosphere & abundance of "boating stories" made for a fun time.

MEMPHIS

Keith and Maryann drove from their home in Youngsville, LA, to Southaven, MS, on Wednesday, October 21. The folks at the check-in counter at the Comfort Suites were amazed by how much luggage was piled on their big cart. They obviously haven’t traveled with Maryann before! (She uses the excuse that, since she is a lifetime Girl Scout member, she is “always prepared.”) It rained that evening and the next two days. On Thursday morning, Chauffeur Keith drove Maryann to the Memphis Cook Convention Center for the first day of the Juice Plus+ Fall Leadership Conference, which was titled: Embrace-Share-Inspire. It certainly did all 3! That night Maryann, her good friend Laura Harrell and 4,000 others attended a Prevention Plus+ health seminar with Dr. Matt Brown at the Convention Center. Everyone had a GREAT time and learned lots! Friday and Saturday included classes and general sessions for Maryann from morning till evening. She very much enjoyed seeing her buddies from southern CA and meeting new friends from all over the world. After the Conference Wrap-up, the faithful chauffeur drove a few blocks to the annual River Arts Fest to see what there was to see. The day was cold and windy, so it wasn’t all that fun. Keith saved the day by driving to the Olive Garden in Southaven for dinner. Of COURSE the next day (Sunday, October 25) dawned sunny, dry and warm. After a yummy, hot breakfast, Keith, Maryann and the mountain of luggage piled back into the van and drove to Dream Manor at the Columbus Marina. It felt GOOD to be home, even though the pile of luggage and the many boxes of Christmas decorations had to be transported from the van to the boat. Thanks goodness for wagons provided by the marina! Ah well – they will be ready for the holidays; that’s for sure.

YOUNGSVILLE

Oct 14, 2009---Yesterday (13th) Keith and I picked up a rental car and drove 95 miles from Columbus, MS to Demopolis, AL. His big van has been parked there since we began our summer cruising 159 days ago. It has been a great 5 plus months as we boated 2700 miles! We returned to Demopolis and turned in the rental car.

Today (14th) Keith, Maryann and I traveled in the van from Columbus, MS to Youngsville, LA.

It will be quite a change to be home for a while!

Water in the Demopolis Marina is about 6' above normal pool level and still rising. Peak is not expected for a few days and then it will take a while for the water to recede.

It sure is obvious why the restaurant is built on pilings.

A tug in the background is taking on diesel at the fuel dock.

On the north side of the present marina a future expansion is in progress. Huge amount of sand is being removed to create waterways for about 400 new slips. It is expected to take about another year before dock construction can begin.

Beyond the trac hoe a dredge can be seen. Progress is being made toward opening the river access.

COLUMBUS-STAY

Oct. 13, 2009---Heavy rain still in the forecast for Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. This means TomBigBee Waterway will continue to rise and the amount of debris steadily increase. Lots of broken trees can be seen floating past the marina at a rate of 5 to 6 mph. It is time to reduce the risk of damaging props. Therefore we are going to keep the boat in the Columbus Marina for about one month. Blog may not be updated very often while we travel by land.






Seems each marina has a flock of canadian geese living nearby.
Perhaps they find plenty to eat and have lost the desire to fly south for the winter.




In the recreation area near the marina a monument pays tribute to two men who were instrumental in making the TomBigBee Waterway possible.
















There a lots of boats in the marina.













Video shows water flow at the dam.