Joe Wheeler State Park

We have not done much travel since the last post, in fact we are only 25 miles from the last post at Florence, AL. When we were in Florence we used the courtesy car and went to visit a local Frank Lloyd Wright house which was very nice. We were also able to go to Outback for a dinner. We decided to got to Joe Wheeler last Thursday and stay there two weeks through the rendezvous. We were going to leave about 9:00 A.M. but we noticed a large tow go by and knew we would be waiting at the first lock which was only about 1 mile away. The tow was a double which means only 1/2 can fit in at time so it takes about 3 hours to get it through the lock. We watched the AIS and when the tow was leaving the lock we left the marina (about noon) and thought we would get through the lock and get in front of the tow before the next lock which was about 20 miles. It took much longer for us to get through the lock than I thought and by the time we got out it was really too late to catch the tow even though we tried. We called the lock master and he said we could tie up at the lock wall and wait for the tow. There was another boat with us and we tied up and turned off the engines and had lunch. It was about 5:30 when we finally got through the lock. Luckily we were only about 1 mile from out destination so we made it before dark.

We got setup in our slip the next day and on Saturday we had Enterprise bring us a rental car which we used for trips to Florence to the West, and Huntsville to the East. We went to the Space and Rocket center in Huntsville where they also have Space Camp for kids. It was a nice trip and the weather was good.

I heard there are going to be about 70 boats come in for the rendezvous and there are about 20 here now so many more are coming. We have been having happy hour outside our boat at 5:00 for the last few days and the group gets bigger each night. It is raining now so maybe the happy hour will be cancelled tonight. We have decided to go the Chattanooga after the meeting which will take about 7 days up and back so we won't we heading South for a while yet.

Frank Lloyd Wright House

A very tall lock to go up

Tied off on the lock wall waiting for the tow in the background to get through

When they let the water out of the lock this is where is goes

Joe Wheeler in Alabama

There was a couples Bass tournament at the marina last weekend

Another car show in Rogersville, AL (Another one for Wayne)

Ain't she pretty

Deer are everywhere

Space Camp

The party is getting bigger each day