Wednesday

October 12th, 2016

"Building Our Wings"

crosses their wake

We met loopers,  John and Sharon, along with their two dogs in Joliet, Il.

John asked if he could get a picture with his one dog, Jake, along with our dog Elwood...  because the Blue's Brothers movie began at the prison there in Joliet. 

We traveled on and off with Building Our Wings since meeting them in Joliet.  

Sharon loved Elwood so much, we thought she was going to rub Elwoods hair off every time she saw him!

see their blog at:

http://buildingourwings.com

Saturday

October 8th, 2016

The Giving Plate

Joell and I received "The Giving Plate" last evening.

It's been passed to eleven loopers so far and we've felt honored to be included!

When we pass it on to the next couple, we'll add them onto the list.

We're figuring out what to place on the tray next!

Deciding who to give it to is easy....

Thursday

October 6th, 2016

Just got back from lunch at Fish Creel in Anderson, Al

On the way to Fish Creel we drove by fields and fields of cotton ready to be harvested.

6 dollars for Catfish, French Fries, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Desert and Sweet Tea.

That includes the tax so the bill was 12.00 for the two of us.

Tony and Helen who live on their boat here at Joe Wheelers took us there and were great company.

Nothing fancy, parking lot was packed but we walked right in to open tables and were served faster than fast!

Fish Creel

Reminds Mike of Wendts' Bar and Harbor on Lake Winnebago...

Oh, we took home our deserts because we were stuffed....

Thursday

October 6th, 2016

Amateur Radio on the Loop

With Propagation being so poor over the last couple years, I was happy to hear friends from Milwaukee Wisconsin and other parts of the US talking on the Milwaukee Florida Net this morning.

Tom, K9BTQ runs the net out of Milwaukee but my copy or reception on him was lite, so John N1YV out of Connecticut picked me up and acted as a relay back to Tom from my location here in Rogersville, AL.

Thanks John!

Last evening I was listening to the Hurricane Net on 14.325 mhz and got some realtime information about Hurricane Matthew.

The net control operator here in the US was calling other ham operators in Haiti and the Bahamas.

When weather takes out all normal communications, ham radio operators are there relaying realtime information back to authorities just as they did during Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. 

The link below is a quick Youtube video from WRAL-TV which explains how Amateur Radio or Ham Radio operators help!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0u42MnMdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IITBpLQmmiI

This is Kilo Nine Bravo Bravo November (K9BBN) marine mobile clear and listening....

Tuesday

October 4th, 2016

This is "Bee Haven" a 45' Flemming owned by Rod and Suzie.

They went up to Nashville and she got stuck on something underwater, actually causing the stern to raise up.  Tow Boat US was called and dove underwater finding she was stuck on an I-Beam.  Tow Boat US people couldn't pull her off so they placed lift bags under the boat, but she still wouldn't budge.  In the end, the Army Corps of Engineers that run the locks/dams were called.  So, the lock up river was told to let more water through and the lower lock had to raise their wickets, holding more water back.  After about 4 hours she floated off without any damage to the boat.  She was stuck on her keel which is covered by a thick stainless steel edge.  The city of Nashville said they'd pay for the expenses which looks like just the cost of Tow Boat US which came to $9,600 dollars.  Did they have towing insuring through Boat US???  Yes they did, but Tow Boat US called it a "Salvage" which is "not" covered by "towing" insurance.  Salvage is "hard aground"....fine print somewhere in their coverage (or lack of)  The last Rod and Suzie heard was that the city of Nashville is looking into liability.

Mike walking down steps with Elwood

Mike walking in the woods with Elwood

Mike threatening Joell that he'd jump off this stump and cause bodily harm to himself if she didn't stop taking picture of them walking...

At Joe Wheeler Resort they have rental cabins? houses?  There are 10 of these... all on the waters edge.

Mike walking again!

Nice deck overlooking the water...

Smaller windows on the front...

Larger windows facing the waters edge...

Super duper support...

Roughly $200 to $250 per nite...

They either have two or three bedrooms...

Tom and Kristin...this might work up at our cabin when we rebuild,  getting the cabin closer to the lake!?

Nice covered area with bedroom over top...

Mike walking Elwood again...

Monday

October 3rd, 2016

We were "Upgraded"

Yesterday we were contacted by the Marina office and was told a dock spot closer to the resort opened up due to a cancelation.  So instead of being 5 docks away, we're now 1 dock away....

Above is a shot from last evening... calm as can be...

Not a great shot at night, but here we are.... Our previous spot was at the end dock of a long pier.

What's nice is that we're now almost directly across from Myron and Linda, Loopers that also started from Milwaukee, but out of McKinley Marina.

Makes Docktails much easier...no traveling :-)

Sunday

October 2nd, 2016

We continue to catch Cat Fish off the boat as we sit tied to the dock...

Kinda goofy looking cat's.  We've been throwing them back waiting for the big lunker.

A fella that fishes on the docks regularly has caught two 90 plus pounders here in the marina.

He usually sets out 7 rods.  We are hoping for one just a little smaller.

They had October Fest here at Joe Wheeler...October is Breast Cancer awarness month and the Fire Dept. brought down their pink fire truck... 

Joell, Elwood and I are meeting lots of very nice people at Joe Wheelers'.

Seated here are Steve and Shirley, a wonderful couple who have a sail boat two finger piers down from us.

Here's another couple we meet... Shirley with her Bichon Bailey and husband Chuck who didn't make it into the photo op.

Just a reminder, we'll be here at Joe Wheeler State park for one month, so our travels have stopped.  They will continue at the end of October when we head down the Tombigbee to Mobile Al.

Thanks for watching...