What Time Zone Is It Anyway?

We've had a wonderful few days traveling along the rivers and lakes from Florence Alabama back up into Tennessee...We should be in Chattanooga tonight, which I know will keep us busy, so I thought I had better post something. Our reception hasn't been the best, and I don't even know for sure what time zone I'm in at the minute!

Here's a bit of a recap of some of what we have seen and done these past few days...

Late Friday afternoon we heard a loud siren going off...at first thought we suspected there was a fire department nearby...then, the manager of the marina came knocking on our boat and directed us to take cover...Nine of us huddled in the ladies room and waited out the storm until the threat of passing tornadoes ended. That was our excitement for the day!

On Saturday morning we cruised through some beautiful landscape, even tho' it was another dreary day...we made the short run to Joe Wheeler State Park. We confirmed our reservations for later in the month when we make our way back for a one week stay during The Great Circle Route rendezvous...we expect another 40 or so "loopers" will gather for a few days of sharing stories and seminars--more on that later.

We headed out early on Sunday and once again conducted our own 'church service' on board Ithaka--both of us wondered how anyone could ever doubt the existence of the divine as we took in all the peace surrounding us and thanked God for our blessings...Also, on Sunday, we passed the mid-point on the Tennessee River...and we cruised by the Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Flight Center. It was right there that America's Space Program was launched in 1960. Most of the day we cruised through the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. We are becoming quite the 'bird watchers' lately. We bought The Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds which we keep right next to the charts. I swear, I think we refer to it almost as often!

In addition to it being Columbus Day, Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving--We had gotten off to a slow start due to the normal Monday morning influx of real estate activity, calls and emails...It was grey throughout the day, rained nearly the entire trip so we stayed in the cabin rather than navigating from the flybridge. It was nice for a change to be able to nest a bit while underway...Chip told me stories about what Thanksgiving was like when he was a kid. He and his Dad would get up really early and go duck hunting. As it turned out, that night we stayed at Goose Pond Marina, which just so happens to be the name of the pond where he and his dad used to hunt together...In fact the Indians in the area later changed the name from Goose Pond to Doc's Pond and we have a photo of it in our cabin in North Carolina! Just as we turned into the embayment the sun started to peep through the clouds....The lily pads were as big as garbage can lids....There were ducks and Canada geese everywhere...It was as if his dad had sent him a message, 'I am here'. It was a lovely spot, and we will definitely stop there again on our way back.

Last night we anchored at mile 426.9, at Little Cedar Mountain. Possible one of the prettiest anchorages on the entire river system...and in my top 5 of all anchorages to date! We have rain again today...I am glad we will be coming back through again after spending a few days in Chattanooga because the beauty is breathtaking, even in the haze. In fact, at times I actually think the clouds rising from the mountains like steam just adds to the mysticism of this area.

As always, life is good on Ithaka...