October 4

October 4

I omitted two items from the Day 2 post.  First, October 3rd is my brother Emory's birthday, and was my Daddy's as well,   and second, we had our first contact with a Looper boat -  Miss My Money.  He was docked at Blue Springs Marina on his way to Knoxville and saw us  cruise past.  They will be at the Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler as part of their second Great Loop.  Later in the day we made contact with two other Loopers, Anchor Down and Follow That Dream.   We love making connections with this incredible community.

Now to October 4th.  This is my dear Friend Jane's birthday.  We missed celebrating it with her, but I mailed her a funny card just before we left.  That is astonishing since I never remember to mail cards when I am in town.  Maybe this Loop thing will spur me to develop better habits.

Our first gas stop was at Shady Grove Harbor just north of Chattanooga.  No, we weren't out of gas, Emory, just getting a feel for how long a tank will last. The owners were so helpful and friendly and of course talked about The Loop.  This was my first time to throw out the ropes at a dock.  Thank goodness the owner was there and ready to catch!

At 12:30 we locked through the Chicamauga Dam into Nickajack Lake.  I had a bit of a meltdown in the lock when I had trouble hooking onto the bollard.  The rope just wouldn't go where I wanted it to go.  My second set of tears already, and I had wondered why people mentioned tears when they finished their loop.  Danny was wonderfully supportive.  Yep, you read that right.

I had looked forward to seeing Chattanooga from the water, but must admit I was a little disappointed.  It was pretty, I guess, but not the bustling place I expected.  Maybe because it was a week day in the fall, but still . . .  The scenery leaving town was impressive.  Lookout Mountain on our left, Moccasin Bend on our right.  We blew the horn for some school boys high on the cliff, and saw some gorgeous houses.  A little further west, there were some great lake houses, places we would all like to spend the week-end.

There was still lots of green stuff on the water but we managed to find a spot to anchor just north of Hales Bar, which was at one time a hydroelectric dam, but has been dismantled.  We got in the water, but I stayed on the ladder - the water was cold!  Danny never thinks the water is too cold.