Home to Knoxville

As we cruise down the River toward home....you just see it all......from the smallest of places to the palaces along the way......... Condos in Loudon Tennessee overlook the water...........................

Back in the Bible Belt......Beautiful cross in the distance.........................

The rocky rolling hills of Tennessee truly feel like home......................

The captain had slowed to a turtle pace the last 20 miles.......but eventually he had to come home.......is that a smile I see???

Approaching our last lock at Ft Loudon Dam......a mixture of emotions fill me.......glad to be back close to family and friends.........sad that the adventure is over ....(for a while)

Fort Loudon Lock.....home sweet home

Posing for the last lock........as we lock thru....................

The gates close behind us as we exit the lock....

Arrival Point welcomes us as we soon have house in sight....................

Fort Loudon Marina as we pull in to top off the fuel tank and get a pump-out...................

Albert Hayesworth's new 75' Lazzara at Ft Loudon Marina...
There it is..............HOME................how many days have we been gone...........what will it feel like to get into the tub, sleep in that king size bed, and just be on land???? Fear .....What if we hate it?

The house seems lonely..........Like your puppy when you pick him up at the vet........just excited to see you......jumping and licking......The house seemed to breath easier.....just to have us moving around inside.......as we unload the boat one trip at a time..........enough of that......lets plan a party..........a few days is enough...............that'll keep us busy.................We cannot wait to see our friends................WE'RE BACCCCCKKKKKKKK...........................

There she is .......very proud of her accomplishment.....and ready for a little rest.....a good clean up......some fiberglass repairs.......back home at last! Sea la Vie....you did us proud....we love you!

Our view of the dam from our dock, waiting for the next trip downstream......................

6,170 miles, 310 days, 10,050 gallons of diesel fuel, 107 locks, 85 different marinas, 3 countries, 16 states, thousands of photos, countless new friends, and priceless memories..........

Watts Bar

Nickojack Lock....looks more like a war zone..............but we made it thru......current and all.......... We noticed this fellow hugging one of the mooring cells......just a classic...He seemed to be enjoying himself and caught one as we passed by.................

I had to take pictures of the walls of the locks as we went thru.............I plan to go thru these and frame one for the house.......you must admit the colors and texture is nice.................I am a artist want'a be................ha Just one of the pretty pictures of Tennessee green ............as the trees grow out of the water.........ya know.....it is really beautiful here..................

Watts Bar Nuclear Plant...........What can I say.????

RoyEl......Roy and Elva joined us as we arrived and greeted us with congrats on finishing the loop with a nice bottle of wine...........they have been cruising a long time and finished the loop .....their friends just bought a pretty Carver and plan to do it............so much fun...THANK YOU !!!!

We anchored out ........... our good friends Jay and Nancy joined us for a night on the boat..........John and Vickie joined us for cocktails and we has a great dinner......great fun......great friends.....

John and Vickie's sailboat....

Another boat anchored in the cove...

Just chillin'....

Vickie and myself back at Blue Springs............

Jay and Nancy with some serious conversation............................

These boys are just lookin' for trouble....and we found them....................

Jay and Nancy.....looking a a really nice trawler on the dock.......would be a little more room for them.....but Jay is not buying all our talk.........the hug didn't even help......Nancy has to work on that a little................

Jim McKay's depth sounder displayed at Blue Springs Marina......Jerry was impressed with that................so here is the photo...

Chattanooga

A friendly Alabama neighbor came to bid us farewell.......he was just strolling the docks looking for something good to eat.......... As we pass the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant....never in operation.........

Ferry waiting for a couple of cars to help across........................

As you can see we are in the hills of Tennessee now.....guess it is in my blood.....but it is oh so pretty.............just look at a few of these pics where we live..........................

This is the stage from the Chattanooga Riverfront...................they store it down river for the events.......Hales Bar.......A power plant once upon a time...................

Floating condos.......we have been seeing these all over...................

More of the fab photos of the rock formations and the mountains............awesome.......

Great house on the bluff...........wonder who lives here????

The tour boat from the Aquarium in Chattanooga came zooming down the waterway...............

Guess he thought he needed to slow down for us...............whoa..............I would have hated to have been a passenger on that stop....................

New kind of daymarker, port or starboard????Here we are.....only one lock today....and about 110 miles to Chattanooga.........Great riverfront here.....

Rain, rain, and more rain.... bridges above us makes for a little traffic noise...............but we will enjoy the city for a couple of days before heading north..............