Side Trip

For those of you following our blog you may have noticed we have not blogged since last Tuesday.  My mom was in the hospital and not doing too well so an unplanned trip home was needed. Things are looking better and we have now returned to continue our loop. For those of you considering a long trip you need good friends along the way to help you out.  We were lucky to find Marty in Pensacola.  We had met her once before and she let us tie up to her dock while we rented a car to drive home.  THANKS MARTY!  Once home a new place was needed for my cats and dear friend Kayla said bring them to me.  Everyone needs good friends and she is the best. THANKS KAYLA! 


Kayla and Me



The Bay and Inland Coastal Water Way

The bay crossing was a bit choppy but all went well.  We are currently enjoying the ICW.  We have already sighted several dolphins and pelicans.  Along the way we came past LuLu's place and stopped for lunch tying right off at the dock.  LuLu is Jimmy Buffet's sister. We spent last night in Roberts Bayou.

Makes Our Boat Look Very Small



Time to Feed the Birds



    



LuLu's



ICW



           

          

Mobile Harbor and Mobile Bay

We made it to salt water today.  Mike is excited to say that the boat got us all the way to salt water on 202 gallons. That's 769 miles!  We are spending the night at Dog River Marine in Mobile Bay. Our plans are to leave early morning and cross the 23 miles of Mobile Bay and get over to the Inter Coastal Waterway. While the river has it's own charm the ocean view cannot be beat.

            



Mobile Bay



           

From Demopolis to Okatuppa Creek

We left out early this morning from Demopolis Marina covering 97 miles. This is our longest day so far. We have now left the Tennesse-Tombigbee and are now traveling on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee. The weather was beautiful today after all the rain yesterday and we were anxious to get closer to mobile bay.  Since there are no more marinas for the next 216 miles after leaving Demopolis;we are staying the night at Okatuppa Creek which is a small anchorage at mile marker 123.2. Plenty of fuel in the tank to make it to salt water,yeah. Supper is cooking and the captain is fishing.

Demopolis Mile 216.1

TWe are still traveling the 450 miles of the Tombigbee.  After staying the night in a cove marked for good anchorage we left out early this morning so we could make the Demopolis Marina.  This is the last marina until we reach mobile bay. The day has had some beautiful sights but it has rained all day.

White Cliffs of Epes(made of Selma Chalk)



Two Whist;e Pass Between Bends in the River



Fly Bridge where We Spent Most of Our Cruising Time



Nice Day

What a great day.  The sun shone all day. We are still traveling the Tombigbee but have left Mississippi and are now in Alabama. We moved right through two more locks and covered 52 more miles. We stayed in a small marina just behind the historic Snagboat Montgomery which we toured.

Living the Dream

       

Down the Tombigbee

Snagboat Montgomery

Day Two on the Tombigbee

We got a very late start today out of Midway Marina because of the dense fog.  We finally got under way around 10:30.  We did not make very many miles today because of w aiting for the locks.  We got in behind a barge and  they always get to go first.  It was however a beautiful day and we enjoyed sitting out on the front of the boat waiting our turn. We will be staying at mile marker 358.2 tonight at the Aberdeen Marina.  This is a place we visited seven years ago when we first brought our boat home from Florida.