Day 150 Midway Marina Fulton, MS 2nd day October 16, 2018

Heavy clouds, rain this afternoon, and cold. At least there was not much breeze. High 56

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Seven score and 10 days ago we departed on this epic journey. I remember trying to imagine what it would be like when we got this far into the trip. Well, it is not much different than the day we left really. We still are enjoying being on the boat - even on a rainy day - and it is wonderful to have traveled through so much of the country and seen it from the waterways that have been used for countless years.  So we look forward to seeing more and continuing on for the next 150 days.

While today was a rainy day it was not without fun and some interesting happenings. The heavy clouds you can see in this shot from our dock space. The trees stumps remain from the flooding of the area in the 1980's when the dams for the Tenn Tom Waterway were built.

And as information, the Tenn Tom Waterway was created in the 1970s and opened in the early 1980s. It is 234 miles in length and connects the Tennessee and Tombigee Rivers together that then connect to the Black Warrior river to continue 217 miles to Mobile, AL, for a total distance from the Tennessee to Mobile of 451 miles.  The route miles are numbered consecutively from Mobile to the start on the Tennessee.  The Midway Marina, as seen below from our spot on the dock, is at mile 394.

Well now back to today. We knew from the weather forecast that we would be staying another day. It was nice to be plugged into the dock power and have the electric heaters keep us nice and warm.

We decided that a tour of the town and lunch out would be fun. As the normal courtesy van was in the shop we were able to use the work truck for our travels. And I have to say that it was most fitting to be in Mississippi and have the pleasure of driving a fine "good 'ole boy" truck for our trip to where else?....... Walmart.

Note the custom drivers seat. And crank down windows - that you needed to use to reach the outside door handle to get out 'cause the inside handle was dun broke off.

If you look close you will see where I wiped the instrument panel to see the mileage of 255,386.

And complete with spare whatevers.

From a distance it doesn't look too bad

And a rear view mirror placed for easy adjustment - but you can only see the back of the seat.

And I would have been real disappointed if there wasn't any stuff to pack a chew aboard - but my fears were for naught.

Where shall we eat.  Well we need barbecue right? And right in town was the "Small Plate" restaurant - complete with smoker going out back. It was good - should have gotten a picture of our meal. But everyone was super friendly and we had a great meal and a great time.

And while I could be accused of making fun of our transportation, it is just the opposite. I am thankful that they offered it to us instead of saying - "Sorry the van's in the shop." It was a great ride!!

And the last interesting thing that happened today was learning of an unusual occurrence on the water.  Just before we left for lunch a tow barge went by headed to the upstream lock. Several pleasure boats were headed down from the lock as they had called the marina and the staff was waiting on the docks by us to help them in. The barge called the lock and the captain was very stressed about something. He said he would call him on the cell. They was some strange radio conversations and we all wondered if something had happened between the tow and a pleasure boat. But that proved not to be the case.

When I returned I asked the staff if they had figured out what had happened. They said they hadn't but decided to call the lock to see what the story might be. Well, what happened was the tow runs 24/7 and to do so has two or more captains onboard that work in shifts. The crew went to wake up the relief Captain but he was gone and was as cold as the day. So the barge was tied up in the lock awaiting investigations and a new crew. It was a stark reminder that you should look for the fun and enjoyment in each day we are given - glad we decided to do just that today.

After dinner on board and some more football, it is time to say ..............

Good Night and May God Bless