Sunny

The sun was a welcomed sight this morning as it warmed the helm station quite nicely.  We gave it plenty of time to radiate itself before we departed Jones Creek around 8:45 a.m.  There is always a first time for everything.  Upon pulling up anchor Ray discovered a rope about the size of a clothes line attached to it.  Linda was wondering why she could not turn the boat towards the channel.  Ray cut the line and we were on our way.  The cloudless sky made for extra beauty in the colorful leaves, and also awarded us the chance to turn off the generator much earlier than the last couple of days.  It even got warm enough to open one of the side windows of the enclosure with the north wind mostly behind us on Guntersville Lake today.
We only passed one up bound pleasure boat today, and the VHF radio was extremely quite.  We traversed through what is probably the most residentially populated area we encounter on the river system, but the Tennessee River is so wide here that seeing much requires the use of binoculars.  Just about the time we reached the amenities of Guntersville, we heard some comical chatter on the radio.  It gave us something to do in predicting their whereabouts and destination.  We finally saw four vessels coming under the Highway 79 bridge and heading towards Guntersville Marina.  Listening to other folks on the radio makes you wonder what people think of our senseless chatter at times.  Just after all of that excitement Linda was unable to capture a picture of the bald eagle flying over the trees near Guntersville, but as Ray said later in the day, "They never come out as good as it is in real life."
After another six hour travel day we pulled into a First Class Harbor just prior to Guntersville Lock.  We will be monitoring the radio for any activity in the morning and hope we can get through soon after sun up.  Tomorrow's plan is to try docking at the 1000 foot floating dock at the public access area boat ramp in Decatur, Alabama.  We have never attempted this, although we tried getting proper permission today from the city and the parks department.  From there we are hoping to get to the Mellow Mushroom via bicycles since we have never been to this one.  We got the bicycles prepared this afternoon by pumping up the tires in anticipation.