Mike and Beth's Adventures

Fall colors on the Cumberland River Our return trip, down the Cumberland River from Nashville, was a celebration of fall colors.  Mother Nature used a much more vivid palette to paint the landscape than what was on display 10 days earlier.  She was clearly signaling that cold crisp nights, with cooler temperatures were on the way.  To me this also signaled that Halloween with all the accompanying festivities couldn't be far behind.  I appreciate and enjoy the shoulder seasons.  They signal a transition.  Smells, colors, foliage, temperatures, clothing, and seasonally favorite foods all under go a change.  In life, change is good, it piques the senses and reminds us to relish the world and experiences in which we live.  In this case, we were relishing our downstream journey on the Cumberland. A house blends with the fall colors The Cumberland River Farm is located mid-way between Clarksville and Nashville. It is an event center. Clarksville Tenness...

Joe Wheeler State Park Joe Wheeler State Park We completed our Chattanooga sojourn by returning to Joe Wheeler State Park.  Upon arrival we picked up packages that we had sent there to fix items we broke on our two week and 400 mile round trip to Chattanooga.  The inverter died, operator abuse, and the microwave died, probably due to the bouncing it endured on the trip across country.  We installed both these items before leaving the next morning for Florence Alabama.  To get there, we had to travel through two locks.  First up was Wheeler Lock with a drop of 52 feet.  Within 15 miles we would drop 92 feet, the largest drop of the entire Loop, at Wilson Lock.  We were fortunate that the gates were open and we were able to transit Wheeler quickly.  At Wilson we waited about 30 minutes before we could begin our transit of that lock.  We were happy that we really had no delays of any consequence on our first day out of Joe Wheeler State Park. Th...