Here is the link to our track for today:
We covered about 39 miles in a little over 6 hours today.
The next 40 miles would take us through some of the most georgous scenery anywhere. The "Gorge", also known as the Grand Canyon of the East, winds between Racoon Mt., Signal Mt., and Lookout Mt. before ending in downtown Chattanooga.
We threw off the lines at 6:15 this morning, after Glenda took a picture of the doe deer wading in the water across the slough from us.
A short distance upriver we passed the old Hales Bar dam and power plant. This was the first dam to be built across the Tennessee River, but after years of expensive maintenance casts due to leaks in the foundation, it was replaced by the Nickajack Lock and Dam. At the old Hales Bar site, there is now a marina which is home to the annual "Gathering" meeting of amateur boat builders on the third weekend of September.
The old Hales Bar Power Plant.
As we passed Oatley Island, I spotted something black and white in the trees. Four years ago we got some great photos of two adult eagles and three juveniles at thier nest on this small island, and I was excited about seeing them here again. Sadly, it turned out to be an osprey - not the eagle I'd hoped for. In fact, we did not see a single eagle all day. I believe this is he first trip I've made through the Gorge without seeing one. We did however, see lots of ospreys and of course the beautiful mountans!
We saw lots of kayakers, paddleboarders, and families out fishing.l
Racoon Mt. in sight!
Racoon Mt. has a 528 acre manmade reservoir on top of it, that is used to produce power by the TVA during times of high demand. The lake's dam is 230 feet tall!
The Racoon Mt. Resovoir overflow valve (to the right) dumps into the river at the base of the mountain. Signal Mt. is on the left.
Riverboat out for a short lunchtime tour.
Our dock is just ahead, between the bridges.
Everyone helps at docking time! The girls have learned a lot about boating in two short days!
From the Bluff Dock to street level on the north side, you climb 142 steps!
Lots of interesting art work to see at the riverfront.
From the Walnut Street bridge, with Genesis in the background.
A 10 year old on a carousel:
A14 year old on a carousel:
After crossing the river on the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge, the girls cooled off at the splash park.
Part of the amphibious vehicle fleet of tour boat/trucks.
Glenda says:
Got up bright amd early this morning and was rewarded with seeing a large doe stepping carefully in the water near the bank. She was beautiful. Dakota and I sat out front most of the morning talking about how beautiful heaven must be since there is still so much beauty in our fallen world. We also talked about how fun it would be to live in a hobbit house but that's another story. The mountains in this area are amazing. I got my 10,000 steps in today even though I spent the first half of the day riding on the boat. We tied up the boat after arriving in Chattanooga and headed to Moes bbq. It was delicious but just between us...the girls and I are tired of bbq. Chattanooga is a beautiful city with lots to do. The girls enjoyed splasing a little at the splash pad in the city park. Tomorrow they will probably get wetter since everywhere we go we will have to walk in the rain.
Dani says:
I couldn't quite get up this morning so I fell asleep in the pilot house. When I did finally did get up I saw a rock that kinda looked like the turtle from "The Neverending Story". When we were about to turn in to the dock I saw a DUCK BOAT! It was so cool I was so surprised when I saw it go out of the water! While we were walking around we saw the stairs from a picture of my sister and cousin sitting on them. I was very disappointed when I saw that the water from it in the picture was not there. But the day got better,we went to the moon pie factory where I found out that there was a strawberry moon pie! After that I played in a little stream at the Tennessee aquarium. Before we headed back to the boat we walked across the bridge to the park where we rode on the carousel. We did that before we went to the fountains where animal statues squirted water out at us. After that we went back to the boat and ate a pbj for dinner. For dessert I had a strawberry moon pie that my Papa bought for me.
And of course we had to make a stop at the Moon Pie Store!
Well today was a slow day to start with. Had breakfast and watched some birds. At about lunch time we still weren't at Chattanooga so we ate something small. Once we arived we turned on the air conditioning and went to find some lunch. Usually there are stairs that have water running down them but for some reason there was no water. Dani was disappointed. After lunch at once again moes bbq, we walked to the moon pie store and bought some stuff. Then we came back and changed clothes to go play in the animal fountains. After that we headed back and i took another nap and I'm pretty sure I'm still half asleep. Having a wonderful time wish you were here. Untill tomorrow.
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