Joe Wheeler and the AGLCA Rendezvous

Well it is Sat. the 20th of October.  Where has the month gone.  Today we have to leave Grand Harbor to head for Joe Wheeler State Park and the AGLCA rendezvous.  The day is great for the trip and the two locks we will have to go through.  We travelled with Jet Stream and Blarney Castle.  The Tennessee River has been great to travel on.  It is wide, and there is so much to see.  We arrived at the Wilson Lock and Dam at mile 259.4 and had to wait for the lock to empty and come back up.  Not as bad as some other locks we have been through.  We lost Scott and KC in Jet Stream who headed ti Florence Harbor Marina.  We will catch up to them again..

Arrival at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina

Blue Heron at Wilson Lock

The Wilson Lock is a large lock with a 93' lift and with floating bollards.  We have been very lucky with all of the locks we have been through except for Lock 93....  It was also a nice day outside.  The lock had lots of special followers, Blue Herons, everywhere you look.  They just sat so perfectly still and just watched all of us.  After we got through the lock we headed down the river 25.5 miles to the next lock Joe Wheeler Lock and Dam at mile 274.9.  The river leading up to the lock was full of  beautiful estate homes. Not a poor an area as I once thought.  The lock was only 48' and we did not have to wait, in and out in no time.  We arrived  at Joe Wheeler State Park in the late afternoon.  It was very pretty going in with all the falls colors, and when we came around the bend and saw the Marina and all the boats.  Looper boats everywhere.  We were assigned to slip 10, right in front of the lodge, a great slip.  The Looper lady and her husband helping all the boats in to their assigned slips were great.  We looked around and it was like seeing all of our friends all in one spot.

After we were settled in we went for a walk and talked to so many people we had met along the way. We found Tony and Shirley on Headquarters on the far dock close to the Marina.  Lady KK was on the dock across for us.  Jade was on our dock at the end.  We had decided to meet for drinks at 5:30ish on Headquarters.  Another happy hour that lasted two....  Came back to our boat and decided have dinner on board.  Did not want to have any more meals in the Lodge than we had to.  Watched a little TV and called it a nite.

On Sun. the 21st we awoke to another beautiful day.  Mornings cool and then the day warms up quickly.  Cooked a great breakfast and then we relaxed.  Don washed the outside of the boat and I cleaned the inside. Later on that afternoon we went in and picked up our info and badges on the conference.  Two weeks before the conference Joe Wheeler and all the other Tennessee State Parks, were licenced to serve alcohol with the exception of Sundays.  Dinner each nite was at 7:00PM.  We were hoping that this year the food would be better than last year, but that would be too much to ask.  It Was actually worse.  After the dinner and introductions we came back to the boat for a few nite caps.

On Monday we had breakfast and it was a little better than last year, but not much.   At least the juice and fruit cocktail were not out of cans.  The meetings were okay, but a lot of the same things that we heard last year.  Lunch was even more disappointing than breakfast.  More meetings in the afternoon and then cocktail and hors' d oeuvre hour.  It was the best part of the day, talking to everyone.  We went into dinner and it was three for three for bad meals....  Two more days of this.  Back to the boat and watched a little TV and called it a nite.


Don & Freya at Longing for Home Concert

Tony & Shirley at the Concert

On Tues. the 23rd. the ALGCA did not offer anything for breakfast.  Meeting were exactly the same as last year.  Lunch was hamburgers and hot dogs, yum yum....  Afternoon meetings were shorter but the same as the morning meetings. They had arranged to have a bus to take members into town.  Later that nite there was a concert for the Looper's in Rogersville at Longing for Home where we stayed.  It was great and so much better than last year.  After the concert we came back to the boat and made a pizza for dinner and watched the Presidential debates.  Pretty good debate.

Don & Betty at Longing for Home Concert
on Tuesday the 23rd



Jack, Denise and Beatrice trick or treating
 at Joe Wheeler

On Wed. Don went to breakfast and the meetings.  I stayed and cleaned the boat and made cookies.  Our boat was on the Looper's Crawl that nite, so I wanted to make it look good.  Jake and Denise on Jade brought Beatrice (4) over to the boat for trick and treat.  I picked her up a little stuffed white dog for her and she loved it.  We had about 12 couples come by and tour our boat.  Most of them had not bought a boat yet and are looking at many boats to see the differences to see the pros and cons of each.   After the Crawl we went to happy hour and hors' d oeuvres and then dinner and awards and the closure to the conference.  We joined some of the Looper's for a music and sing-a-long upstairs by the fireplace.  So many talented people with the group.  Back to the boat and watched TV and called it a nite.

 

Pot Luck at Joe Wheeler on the 25th

Sunset at Joe Wheeler on the 25th

On Thurs. the 25th we heard many Looper's outside early getting ready to leave.  By 7:00AM about 10 to 12 boats left and then a few more at about 8:30ish.  The Marina is looking a bit empty.  Don and Tony went golfing and had a great time.  They got back in mid afternoon.  Jet Stream arrived a little later.  We joined some of the remaining Looper's for drinks on the main dock.  Met a lot of new people and had a great time.  Came back to the boat and cooked some filet's and watched TV.  Glad that the conference is done.  They really need to replace Janice Kromer as the person that arranges the food for the events.