#33 X to Y

Cheryl: I assume that most people who travel down the river system from Knoxville to Mobile Bay document their trip by mile markers. Most tell stories about the Lock that cost them three hours of travel time at mile marker 338, the awesome anchorage at mile marker 266 and the beautiful marina at mile marker 217. I, on the other hand, can tell you about the pieces of one of my X-chromosomes that I’ve lost along the way.

I have never considered myself high maintenance by any means. But I have always gotten up in the morning, showered, did my hair, put on makeup, and “got ready “ for the day- following my mom‘s example. I didn’t plan on changing any of that on this trip. However…

We started our trip at mile marker 625 at 7:36 AM. I was adorned with clean clothes, makeup, coiffed hair, a fresh pedicure and a clean manicure. By 7:42 AM (still at mile marker 625), my hair was up in a clip. By mile marker 495, I’d worn the same clothes for two days. By mile marker 425, I’d given up foundation, blush, and eyeliner. By mile marker 334, the face cream and mascara were gone. Mile marker 305- the lipstick went by the wayside. And sitting on a dock at mile marker 118, I clipped off all my nails.

When we arrived in Mobile Bay (mile marker 0), I’d been wearing the same jeans and fleece shirt for four days. The only make up my face had seen all week was diesel soot. My eyebrows were spread willy-nilly across my forehead. Nine out of my once purple toenails were now ombre (purple to pink to flesh tone). The 10th nail had no polish whatsoever -I wonder where that went! My hair was half clipped up and half whipping around the vintage 1980s gold lamè elastic sunvisor perched on my head. My barely above the skin fingernails were chipped, my cuticles ragged, and my hands chapped. I was a mess AND crabby!

Yesterday I got into our cosmetic bin for Tylenol and saw my gallon Ziploc bag of Nair, my quart Ziploc bag of assorted nail polishes, six months worth of hair coloring, and other more intimate lady products. I laughed until my eyes watered. I’m lucky to shower and brush my teeth!

Today, however, was the final straw. We went to Walmart. I had put on makeup and my cutest Christmas earrings. I was feeling pretty darn civilized. In the store, I chatted briefly with a random shopper. Walking away I wished him a Merry Christmas and his response to me was, “Yes, sir.” Seriously?! I was wearing my cutest Christmas tree earrings!

Butch: Another quick update. There is so much to talk about, there’s no way to get it all down. People we’re meeting (including Next Lap, Serenity Monk, Millennium Falcon, Roam, Salty Mitten, Red Pearl, Serenity, Genesis, Bonny Days, Lutz Getaway, Always Friday, and Enchanted Circle), sights we see, adventures, problems, sunsets and, well the list is crazy long. However, I had to drop a post, since we are in Pensacola! Dolphins! Palm trees! Pensacola has always been unique and special to me, in part because I loved the movie “Contact”, and in part because it has always evoked Florida, and it was one the first places in Florida that I visited. So it’s just cool and exciting to be here. Apparently they were happy to see us as well, there was a street festival last night and the only conclusion I can come up with is that it was to welcome us to Florida. Either way, we walked the streets, ate pizza and enjoyed the show. Tomorrow, Sunday am, we’ll head out bound for Panama City, then on to Carrabelle and with any luck, catch the next good weather window to cross to Clearwater and on to Venice, our first extended stop. Since the daylight is short this time of year we may head towards Anclote Key near Tarpon Springs, that shaves a few miles off the trip. (Two more days and the sun begins to climb in the sky again! One of my favorite days of the year.) Today we hung out at a very nice marina, right in downtown Pensacola, and did a few things on the boat. We got the inverter replaced yesterday, QCS Marine Electronics, and I can’t say enough good things about them. They went above and beyond usual customer service to get us fixed up. Highly recommended if you need work done around anywhere in the panhandle.

Most of the marinas along the way have convenient loaner cars, cars that boaters can borrow to make a grocery store or parts run if needed. These marina folks are really thoughtful. The cars are set up for boaters in every way. Several modifications for safety usually exist, along with things done for our convenience. The car we borrowed the other day, for instance, had a feature that kept you from slamming on the brakes too hard. If you stopped too fast, the steering wheel would shake, kind of like that lane warning the new cars give you, and if you tried to stop really fast like some over-eager teenager, the whole front end would shake. It had a crack in the windshield, thus saving the average (broke) boater from having to worry too much about following dump trucks too closely and having to pick up the tab for a new windshield. The dash board was entertaining as well, with lots of little colored lights coming on at random times, perhaps a bit distracting but fun and holiday appropriate. The body was pre-dented so that, unlike the time-consuming routine when you rent a car and they inspect it like the police would if someone had been murdered in it, with this car you just jumped in and took off, and when you were done, you parked it and were done. No silly “dent check” from some over-zealous Enterprise guy. The seats were also pre-stained, sometimes looking a bit like someone had indeed been murdered in there, so you didn’t have to worry about a spilt drink. All in all, marina loaner cars are the bomb.

Probably won’t get another blog post out soon, so Merry Christmas to all!

That is the last lock in our rear-view mirror, and the three chart books we used coming both up and down the river. Glad to see that lock behind us!

Coming in to a marina. It’s a little nerve-wracking coming in, especially in a breeze, with millions of dollars worth of shiny yachts all around us.

The chart shows how we navigate, the navigation software gives us a route, we check it out and generally follow it.

The ship is some of the traffic we have to dodge now and then. The rules of the road, “United States Coast Guard Navigation Rules and Regulations” notwithstanding, are, the biggest boat rules the road.

The electrician who worked on our boat brought his daughter, who was out of school early for the start of Christmas break. They entertained each other for about three hours, until the job was done. Not sure what the poor kid would have done if Cheryl hadn’t been here, been supremely bored for sure.