Happy Campers

Day 143  | Iuka 

Showers were predicted for today so we went for our walk early in the morning. Before we had even left our dock we had spent time checking out the hibiscus tree, still in bloom, and walked down our personal sailboat memory lane. The first one we came to was a Hunter 41, which is the same as our previous boat, Laughing Place. Further down the dock we came to a Hunter 33, which is the same as our Bear Necessity. It was fun to look at those sailboats and remember what we loved about each and all the great memories we have of those sailing days.   

Our walk took us up by the pool and that's where I spotted the basketball goal. I picked up the ratty ball laying by the fence. The cover was peeling off of it, but it felt good just to shoot a few and make far more than I missed. I was suddenly anxious to return to Crossroads, so we left to continue the walk. On the way to the main road, we passed the two large storage sheds that hold at total of 140 boats up to 30-feet long. At the marina sign and turned around and doubled back. Locals had told us not to walk outside of the marina as the road was very busy with logging trucks.

Trucks flew by every minute, transporting full loads in both directions -- some going to pulp mills and others going to lumber mills. I hurried back to Crossroads and retrieved my basketball from the cockpit locker. I had been waiting 143 days for this very moment when I could bring it out of storage. For an hour I was in my happy place, no worries at all.

We checked out the marina's courtesy car for a few hours and headed to the nearest Walmart (26 miles away) to pick up a soldering iron. Its amazing how many other things jumped into our cart before we got to the checkout line. The showers finally rolled through on the return leg of our trip. In a steady drizzle, I carried our purchases to the boat and packed everything away.

Loopers gathered for a potluck dinner on the deck of the marina restaurant (which is closed for the season). The sign at the hostess stand was not quite the "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" line that we've come to expect. Thank you, fine folks of Mississippi, for informing all of us visitors of the ground rules and expectations. The aggregate food selection was most impressive (I made a large chicken Caesar salad), but the turnout was even more incredible. Twenty-seven folks shared stories and plans before we all retired to our respective boats by 8:30.

Are you headed to Tishomingo? Iuka is the county seat of Tishomingo County, MS, the site where the soon-to-be-named Soggy Bottom Boys got paid for singing into a can to record Man of Constant Sorrow at WEZY in O Brother Where Art Thou.

We will leave Aqua in the morning for Florence Harbor Marina. The trip will be about 40 miles and we'll have several other Loopers traveling with us. We are all making our way to Joe Wheeler State Park for the weekend. Barry and I will have to save our visit to the Iuka Apron Museum for a later date.