Yes, Crossroads Has Windshield Wipers

Day 142  | Diamond Island (KY) to Iuka (MS)  |  3.3 Hours  |  20 Miles  |  1 Lock 

We were the middle boat of three mounting an early morning charge up the Tennessee River for Pickwick Lock. Miss Utah reported back that if we arrived by 8:30, we would be able to lock right through. We had a short trip of 11 miles, but did see a few interesting things along the way. This old tractor was sitting on the shoreline just outside of our anchorage. Barry snapped the photo while I was still washing down the deck and putting our anchor bridle away. We passed the Shiloh National National Military Park and almost didn't know it. We saw a nicely manicured lawn, and a well-maintained road so we thought it had to be "something." We consulted Google Maps and found out this was the site of a two-day Civil War battle that produced close to 24,000 casualties. Hey, National Park Service, just a little sign along the river would be a nice touch. The combination of a brisk breeze and two-knot current against us made our arrival time closer to 9:15. We spotted the massive structure of the adjacent Pickwick Dam and hydroelectric plant around the bend and knew we were close.

Thankfully, there was no commercial traffic at this time of the morning and the lockmaster had already prepared the chamber for us. We pulled up to the front-most position and tied off to bollard No. 7. The doors closed, we were raised approximately 50-feet, and exited into Pickwick Lake. The wind was from the south, gusting to 25 knots, and was creating an irritating chop on the water. Although our ride was not rough, several waves splashed high over the bow, forcing us to close the door to the pilothouse for a while and turn on the windshield wipers. Its still cool to know that Crossroads has windshield wipers.

We crossed over the dotted line on the map and entered Mississippi, our 13th state. We joined a dozen or so other Loopers at Aqua Yacht Haven. A couple of our neighbors helped guide our beamy stern in between the dagger sharp corners of the floating docks without incident. I got in a bit of reading and shared some sunshine before we joined the group for appetizers on the deck of the marina's restaurant. We will be here tomorrow awaiting a front to pass from the west. Hurricane Michael should not affect us (according to the predicted track as I write this) immediately, but we are all concerned for the panhandle of Florida as that area is where many of us Loopers will be headed in the next few weeks.