Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 186 |  Gainesville to Demopolis  |  5.8 Hours  |  43 Miles  

We enjoyed a nice, leisurely trip to Demopolis today. The temperature had dipped into the lower 30s by morning and dropped the interior temperature of the boat to the mid 50s. We had elected to not run the generator overnight, pulled out an extra blanket, and slept well in the chill. It was leaving the covers at dawn that proved to be a most difficult challenge. I bundled back up in multiple layers and prepared to face the cold. We pulled up our anchor cleanly at 7:30, just as the last of the golden sunrise was giving way to blue sky. Miss Utah led the way out of the perfect little anchorage which had just enough current running through it to keep us pointing in one direction overnight. Just as we entered the Tombigbee Waterway we came upon a dredge crew working early on a holiday. The business end (bit) of the dredge was out of the water, giving us a view of the process we had not seen before. For the most part the trip was serene. The water was flat except for our wakes, there was little wind, the sky was blue, and a hint of color could still be seen in the leaves.

The best views of the day came as we passed by the White Cliffs of Edes. This mile-long, 30-foot high stretch of rock wall is part of the Selma Chalk formations which were deposited at about the same time as England's famous White Cliffs of Dover.

Later downriver, we saw some Spanish moss hanging from the trees. That was a first for us on this trip. There is not much shoreline in this section of the waterway, forcing the herons to study the area from tree branches. We arrived at Kingfisher Marina in Demopolis around 1:30 and jumped onto a list of boat chores -- check-in, pumpout, fill the water tanks, vacuum, and shower. We put our little turkey breast in the oven sometime in the middle of all these projects, and anxiously waited for it to be done as the aroma filled the boat. We added mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, stuffed peppers, and the traditional popcorn (Snoopy-style) to the buffet. Chris and Roger from Miss Utah joined us at 6:00 for dinner, bringing salad and wine.

We all gained entrance into the clean plate club, helped by the fact that none of us had any lunch following our arrival in Demopolis. We enjoyed a great evening and had a ton of laughs together. It was a special day that we won't forget. We checked in and heard from all the family back home as well. Sounds like everyone had good days.

We will depart with Miss Utah (and several other boats) tomorrow at 6:00 am. Yes, I know, I cannot believe I just typed that either. We have a lot of miles to cover and need a quick and early passage through the Demopolis Lock, located just around the bend. We'll see how far we can get and drop the anchor before sunset.