We had intended to leave at 7:30 this morning, but there was fog over the water that looked like steam coming off the water – very eerie looking, like a bad horror movie. It started clearing pretty quickly, so we pulled out of the slip about 8:15 – goodbye Iuka! Unfortunately it cleared and then reappeared after we had gone about half an hour. It was really bad for about 15-20 minutes, then finally cleared for good and turned into an absolutely gorgeous day.

We had 3 locks to go through today. The first lock was open so we were able to go right in – how lucky, or so we thought. There was one other boat in already, but then we found out there were three more boats a few minutes behind us, so we had to wait on them. Eventually they got in and down we went, about 80 feet!

Looking back at the lock, with a bridge we had just gone under. I wonder what the lock looks like from the bridge.

We knew that once you go through a lock with a group of boats it does no good to go speeding ahead to the next lock – the lockmaster will just wait for everyone to get there before letting you lock through. So we followed 4 other boats to the next lock, like little ducks in a row.

When we got to the next lock there was a tow already in the lock, so we idled for a while until he got through. Once we got in, it went fairly quickly since the drop was only 30 feet. And then it was on to the third lock. Because of delays at the first two locks, five more boats were able to catch up to us within a few minutes of us getting into the lock. So there were 10 boats in the third lock! It was only a 20 foot drop,, so it went quickly.

Nine of the 10 boats were stopping at a marina just 4 miles after the lock. The dockmaster called us in to our assigned spot by the order in which we were coming in – we were  boat #3. Docking went very smoothly and soon we were at the marina office checking out all the amenities – the laundry facilities look phenomenal! And there’s a courtesy car so we can make a quick trip to the local Walmart for some groceries.

Because of our boat length and the fact that we’re a transient, we ended up as a side tie up on a dock exposed to the river. After being in a covered slip for nearly two weeks with nothing to look at but other boats, and not able to see more than a sliver of the sky, we were actually glad for this spot. We put our folding seats up on the bow, popped open a beer, and enjoyed the warm sun and fresh air.

And then there was the sunset –