September 28th - Green Turtle Bay

We enjoyed a restful week at Green Turtle Bay, a marina located in Grand Rivers, KY. The Tennessee River joins the Ohio at Paducah, KY and the huge Kentucky Lock is located upstream forming Kentucky Lake. A few miles beyond this juncture on the Ohio, the Cumberland River joins the Ohio. This is an alternative route to Barkely Lake, the other huge lake formed by the Barkley Dam. Grand Rivers is located between these two huge lakes.

During the week we repaired and cleaned Crawdad as well as rode our bikes and used our kayaks. The weather was hot, so we enjoyed the pool as well. We even hooked up to the cable TV to see if we could find any good football games, but no one here seems to care about our teams!

Paducah is located 20 miles from Grand Rivers, KY and we used the courtesy car on one occasion to attend the Paducah BBQ on the River. We attended with Sue and Darrel from Present Moment. On Saturday the Paducah BBQ was hosting a viewing of a tug. We were disappointed as the original tug advertised was not available and we toured a Coast Guard buoy tender instead. We were hoping to resolve our questions on horsepower and gallons of diesel burned!

In Green Turtle Bay we ran into our friends the Parrents. They are a young family of 2 girls, 1 boy and two parents! They have a Chris Craft Commander and are doing the loop. Last year they crossed the US in and RV. They are from Ada, MI. They sold their house and cars and are off on this adventure. They love Buddy and BooBoo and the boys love the attention the kids give them.

Today we left Green Turtle Bay headed for Paris State Park. As we neared the Park, we read about their golf course. On the Tennessee River! Jim had insisted we bring the golf clubs, so now we have used them! The Park Ranger picked us up from the marina, brought us to dinner at the Park Inn and drove us back to the marina. Our tax dollars working for us!

The Tennessee River scenery is more interesting than the Ohio. The Ohio River is slow moving, wide and low. The Tennessee river scenery is plush, hilly and at times stoney. Bays abound with alternatives for anchoring. Each more interesting than the last. If we didn't have the boys with us, we would certainly be anchored tonight! After the last mudfest, we are not anxious to dinghy to shore!

Tomorrow we will continue up the Tennessee River to......