Kentucky Lake - Pebble Isle

I know it has been a while since I updated the blog and I apologize. The thing is, we don't have internet access most of the times. The stupid Virgin hotspot thing I have, only works where it wants to and that does NOT include the Tennessee River, Kentucky Lake area. ( If you are thinking of doing the Loop , get a Verizon one, I believe they work better)

The Kentucky Lake area has beautiful fauna and flora - 

The graffiti filled quarry near Grand Rivers - This on is for the biggest black Hawks fan ever!! - Bob Carr

Finally after travelling up and down rivers we were in Green Turtle Bay. 
A favourite stop among Loopers, the marina is like an oasis in the dessert after the rivers.

The Nina and Pinta were also at Green Turtle

The Nina and Pinta are replica boats of the originals. The decks are black and in the brutal sun , the crew sometimes have to sleep outside because it can get so hot inside.

There is a restaurant here at GTB that throw all their old rolls in the water for the turtles to snack on. Turtles also enjoy dry cat food J

Sherry and me having a dip trying to stay cool. We have been a day or so behind MV Priorities for a while, we finally caught up with them in  Grent Turtle Bay.

How cool is this? I had an email from Moya about 6 months ago. Moya and David’s sailboat is also called Time and Tide. They contacted us a while back but at that time we didn't think we would be passing through here again so we never dreamed that we would meet. What a wonderful surprise to meet them here at GTB.

Many of the anchorages have boat launches for fishermen and an great way for us to get ashore on the dingy. This is a view of Pisgah Bay.

Anyhow, this is only the second time in two weeks I have been able to access wifi and hopefully this time it will be fast enough to post the update. ( Trying to post the blog last time - I finally gave up after 4 hours)

Every evening the wind life come out  for a drink. This deer is joined by a "cranky pants" Blue Heron. They make a squawky sound when disturbed- hence the nickname. ( Bob Carr) We have seen deer almost every evening. Some morning s we hear shot gun sounds but it is not deer season yet

We have spent the past two weeks anchoring and enjoying Kentucky Lake. It has been INSANELY hot and there were times when the bugs drove us buggy,but the beautiful anchorages and swimming holes have made it all worth while.

We have been bitten by ticks and little house fly-type flies ( The Devil's Spawn) and had to deal with swarms of black bugs that would coat the outside of the boat like a blanket!! If you kill them they leave a nasty stink, so really you can't win.

I have even been bitten by little Blue-Gills while skinny dipping....who can say that??!!

But it is all worth while.

Jake and Josie, enjoying a cool evening after another hot day

How many men does it take to change the hose on a propane tank? Randy and Gary

Randy and Sherry saying goodbye, aboard MV Priorities



Two bald eagles in flight. One evening we saw them fight mid air , presumably for territory...what a sight!!



We believe those sticks are some kinda fishing contraption for Crappies, a way to get them to breed in that particular area.

At first we thought those big fish were carp, then we thought perhaps they were catfish....thing is we don't know what they are except that they are HUGE!!

Morning mist

Little did we know while we enjoying the scenery and walk, we were getting covered with ticks!

Patti’s famous garden pot bread with strawberry and whipped butter.

We met Adrienne while walking on the beach. He offered his kayak for me to try as we have been thinking about getting one for a while now. He also taught us expressions like “The Lake is like a skillet out there” and that the bugs here simply use Deet as a condiment.  He and his brother are kayaking the Lake and camping overnight. It was our pleasure to meet him.

Pretty simple

A bobcat on shore. This poor fellow had a big scrape on his hind, unfortunately (I think) a result of a snare L

Using a suction cup handle to hold on, I am washing the bottom of the boat just under the water line.

We have read reports of Red Wolves in this area but we are pretty sure that this is a Coyote. We would hear them at night calling ...amazing!!!

The American Queen, the largest river boat we have seen on our travels.

Lizard – we named him Eddie 

Suger Bay

I cannot explain how hot it has been here. After our walk in the woods Gary just had to float in the water for a while to cool down. 

At last Gary gets to enjoy his 2’ pork chop at Patti’s. Last year we just make it here for dinner so we wanted to make sure we didn't miss out again this year. That pork chop ended up making 2 meals as left overs. It is huge!!

At the helm...

The cemetery at Cemetery Cove inSugar Bay. Unfortunately many babies are buried here. dates range from mid 1800 to early 1900

After travelling from HigginsBay to Kenlake our boat was black from all the bugs. If you squish them they leave a ugly yellow mark so I took out the vacuum and sucked most of them up, while Gary washed the rest of them off the boat using the wash-down. Yuk!

So we got to our last anchorage at Richland , (just before Pebble Isle marina) and we were just about to sit down for dinner when we got hailed over the VHF, someone on shore called to chat. Gary ended up going fishing with him the next morning.....We also met Bull and Kyala , who were out for a ride on their boat, they stopped by to say hello, see if we needed anything and stayed for a visit. Just like that , we had made new friends

Bull and Kyala

Jim and Gary after fishing.

Here is the thing; mostly a stranger is just a friend you have yet to meet. People just want to chat, ask where you re from and how on earth you ended up in their neck of the woods! We have been offered vehicles to use to go and do shopping, by people we hardly knew. Others have called on the radio, offering help or information on the area; "anything you need, just call" Everybody is so friendly, it makes one's heart feel real good!!!! We are blessed to live this life, to see the things we see and do the things we do , but mostly we are blessed by the ones who come into our lives and touch our hearts.

Lucky us. :)

So I with that in mind I would like to share a toast with  you compliments of another amazing person and friend, Jim Angel, thank you Jim!

There are big ships

There are small ships

There are many ships at sea

But the best ships of all are friendships

So here is a toast to you and me. 

.........................to be continued.