The moments before sunrise are always captivating.

   

Then within seconds the sun bears itself in splendor over the horizon…..

    

But today the warm sunshine soon gave way to the rain on the Ohio…..

  

After the grueling travel day yesterday, and after seeing rain in the forecast, we decided to take an extra day in Paducah as a rain day.  We grabbed our umbrellas and headed out.  The ramp from the dock was steep and the historic downtown area of Paducah was right there at the crest…..

  

We were too late for the farmer’s market, but the National Quilt Museum was near.  Just 2 blocks from the Ohio River, it brings quilting art and history to over 100,000 people from 40 countries annually.    

These commemorative statues represent those who helped Lewis and Clark on their travels to the Pacific Ocean.

    

The Market House Museum is Paducah’s only general history museum.  It houses artifacts from Paducah’s historic heritage, from the Native American residents through its founding by famous explorer William Clark in 1827.

   

We enjoyed our walk through the charming historic downtown area, and of course – did a little shopping.

   

DOE’S EAT PLACE  was the most recommended in town so that’s where we had dinner.  We had homemade beef tamales, homemade garlic buttered bread, steamed vegetables and the best filet with blue cheese sprinkles ever!

    

Robert was docked near us on his 39′ Mainship Trawler, “Dream Quest”.  He completed the loop several years prior.  It’s always fun to meet up with other loopers.

   

The floodwall in downtown has protected Paducah for 72 years.  It extends 13 miles, 3 miles of concrete and is 14 feet high.

By the time we returned to make our descent back down to the docks the rain had subsided and sun was starting to peak out again.

    

RANDOM:  Robert found this little clown after Katrina flooded New Orleans.  It is now his mascot.

It was Saturday morning when we pulled out of Paducah and the fishermen were out early.  The barges and tows still lined the shore waiting for their turn to lock through.  Lock #52 was backed up for scheduled maintenance.

    

We traveled from Paducah to Lake Barkley and docked at a neat marina – Buzzard Rock.  It required a short cruise up the Ohio before turning into the Cumberland River.  The Barkley Lock was our only lock for the day and it was not bad.  When we called the lock master, he had 11 downriver bound sailboats to lock through, but said if we “hurry” we could enter his lock after the sailboats left.  So Ron put the pedal to the metal and we got there with perfect timing to enter the lock.  Being on the Cumberland River again, we are feeling close to home.

    

Buzzard Rock Resort in Kuttawa, Kentucky…..

       

It was funky – but fun…..

    

    

We had a bird’s eye view of the goings and comings at the marina.

    

We tried to find a TV to watch the Titans game but to no avail…..Shannon served us some nachos and beer at Buzzard Rock Cafe – yes, the servers are still doing selfies for our blog!  ……and we shopped a little at the ship store.

        

It was Saturday night at Buzzard Rock and, “I see the full moon rising, I see trouble on the way.  I fear the river’s overflowing, I see bad times today.  Don’t go around tonight, Well, it’s bound to take your life,  There’s a full moon on the rise.”          I digress.

The deck below the cafe turned into a honky-tonk as the full moon rose and nighttime fell.  It was a one-man band that opened the floor to Karaoke – to our dismay.  The band was good – karaoke was not.  Note:  Elvis should not be characterized with Karaoke!  We were thankful that our boat was just far enough away from the activities.

    

Our sunrises and sunsets over Kuttawa, Kentucky were awesome as usual.

    

….and Karen is forever working on the blog……

Our little frog friend joined us over a week ago in St. Charles and is still traveling with us.  He hides when we get underway and only comes out when we dock – so we can’t leave him behind.  It’s the little things……..

    

We have a friend named “JuJu” back at The Braxton – a unique name for a boat as well.

    

On our second day at the Buzzard we walked around the resort – never found the pool…. and did some shopping for the kids (and us).  After a while in these remote places there’s not much to do.  Today we started out with a nice walk with our coffee, then smelled the aroma of bacon cooking at the Cafe, then we shopped at the ship store (for the fifth time), then to the Cafe – where we ordered homemade biscuits with country gravy and bacon – for two – our total bill was $6.57.  Then back to the boat where we killed a few hours recapping our last few days, then back to the store to pick up a few things for the kids.  Back to the boat, back to the store and cafe……..and so on……..can’t say we got bored, but there’s not much else to do here – so we will head out in the morning for our next stop……..”Bumpus Mills”…………….look that up!

We re-entered Tennessee today, where it all began a year ago!  We were pleasantly reminded how beautiful the hills and waterways of the Cumberland are, as compared to all of the wonderful sights we’ve seen on this trip.  It matches them in its own way.

    

    

Along the way we passed a houseboat washed up on shore, many floating logs to be aware of, birds, and the Kentucky State Penitentiary…..we never bore of the sights along the way – from the magnificent to the mundane.

    

    

And more birds…..the gulls followed in our wake for miles.  I did throw crackers their way but I think they were more in hopes of catching a small fish or two from our wake.

    

Some of the beauty along the Cumberland was the homes tucked away on the tree-covered hillsides.

             

After researching “Bumpus Mills Marina” in the waterway guides, Karen advised Ron that it did not look like the place for us, but looked more like a fishing camp for the locals.  And where the heck is “Bumpus Mills, Tennessee” anyway?  But there was something about it calling to Ron.  Around the bend and up the creek – there it was – and it appeared to be exactly what Karen had suspected – a rough looking fishing camp!

    

Not only were we the only transient boat there – but we were the biggest – being larger than the marina itself.  We hung out the back, hung out the front, and hovered above the roof.  At first we thought it funny, but humor soon gave way to realism, and in no time we began to appreciate the quaintness, the peacefulness and the sincereness of Wally and Vicka, owners of the marina.  When we arrived, there sat Wally at the table in his small marina with a plate full of home-grown green beans in front of him.  What a lunch!  And what a simple life……

    

        

    

We took our usual evening stroll to look around the docks – it was a short stroll but interesting none the less.

       

Take note of the picnic table up the hill from us, complete with ladder and an old tire!  Only in Tennessee!

    

Eventually other forms of life appeared.  At sunset a couple of local boats went out to do some fishing.  They were friendly folks.

    

Next morning, after sunrise and a bit of provisioning at Wally’s, we pulled out of the marina.  Wally said he would sell anything from the refrigerator door on that side to the exit door on the other.  So before pulling out I did a little shopping, buying some supplies along with a jar of sorghum molasses, a few homegrown tomatoes, and best of all – some of Wally’s green beans!  Wally even let me get a handful of biscuits out of his freezer – “just reach right in and get you some” –  right out of his bag of frozen biscuits – and he wouldn’t even let me pay for them.

The whole Bumpus Mills Marina experience turned out to be, well, just that – an experience!  And one we wouldn’t have missed for anything.

    

RANDOM:  I’m not sure how I captured the butterfly (moth?) in flight, along with (and looking larger than) the gulls.

I read that there is ONE restaurant in town, The Bumpus Meals Diner, but we had no transportation to get there.  It had dozens of 5-star reviews, “just like Grandma’s kitchen”, “nicest people you could ever meet”, “home cooked meals”, and “truly a country folk diner”.  Maybe next time!

    

We were told “It’s an ‘r to Clarksville, an ‘r to Costco, an ‘r to Sams, and an ‘r to Paducah – it’s about an ‘r to anywhere from Bumpus Mills”!

The full moon was still out when we waved goodbye to Wally and pulled out of Bumpus Mills.  We really liked that little marina.  Our next stop, Clarksville, will be our last before returning to our home port.

    

Back on the Cumberland, not far up river at Dover, was Ft. Donelson National Battlefield.  An important naval battle of the Civil War was fought here.  Notice all of the canons lined up facing the water!

    

The scenery just kept getting better but we did notice the water pool being down…..

        

…..evidenced by this private dock on the dirt……

We had to hold back for the Cumberland City Ferry carrying a car across the river.

    

And finally we arrived at what would be our last marina on The Loop.  This will be our 132 marina on the trip.  Since we are on the move so often, sometimes at night we wake up and have look around to see where we are.  I also keep a spreadsheet of each stop – the marina, the town, the state, the country, how many miles we traveled, etc.  You’d be surprised how many times we have referred to it to see where we were just days before.

Clarksville Marina.  This was our first stop on the Loop and now is our last transient stop.

    

We walked up the hill to The Liberty Grill, just as we did a year before on our first night out on the Loop.  And we toasted to “The Loop”, just as we had done that first night.

    

Only last year our waiter did not take the eminent selfie as he did this year.  He also brought us Key Lime pie for dessert, free gratis, in honor of our completing the loop.

Santa is getting nostalgic about his trip as he poses with his “white” AGLCA looper flag, just days before he goes gold himself!

    

Courtney, a photographer from the Clarksville newspaper, dropped by for a visit and photo to document Santa’s return.

    

Sometime it’s birds, sometime frogs, sometime bears and alligators, but now this beautiful butterfly spent the afternoon with us.  I thought it was unusual that he was black and blue on top and black and orange on bottom – but then what do I know about butterflies?

        

Second day in Clarksville, our friends Robert and Linda (originally from Clarksville) drove from Nashville, picked us up for dinner and took us on a tour  around town.  Clarksville is a college town with a major military base, giving it unique flavor and character.

        

You may remember Gomer Pyle and Sergeant Carter?  Frank Sutton, aka Sergeant Vince Carter was from Clarksville, and this bronze statue was placed in honor and memory of him.  I’m sure you recognize the stance from the TV show!

    

There are a lot of Predator Hockey fans around Nashville, but this guy and his car take the cake!

    

We had dinner with Robert and Linda at Edward’s (a great steak place) and enjoyed catching up with them.  It had been almost a year since we saw them last.

    

And the sun set over Clarksville, the marina, and Kara Mia…………

    

It is now sunrise in Clarksville and finally time for us to go home.  We pulled out of Clarksville Marina with a bit of nostalgia ourselves, but not before we witnessed a gorgeous sunrise and rainbow reflecting in the water below!

    

    

Since the time of Noah’s ark, rainbows have been symbolic of God’s faithfulness and mercy and promise of love, care, support, and protection…..

    

Finally we are on the last leg of our “Bucket List Trip” and the end is bitter-sweet.  We traveled through our last lock today, our last of 115.  We traveled 7,134 miles and over 300 days.  We visited 133 marinas, anchored out under the stars, experienced more cultures and dined on more regional foods than we can remember.  We saw dolphins swimming in our wake, we sat on our boat at the the foot of “Lady Liberty” in the New York Harbor.  We watched the Blue Angels as they flew just feet above our boat in Annapolis for the graduating class of the Naval Academy, we lived through the Houston Ship Channel where 800+ foot cargo ships left us in wakes so high we could only see water surrounding our boat, we hiked and we biked.  We saw way too many museums and we had large Asian carp jump into our boat.  We collected over 300 “boat cards” from people we met along the way, we made life-long friendships.  We experienced Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall….on the water….on our boat.  Wow, I don’t know what to write.

 

Today was our last lock, the Cheatham Lock, Mile Marker 148.6, on the Cumberland River.  Ten miles to go and our Great Loop will be completed.

        

The beautiful white puffy clouds caught our attention today…..in our travels we experienced wind, rain, snow, ice, fog, cold, heat, tornadoes, many highs and very few lows.  Today was a beautiful day.

    

On a funny note:  We heard gunshots as we were cruising up the river today, minding our own business, and when we saw shells hitting the water in our direction we decided to call the local police.  Little did we know, it was opening day for duck season.  It’s so good to be back in Tennessee!

Then we got waked by a “go fast” boat.  It was so bad we hailed him on the radio to thank him!  He didn’t respond but he did have to wait at the lock for us to catch up.  The lock master made him wait on us so he would not have to open and close the locks and raise and lower the water twice!  They cater to barges and tows – but NOT to us pleasure boats!  Slowed that guy down!

Thanks to our friends Linda and Allen for these photos!  Linda caught us several miles down river from her balcony at the Braxton.  I really can’t describe the feeling as it came into sight.  We were anxious to see our family and friends again – but not quite ready for this adventure to end.

    

One year and 12,000 photos later……it was with mixed emotions that we pulled into our home port of Harpeth Shoals Marina in Ashland City, Tennessee – where this adventure began.  But the closer we got, the more excited we became – not knowing what to expect after traveling over 7,000 miles and spending a year away from home.

    

We swung around and backed into our old slip and it was just like we had never left.

      

And there on the docks were our friends!  Thank you special friends who greeted us with Dom Perignon and Norman Love Chocolates,  thank you for the gifts of champagne and wine!  Most of all thank you for your friendships!  We are glad to be home.

    

    

EB and Allen exchanged gifts of homemade moonshine – I think this has become a tradition with them.  If you want to know the story behind this you will have to ask “them”.

    

Reba found a bottle of wine called “The Loop”!  When they visited us in Mackinaw, they brought “Cara Mia”.  That pretty well covers it for us!

                

And we toasted to friendships and to our safe return……and enjoyed an evening of reminiscing and catching up!

    

    

    

    

        

    

And let’s not forget Santa.  Santa traveled over 7,000 miles himself.  He completed his loop today!  Santa is now a “Gold Looper”  and will fly his gold looper flag along with us.  We couldn’t have done the trip without him!

    

Santa and I are trying to talk Ron into a second Loop, time will tell!

TOMORROW – THE KIDS AND GRAND KIDS!

Just how does one end a book, or a trip of a lifetime?……………………………………………

“Say goodnight Gracie”……..

Just when you thought it was over!  We found a great ending for this America’s Great Loop adventure (or it could be the beginning of the next?) in the lyrics of Jimmy Buffett’s song,  Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.  Here is our rendition of it.

We took off for a weekend this month just to try and recall the whole year.

All of the faces and all of the places, wonderin’ where they all disappeared.

We didn’t ponder the question to long, we were hungry and went out for a bite,

Ran into a looper, got into a stooper, and wound up having docktails all night…..

It’s these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes – nothing remains quite the same.

With all of our running and all of our cunning, if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.

Reading the nav signs in some big chart book, reminds us of the places we’ve been.

Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure, makes us want to go back again.

If it suddenly ended tomorrow, we would somehow adjust to it all.

Good times and riches and great seafood dishes, we’ve had more than we can recall.

These changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same.

Through all of the islands and all of the highlands, if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.

We talk about looping when we’re high on red wine, wish we had our feet in the sand.

So many nights we just dream of the ocean, gosh we wish we were looping again.

Oh, yesterday’s over our shoulder, so we can’t look back for too long.

There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me, and I know that I just can’t go wrong.

With these changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, nothing remains quite the same.

With all of my running and all of my cunning, if I couldn’t laugh I just would go insane……..

If we couldn’t laugh we just would go insane……….

LOOPERS – If we weren’t all crazy – we would go insane!

 

Look for our final blog post tomorrow!

It’s the journey, not the destination……

As we have journaled, logged and blogged everyday for a year, it’s hard to accept an ending.  When interesting things happen now that we are home, we feel the urge to run write it down or to snap a photo.  But they say all good things must come to an end.  We end our blog with several thoughts or quotes that we never found the right place to fit into our journal of our trip.  We add these for ourselves to remember mostly, but hope you enjoy as well.

• 20 states, 2 countries, 7,134 miles, 115 locks, hundreds of new friends.
• Not every day on the Loop is beautiful and not every day is easy, but without a doubt every day is interesting and adventurous and challenging.
• The not knowing what you will encounter each day is both a curse and a blessing.  At the end of each day, when you secure your lines, you feel more alive than before.
• “I love not always knowing where we are headed yet not being lost.”        Oar Knot
• Not an uncommon question we were asked almost daily, “Can you get that boat here from Nashville?”  We have been asked that question since Mobile, Alabama last November – and yet they were still asking up in New York this year.  Our response was always the same, “You Bet!”
• 
• We collected over 300 boat cards from people we have met along the way.  While it’s wonderful to be home with our family and friends, we can’t help but think of all the new friends we met on this special journey.
• Men in Canada don’t wear shirts – random! (Don’t ask).
•  Mark Twain Quote…..“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired  by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime”.
• Three most asked questions:
  • What was the best part about the trip?  There were so many unique experiences we can’t pick just one.
  • What was the worst part about the trip?  Several of these as well.
  • What was the scariest part of the trip?  Although we never feared for our lives, there were a number of anxious moments.

We don’t have enough time or space to answer these, please see our blog!

• We now more than ever appreciate what the name of our boat means – it was our home……”Cara Mia” is Italian for “My Beloved”, the song is a ballad about “never wanting to leave her”……(Jay and the Americans).  We changed the “C” to “K” – our Kara Mia also stands for our initials,  “Karen And Ron Atkisson”!

“Cara Mia why, must we say goodbye?  Each time we part my heart wants to die.  Darling hear my prayer, Cara Mia fair, I’ll be your love till the end of time.”

• And we will end with a favorite quote –  As “Maxine” says:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO, what a ride!”