Two Bears is home again after being “on the road” for 83 days and 7,710 road miles.
From mid August to early September we spent 21 days boating down the Mississippi River from St Paul, MN to the Meet in the Middle Gathering in Alton, IL which was 646 River Miles but just 609 GPS miles. This is a classic traverse of middle America and we wonder why so few do it. It was difficult finding information about the trip as most information is about the towns along the river when visited by auto.
In late September to mid October we spent 19 days boating up the Cumberland River from Kentucky Dam Lake to river mile 219 (below Cordell Hull dam) and back, or a total of 514 river miles but 542 GPS miles. On this trip we finally figured out that the Auto Pilot was draining the house battery, disconnected it and felt more comfortable in anchoring out.
In the Florida Gulf waters we had planned to spend a week behind the various barrier islands but an east wind made the waters uncomfortable, so we launched Two Bears at a marina in Carrabelle, FL and used it as a base to take care of chores like getting the drivers window in the truck fixed, laundry, a visit to a State Park to see Manatees, and general sight seeing.
It took us 10 days to travel the 3,195 miles from the end of the Apalachicola Gathering to home. Google maps says it 2,615 miles so we must have diverted a bit. The 10 days included two layover days, one to allow the remnants of Hurricane Patricia to pass us outside of Mobile, AL; and the 2nd to visit the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth to view the collection of Charlie Russell and Fredrick Remington paintings. It also included two 500 mile plus days and a visit to the St George, Utah home of Penny's quilting wholesale thread supplier.
For the 12 weeks away from home we “boater homed” in Two Bears all but four nights: three nights for the shuttle between St Paul and Alton, IL; and then the final night before home in southern Idaho when this white stuff kept coming from the sky and making the ground white and slippery so we took a motel room and were quite warm and comfy.
We are making a list of our Bricks and Diamonds. Bricks are those things we brought expecting to use a lot and end up with little use. Diamonds are those things brought with little expectation, but ended up with a lot of use. This trip seems to have produced many more bricks than diamonds. Perhaps we have grown over confident, and we need to be more hard nosed in leaving things behind and practicing Bill & Els mantra: simplify – simplify.
Overall, we had a great time. We enjoy the many small towns we have visited because their history is easier to understand and the human actions and in-actions that make their history are more evident. We have tried to tie our trips to a C-brat gathering. We have attended enough of these events that now it feels good meeting old friends and new friends. Boating in different parts of the country can be a bit trying as common practices in one area are unknown in another. C-brats have helped us get through those differences and have really helped expand our boating world.
We are a bit tired after all this road trip stuff and are planning to drive less in 2016. -If anyone knows a quick way across Texas, New Mexico & Arizona say so as all the routes we have tried are boring and hard on the butt to sit thru. At this time our plans include Puget Sound & the BC coast in 2016, and then return to the east in March 2017 for St Johns River/ Huntoon State Park Gathering and then up the Atlantic Seaboard much like Casey and Mary did this year in “Desert First.”
From mid August to early September we spent 21 days boating down the Mississippi River from St Paul, MN to the Meet in the Middle Gathering in Alton, IL which was 646 River Miles but just 609 GPS miles. This is a classic traverse of middle America and we wonder why so few do it. It was difficult finding information about the trip as most information is about the towns along the river when visited by auto.
In late September to mid October we spent 19 days boating up the Cumberland River from Kentucky Dam Lake to river mile 219 (below Cordell Hull dam) and back, or a total of 514 river miles but 542 GPS miles. On this trip we finally figured out that the Auto Pilot was draining the house battery, disconnected it and felt more comfortable in anchoring out.
In the Florida Gulf waters we had planned to spend a week behind the various barrier islands but an east wind made the waters uncomfortable, so we launched Two Bears at a marina in Carrabelle, FL and used it as a base to take care of chores like getting the drivers window in the truck fixed, laundry, a visit to a State Park to see Manatees, and general sight seeing.
It took us 10 days to travel the 3,195 miles from the end of the Apalachicola Gathering to home. Google maps says it 2,615 miles so we must have diverted a bit. The 10 days included two layover days, one to allow the remnants of Hurricane Patricia to pass us outside of Mobile, AL; and the 2nd to visit the Sid Richardson Museum in Fort Worth to view the collection of Charlie Russell and Fredrick Remington paintings. It also included two 500 mile plus days and a visit to the St George, Utah home of Penny's quilting wholesale thread supplier.
For the 12 weeks away from home we “boater homed” in Two Bears all but four nights: three nights for the shuttle between St Paul and Alton, IL; and then the final night before home in southern Idaho when this white stuff kept coming from the sky and making the ground white and slippery so we took a motel room and were quite warm and comfy.
We are making a list of our Bricks and Diamonds. Bricks are those things we brought expecting to use a lot and end up with little use. Diamonds are those things brought with little expectation, but ended up with a lot of use. This trip seems to have produced many more bricks than diamonds. Perhaps we have grown over confident, and we need to be more hard nosed in leaving things behind and practicing Bill & Els mantra: simplify – simplify.
Overall, we had a great time. We enjoy the many small towns we have visited because their history is easier to understand and the human actions and in-actions that make their history are more evident. We have tried to tie our trips to a C-brat gathering. We have attended enough of these events that now it feels good meeting old friends and new friends. Boating in different parts of the country can be a bit trying as common practices in one area are unknown in another. C-brats have helped us get through those differences and have really helped expand our boating world.
We are a bit tired after all this road trip stuff and are planning to drive less in 2016. -If anyone knows a quick way across Texas, New Mexico & Arizona say so as all the routes we have tried are boring and hard on the butt to sit thru. At this time our plans include Puget Sound & the BC coast in 2016, and then return to the east in March 2017 for St Johns River/ Huntoon State Park Gathering and then up the Atlantic Seaboard much like Casey and Mary did this year in “Desert First.”
