Locks – there are a lot of them, and they are way less stressful than they were three weeks ago. We set a new personal record and did four locks in one day 👏🏻🙌🏼 We also had a couple new experiences, and they both occurred in the same lock. I don’t remember which lock it was, and it really doesn’t matter, does it? So, we’re in this lock, everyone is secured, the lock master closes the doors, and starts letting water out. We’re a few feet down the wall when the lock master informs us that he’s going to stop the lock, let water back in and open the doors back up to allow another boat to enter. I have never even heard of that happening before, but I am rather new to the locking life. The other boat gets secured, and we begin the process again. Suddenly, we hear one of the other captains say his bollard quit working, and they had to cut their line and float in the lock for the duration. That is one reason I don’t ever want to become too comfortable with locking. Had they not been paying attention and had they not been prepared, things could have taken an ugly turn quickly.

I haven’t really done anything to speak of lately. I haven’t even taken a lot of pictures because as much as I enjoy this river scenery, on camera it all looks the same. Why? Because I’m not a photographer; no not even my iPhone nor my Samsung is advanced enough to compensate for my lack of skill 😏 So, you’ll have to trust me that the scenery is indeed breathtaking, and also check out those pics that I decided are worthy and a little different from previous photos.

This morning we got to the lock just as the sun was beginning to stretch his rays and get out of bed. It was quite beautiful, but I only got one good pic – partly because my fingers were freezing and also because I like to keep an eagle eye on the bollard and boat. I try to be focused and prepared. As someone whose mind is as twisty turvy as this river, focus and preparedness are skills I’m working on (add those to the LONG list of things I’m working on 😳😂🙏🏻).

Anywho, I think this long day is going quite well. I drove for awhile, and I feel pretty good about how I did. Admittedly, when Scott has the engines synchronized and the route mapped out for me, all I have to do is steer. With this boat and this area of the river, I have a lot of wiggle room unlike the RV on any road anywhere. I do not desire to ever drive that any further than 10’ 😬

That it for this update. I hope you enjoy the read and the pics 😁 Make it a great day! Be a blessing and be blessed ❤️🙏🏻