We've been to all of Tennessee's home games so far, right in the middle of the Vol Navy, and have have a great time. It never ceases to amaze how friendly boat people are. Each weekend new people become our neighbors and new acquaintances. Everyone has new stories and tips. Different places to visit. Who would have ever imagined.
Our daughter came up from Houston to go to the Georgia game. It was great to get to spend some time with her. She had not seen the boat and I think she had fun on the river. The first weekend of October was beautiful. Blue skies and warm weather. Marine-Max of Chattanooga sponsored a trip up the river for the game and when we arrived the Navy numbers had grown dramatically. As we motored in looking for spot to tie up, our dock neighbors from Erwin were yelling at us from their boat. We got to catch up with them and others we hadn't seen since moving north in August.
The last two weeks have been heart-breakers and heart-stoppers. The Vols were so close to beating Georgia it stunned the crowd and everyone just sat staring in disappointment. The exact opposite happened at the next game as UT won over South Carolina as time expired. This time no one left the stadium because of the celebration. The broken panorama is sort of an indication of how the place was shaking. It is beginning to seem as though, just maybe, the Vols are starting to turn things around.
For both weekends we have had lots of old friends, frat brothers and even a visit by my Mom (96 years young) who drove in to see her granddaughter. You never know where you will be until arriving at the dock area and sometimes getting to and from the boat isn't easy. Some of our friends who came at the Georgia game had to crawl across ten boats to get to ours. At least no one from our group went into the water which did not apply to the Dawg fan who managed to fall backwards off our neighbor's swim platform loosing his hat and one shoe!! Watching those float down the river was more than just a little humorous.
Our only problem lately arose when we returned after an especially long Georgia game day to find our batteries had discharged to the point the generator would not start. Jump starting a boat is something I had never thought much about until that night. Again people came from so many places to help. I learned about starter packs and how to use jumper cables from bow thruster batteries. It took a while, but we got it cracked up and all was well after that. Guess I won't be shutting down the generator again when leaving for the game!!
As the weather begins to get colder, it's time to start figuring out how to keep things warm. It was 48 degrees outside when we got up Sunday morning. The inside temperature was 61. Certainly makes you want to stay under the covers, but we found that the boat warms up pretty quickly with the heaters on, so now it's just a matter of learning how to set them. The morning was beautiful with fog on the water and the sun shining brightly. The river was close to being as smooth as glass and the ride back to our temporary marina was nice and relaxing. Can't wait to get back for the next game - only two home games remain until it will be time to make the trip back to Chattanooga.
