Livin' Life

O miles today, nice break…..

Well I woke up this morning feeling pretty tired and confused. It seems that now that I get to sleep in this big fluffy bed, I should’ve slept well but I didn’t…I tossed and turned all night. This is extremely disturbing seeing how I have slept wonderfully on my little platform of a bed for almost 3 weeks. Go figure. Anyway, I’m up and out early and my mission is to find and replace the hand truck that went overboard a few days back. Tom will need this as he continues his journey down the river. I must find a hand truck…..

So it happens that one mode of transportation for the downtown Memphis area is by Trolley, which is very cool and something I haven’t ridden since San Francisco back in the early 70’s. I catch a ride and eventually find a local hardware store where I find and purchase a handtruck. Mission accomplished. Now all I have to do is get it back to the “Bird.”

I make my way back to the marina and present Tom with his new handtruck. Life is good!

Tom spends the day resupplying for the next leg of his journey – a day at Mud Island Marina under the boat shelter, living the ‘marina’ life.  Tom and I agree, at this point, that this is the best place for me to exit. I must get back to work (some of us aren’t retiring quite yet) and my wife is nearby in Kentucky, which will make it a short trip for her to pick me up. So Tom and I hitch a ride back across the river to my hotel to wait for her.
When we arrive at the hotel, Tom doesn’t waste any time enjoying my wonderful view…of Memphis.

 Nice view, Carl…

When my wife arrived, we took a walk to Beale St around lunch time, ate and listened to some ‘Blues,’ then walked to a few other establishments and generally just walked around downtown Memphis at 95 degrees!, Hot – fun and neat. 

 Tom, blending in…

Well, what can I say?  It has been an unbelievable journey that I will remember for the rest of my days. I couldn’t have done it with a better ship mate than old Tommy boy. The conversation was great, the laughter much needed, the anxiety, well we made it through safely, and the shear pleasure of seeing what we referred to as the “backside of America” was  indescribable. We met some awesome people and saw some really cool stuff. I know for a fact that I will make this journey again someday. It is just too awesome not to. Thanks Tom for this opportunity of a lifetime. If you hadn’t called me that day, I probably would not have experienced this journey down the Mississippi.

 Thanks Tom!

So Tom is solo now and I wonder how he will manage. Who will give him a depth reading at a second’s notice? Who will cook his bacon and egg sandwich in the morning and make sure he has set the trigger on the codffee pot? Who will give him hell when he gets too *&^%$ close to the &%$# tow barge? I’m sure he will manage just fine. I just wish that I could stay to finish. Good luck to you Tom. Keep the wind at your back.

To see how Tom fares on the rest of the journey, you can log on to bacshortly.com/Mississippi River