Brrr!

There's been another slight change in the plan.  Ron decided he was just too busy to come back to Chattanooga with me, but I think what really happened was that he somehow got some insight into the weather forecast and found out it was going to be FREAKING COLD!  Apparently George didn't get that same insight, because he moved his flight up a week and came in early.  Actually, when I arrived on Tuesday it was in the mid 80's and very nice, but a front came in and by 7 PM it was raining hard.  It rained all night and was in the low 50's on Wednesday when George arrived.

Thursday was very cloudy and still quite cold, but we put on all the clothes we had and took off anyway, continuing up the Tennessee towards Knoxville, about 170 miles northeast.  After only 7 miles, we came to the Sequoyah nuclear power plant.

Waterfront properties were abundant in some stretches.

Alot of houses are built right up on the edge of the water, with significant retaining walls to hold everthing in place, but apparently these do not always work as intended.

By late afternoon we were at the Watts Bar Lock and Dam, where in addition to the hydroelectric dam, there is another nuclear power plant.

There used to also be a coal fired power plant here too, but it has been shut down and is now being razed.

We found a quiet cove and anchored for the night.  Pasta was the dinner choice, because this would require the most use of the stove and would provide some heat.

The forecast promised sunshine on Friday and warmer temperatures.  We headed for the sun.

It was early afternoon before we finally caught up to it.

Once it was out though, it did warm up nicely and eventually I had my shirt off for an hour or so.  Fall colors show up better in the sunshine too.

The shoreline was a mixture of homes and farms.

And bridges continue to pique my interest.  This is I-75.

For nearly a mile along the "right decending bank", on our port side going up river, is the A.H. Staley corn processing plant. 

Corn, mostly from Indiana, arrives here by barge and is processed into corn syrup, ethanol and an animal feed protein additive.  The ethanol is transported by barge to Louisana.  Each barge holds 400,000 gallons.  This fact helps to understand how water transportation is still so much in use.  Even though its somewhat slow, one of these ethanol barges is equivalent to 40 truck loads.

The Fort Loudon Lock is the last one on the way up to Knoxville.

We were quickly through by 3 PM and I decided to fuel up at the marina just above the dam.  If I've calculated it correctly, I'll be able to make it all the way to Columbus, MS on this tank.  I want to arrive there on fumes, because their current price is an amazing $2.88 a gallon.  Hopefully, it will remain near this price when I get there in a week or 10 days. 

We identified a spot on the chart that looked like it might be a good anchorage, but when we arrived, it wasn't.  We ended up just anchoring in a wide spot on the river, well outside the channel.  It got really cold overnight and we were fogged in when we awoke.  George was getting antsy by the time I got up, but we couldn't go anywhere in the fog.  It was 10:30 before we pulled the anchor, but only 21 miles to downtown Knoxville.

Approaching downtown, the first bridge we came to was this railroad bridge and we arrived just in time to pass under while a train rumbled overhead.

The University of Tennessee is right on the river at the edge of downtown. 

Their basketball arena and football stadium are prominent waterfront landmarks.

In fact, Neyland Stadium is one of just two college stadiums adjacent to navigable water and on game days there are usually hundreds of boats anchored and rafted along the river for a huge tailgate party.  We weren't sure if we were lucky or unlucky that the Vols were out of town on this Saturday.  The other such stadium and boat tailgating is the Univeristy of Washington.

We secured the last spot at the Volunteer Landing Marina in downtown Knoxville.

What looked like a once interesting bridge design is in the process of being demolished.

It was early afternoon, so Geo picked up some Knoxville visitor info and we decided to go to the East Tennessee History Museum an 8000 sq foot exibit that chronicles the interesting history of the region. 

This is one of the main streets through Knoxville.

Just up the bank from the marina dock was a steam engine driven excursion train that ran from downtown about 4 miles up to the beginning of the Tennessee River, which is where the French Broad and Holston Rivers meet.  It made several trips while we were around and I took lots of pictures, including a few when they were putting the engine and coal car away for the night.  I also got this picture when we went up the hill to downtown.

Also parked on a siding was an old diesel switch engine.

Knoxville was a good stop, but we were heading back down the Tennessee on Sunday morning.  Plans were to go about half the day and stop at another marina in time for Sunday afternoon football.  It was less foggy, but there were still areas where it lingered.

I also took a few pictures of waterfront homes along the way.  Some where older and looked like they were a weekend getaway type place.

Many appeared to be more than weekend getways.

It was obvious that at one time, not that many years ago, this was all farm land and there are a few spots where it still is.

I'm not sure what happened here though.

The marina we are at tonight is just above the Fort Loudon Lock and Dam, which is the only lock on the Tennessee that doesn't operate 24 hours a day.  It won't open until 10 in the morning tomorrow, so we plan to take the marina courtesy car 3 miles to the town of Lenoir City, TN for a few miscellaneous provisions.