Mon, Aug 1 and Tues, Aug 2, 2011 – sandbar at mile 447.8 on the Tennessee River

The morning was devoted to running errands, returning the rental car and a few final preparations before leaving the dock at Chattanooga. Shortly after lunch, we were on our way. The sky was partly cloudy and the temperature was already 90 degrees. Our destination was “The Beach” where we planned to spend a couple of days with Kevin and Justin just fishing, swimming, playing in the sand and relaxing.

About a half hour or so into the cruise, the boys were anxious to go for a swim. The temperature was climbing into the mid-90’s and it was HOT! Because there was so little boat traffic on the river, we simply turned off the engine and drifted while Grandpa Gale and the two boys jumped in and cooled off. After a nice swim, we continued on our way and arrived at the anchorage around 3:30 pm.

The kids jumped off the boat while Gale and Maureen continued to secure things. Justin found a spot on shore where a dozen or so yellow swallowtail butterflies had gathered on the ground and seemed to be enjoying the shade. He called it “the butterfly house.”

 
 
 
Soon Grandmo and Grandpa Gale were in the water enjoying a swim with the kids. By 5 pm it was time for the guys to go fishing and see what they could bring home for dinner. Grandmo was very surprised when they returned a little over an hour later with a wonderful stringer of fresh fish including a large bass and some nice bluegills – more than enough to feed the four of us that evening.

Tuesday morning we took the dinghy across the river to check out another sandbar where we’d noticed a rope swing. The boys wanted to swim across the river and gave it their best effort but soon found that fighting the current wasn’t easy. Kevin made it most of the way without an assist from us. We told him that crossing back to the boat from the other side would be a lot easier since he would be going with the current.

We played on the rope swing for awhile – Grandpa Gale helped to push and got every one of us swinging out so we could let go of the rope and drop into the deeper water. Fun!

The sun was beginning to get pretty hot, so we headed back to the boat. This time Kevin swam all the way across and Justin gave it a good try before asking for a “tow.”

A nice lunch, a little rest and we were back in the water. Late in the afternoon, the guys took off in the dinghy in search of more fish. The catch wasn’t quite as abundant as the day before, but they brought back a few small bluegills that we enjoyed with our hamburgers for supper.

The evening was rather hot and there wasn’t much of a breeze. We were all a bit restless during the night and were glad that our plan was to head back to Chattanooga in the morning since the forecast was for an even hotter day on Wednesday.