It's a Great Day in the Rain!

Donna, the checkout person at the Joe Wheeler State Park marina store, was full of information when Mike entered the premises.  For the first 30 years of her life, Donna grew up in San Diego, CA.  She moved from San Diego to this area 20 years ago to raise her kids.  Donna talked about how good the people are here and how it's a very safe place (and then described how she wouldn't be walking a particular road anymore because someone hit her by throwing their McDonald's bag out their car window!)  Donna also said something we've been pondering: 

"You're in the heart of the Bible belt."  

Her comment reminded us of Grand Harbor Marina's Security-Guy Bill, who within minutes of our arrival offered us his warm welcome and shared with us the many "blessings" of the area.  For us, it is surprising and refreshing and yet makes us unexplainably wary of what it means to be in the "heart of the Bible belt."  Perhaps these feelings come from the undefined political, religious, and cultural labels that are often tied to this region.  We expect as we explore and learn about this part of the country, we'll be better prepared to wrap our minds around it.

It's a cloudy and rainy day here at Joe Wheeler State Park.  The temperature won't get above 61 degrees.  Later this afternoon starting at 4:30 pm, we've tickets to participate in a "Looper Crawl."  The Looper Crawl is an event whereby we can tour a wide variety of Looper boats and visit with owners about their vessels.  Typically before one goes aboard another's boat it is common courtesy to remove your shoes and leave them on the dock.  We are curious to learn how or if the Crawl happens when it's raining.  We'll let you know!

Donna-- the woman in the Joe Wheeler marine store?  She says about the rain:  "It's a great day! You  might get wet, but hey! ....we were born wet!"

In the last blog, I introduced you to our dear friend, Guy Falskow.  This is a photo his wife, Betty, sent to us. 
Guy is with us in spirit as he keeps up on our blog, checks in by telephone, and tracks our progress in his atlas.

This is the Wilson Lock near Florence, AL.  On the upstream side, rather than doors that swing open and close, a gate that lowers into the water is used.  We asked Lockmaster Shane about this technology.  He said this lock was designed so that in the event of a 1000-year flood, this gate could be used as a spillway if needed.

The lock systems and more are part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federally-owned corporation which was established by F. D. Roosevelt in 1933.  Its original purpose was to provide navigation, flood control, electricity, fertilizer manufacturing and economic development to this region, which was hit hard during the Great Depression. We are impressed with what we've experienced in terms of the navigation.

A rainy day gives both Mike and Brenda a chance to catch up on business-related work.
 Our table makes for good working space.

Joe Wheeler State Park consists of more than 2,500 acres that was acquired from the TVA in 1949.  Today, it includes rustic cabins (these cabins were used by TVA employees when the locks and dams were established and have since been updated), this beautiful convention center, a 75-room waterfront lodge and restaurant, a full-service marina with 140 slips, boat launches, lakeside cottages, 116 campsites, miles of walking trails and an 18-hole championship golf course and clubhouse.

The Park is named after Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler.  Joe Wheeler served both as a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the Civil War and as a general in the United States Army during both the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War in the later 1800's.  Sometime between duty in the wars, he served multiple terms as a US Representative for Alabama.  It's hard to read on this marker, but it says Joe Wheeler was a "Planter; Soldier; Lt. General, CSA; Alabama Representative US Congress; and Friend of the People." 
What a memorial!  Wish we'd had the chance to meet him!  I think he'd be proud of this park with his namesake.

The clouds and rain and green and water brought back good memories of walks taken in Pioneer Park on Mercer Island, WA.
We got our rain gear on and enjoyed a 1.6 mile hike on one of the Park's trails.

A fond memory for Brenda was a walk with Mercer Island neighbor and friend, Kathy Scott.  It was a very rainy day and we'd planned to walk Pioneer Park.  Despite the weather, we dressed from head to toe with rain gear and did the hike.  It was an awesome morning in the rain!  Pioneer Park was dense and dripping, with its ups and downs keeping us on our toes from slipping and sliding.

This time of year, I imagine Pioneer Park on Mercer Island, WA is loaded with giant, beautiful, red/yellow/brown/orange/green maple leaves carpeting the sidewalks and trails. 
Not so, here at Joe Wheeler Park in Alabama; the colors of autumn are expected to begin arriving towards the end of October.

Our short hike was an Eagle Scout project in 2009 of Korey Brown, a Boy Scout from Troop 52 here in the area.  Thank you, Korey Brown.  We wonder what you've accomplished since earning your Eagle Scout!