Going to the dogs!

• We traveled 54 miles and decided to call it a day. We pulled into Bates Lake to anchor. At the opening it was only 3 feet deep, in the morning the tide should be high, so getting out will not be a problem. We went in first and then two other boats followed us. Once past the entrance we had plenty of water. The other two boats had dogs. Since it's a lot easier for us to drop our dinghy, Mike became the dog service (Buster must be turning over in his grave). Mike picks up Tango and Bootie and takes them to shore to do their thing. I really should have taken a picture of Mike and the dogs.
• We took a dinghy ride up and down the lake - a collection of beautiful homes, shanties, house barges and boat garages. As you got further up the lake it became a real swamp, with Spanish moss hanging from the trees. The cypress trees come right up out of the water. I'm still looking for alligators.
• The next morning we wanted to leave early; we had 65 miles to go to get to the next port. The weatherman is still talking about bad weather coming. Mike picked up the dogs and headed for land; he now brings doggie goodies with him. One of the other boats pulled anchor and had a tree trunk attached to it (about 8' around). They had to use a battery operated seawall to cut it lose. You never know what these guys have on their boats. What a production!
• We are now in Dog River Alabama. I got up early, 5:30 a.m. and it's still dark - I couldn't sleep. I had a cup of coffee and decided to run to the laundromat and get the wash done so we could have the day to play. It rained hard during the night and because it's high tide the water is up in the parking lot. Living on the water most of my life, floods do not bother me. I put the wash in the machine and hear on the TV that there is a tornado watch. Next thing I hear is a siren, similar to the fire whistle at home, and then it sounded like God was talking to me. Real loud he said to take cover, a tornado is coming. I run back to the boat..Mike is standing there...did you hear what I heard... I think I heard a tornado is coming..Yep that's what I heard. Now what? I asked Mike what should we do? We are on an island and surrounded by marsh...there's nothing we can do. The ducks, geese and pelicans have not left. We could see the dark clouds and feel the pellets of rain. Just relax 'til it passes. We went outside with the other boaters to see what they were doing, you guessed it, everyone was having coffee and talking about the last tornado. I was so happy that we rode the extra miles yesterday, I would not like to be stuck in this while on the river. Around 10 o'clock we got the all clear. It just rained all day.
• We took the courtesy car and went to Battleship Memorial Park to see the submarine USS Drum and the USS Alabama. We walked the decks of this 680 foot 70 million pound (under battle conditions she weighed well over 90 million pounds) battleship. Can you imagine she had a crew of 2,500 men aboard?! The ship was commissioned in 1942. The gun turrets were like small houses, yet the spot where the men running the guns was very small. The captain's quarters were much smaller than I expected. The enlisted men's mess and bunks were made so that there were 3 shifts. There was always someone in your bed. While we were taking the tour many "old guys" would say "Remember Smitty, he slept here with his feet in my face." These "old guys" were 19 and 20 when they served on the ship. This put a face to history.
• We went into a flight simulator. Then we went on a pontoon fighter taking off from the deck of a ship. What a rush! A touch of reality comes about when you can feel and touch history, not just read about it.