Days 200-203 Clifton to Wilson Lock

We were the last of the Loopers to leave Clifton Marina in the morning. Everyone was anxious to get through the next lock. We passed slow-going Daydream and then caught up with Angel Louise, who had been anchored out near Clifton. We heard Pharm Life and Jetstream contact the lock ahead of us and lock through. The three of us slow boats were too far behind for them to wait. By the time we arrived at the lock there was a tow ready to go down and another one coming so we had to wait - possibly 2-4 hours!. There was an extremely strong current there but we managed to pull off to the side of the river and anchor. We kept a close eye on our position in case our anchor didn’t hold, but we never had a problem. Daydream caught up with us before too long and anchored behind us. Angel Louise showed up in about an hour and anchored closer to the lock. We were so happy to learn that the 2^nd tow was only one barge so the lock master decided to lock the three of us together with the small tow. We only had to wait 2 hours! Even with 4 of us in the lock there was room to spare!

Heading to Pickwick Lock with Angel Louise ahead of us.

Three boats with us hot on their heels (or sterns as the case may be)

 Watching the doors close

Room to spare!

The river is narrower through here with lots of rock on the shore.

I love this use of an old barge - they turned it into a dock!

OK - brace yourselves, you've been given a break from houses for a while, but this next stretch had so many interesting, different homes that I had a hard time whittling the list down.  The first group is a newer housing area with many different designs, most with lovely stone stairs down to the water.  Surprisingly, there are no docks!

Unusual roof line

Lovely cupola

Beautiful back porch

This next group was across the river and comprised of older homes - all on stilts. The sun was in the wrong position for good pictures but I cleaned them up as much as I could because I loved the variety.

Most of these homes are quite small. The one in the middle was the only one not on stilts, so looks smaller, but in fact I think they are about the same size over all.

Barn style on stilts - good thing its not really a barn!

The largest one.

This one is made out of stone - very apropos for the area.

An adorable house - do they want us to stop and see it - or is the stop sign to stop people from approaching??

One of the larger homes in this area and I love the little gazebo half way down the stairs.

The largest home of the day - such a beauty.

There were several areas of permanent structures to cover RV's or provide extra living space, they went from elaborate to simple.

This group wins the award for the tallest homes.

I love the garages for boats.

I'm not sure what makes this one so tall!

This one wins the tallest on stilts award.

And the biggest tallest house award.  WHAT is under this house??

We stopped for the night just outside Pickwick Marina on Pickwick Lake.  We anchored with Angel Louise and Daydream and we all enjoyed a game night on Angel Louise - well 5 of us enjoyed it.  Pat on Daydream isn't much for games :( , but he played anyway.

Our boat at anchor, we took this from our dinghy after a night of games on Angel Louise.

The next morning we went into the marina to get fuel and a pump out.  We watched a large yacht leave the marina and the dock hand said it was one of several owned by the local multi-millionaire.  Here is his house across the lake.

The area is definitely millionaire row!

This was our favorite - built of stone with some beautiful style!

Their view must be incredible, but I'm not sure I'd like all those stairs to the dock.

The size of these homes never ceases to amaze me - at least its not on stilts!

This tall foundation I can understand - built high on the hill.

These are NOT stairs! It is some kind of rail/elevator system - now THAT makes sense!

Even the condos have tall foundations.

We loved this place down by the water, they even built their boat house to match their home.

 OK - enough of houses for awhile - well almost.  What do you think of when we hear "state park" - trees, trails, tents, maybe a few RV's, - but wait - HOTELS??? These are state park "resorts" in Alabama!

 We finally do get out into the trees again and find a waterfall! Realized this is the first for a very long time. We are jealous of this boat's ability to get into shallower waters to enjoy the beauty close up.

After weeks in lowlands, ahead are beautiful rolling hills.

Anchored in Sulfur Creek - near Pickwick Landing State Park Marina, Kentucky 9/24
Anchored in Union Hollow - Pickwick Lake, Kentucky 9/25-9/27