Sunday Summary #89

Friends & Chilly Weather 🥶

Hi ,

Welcome to Scho & Jo’s 89th Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written on a Wednesday aboard PIVOT who is cruising on the Tennessee River towards Chattanooga.

Last Week.

Leaving Iuka, Mississippi, we began our second Great Loop side trip to Chattanooga! This 215 nautical mile side trip takes us on the Tennessee River through some incredible scenery and more small towns. Our first stop was in Florence/Muscle Shoals, Alabama where we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of things to see and do there. The area is known for Hellen Keller’s birthplace, multiple famous artists including Arethra Franklin, Etta James, Candi Station, The Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Rod Stuart, Tamiko Jones, and Lynard Skynard to name a few recording here, Rhythm and Blues, and so much more! We had shared a packed full day with another looper boat, DeTour. It was awesome to be able to learn so much history in such an non-expecting place.

The following days we cruised to Decatur and Guntersville, Alabama where we stayed on some free docks. While we were in Guntersville, we met up with Elliot’s long time friend from college. The Great Loop can makes friends and family more challenging but other times it provides opportunities that we might not otherwise have. We have a lot of family we’re looking forward to seeing once the loop is over (i.e. California and Israel) but in the meantime we’re always happy to see friends and family in close proximity to the loop.

One night in Guntersville lead to three as we had some cold, rainy weather come in which also brought some very chilly temperatures. We woke up to frost on our boat and have been using our generator and heater to stay warm. We enjoyed some warm stews for dinner and wearing a lot of layers.

This Week.

We’ll be cruising through the Grand Canyon of the east as we near Chattanooga. We have a lot planned for our time in Chattanooga from visiting with friends and family to doing some touristy things to check out the city. We’re super excited about this side trip destination! If you have any must-do’s in Chattanooga, please send them our way.

In addition to all of the fun we have planned, we’ll also be doing a ton of work. After the rendezvous, we’ve been focused on trying to balance work with looping and play (notice looping and play are not the same thing because looping is a lot of work). Working two full time jobs, with looping and trying to enjoy ourselves as well as see the destinations we’re actually visiting is a lot. Juggling all of these things and avoiding burnout is tough, which is why we’ve been slowing down our pace of travel despite the cooler temperatures.

“Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.”-Helen Keller

 Videos. 

In case you missed it, here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

Our Last Full Day on the NYS Canals (Staging to Cross a Great Lake + 4 Months of Expenses)

We Crossed a GREAT LAKE (and entered the Thousand Islands)

We went to an Upstate New York French Festival!

 Extra. 

We had the opportunity to share our story with Rootless Living Magazine, a publication focused on nomadic living. We’re in their November/December issue which can be read in physical and digital form here.

 Great Loop Recommendations. 

We are looking for recommendations for destinations and spots along our Great Loop to go see, visit, and enjoy. It's been a real challenge for us to keep track and stay organized with the many wonderful recommendations we've received thus far. So we've created a Google Form to help us stay organized. Thank you to everyone sending us recommendations so far! We really appreciate it.

 From the Eyes of Ollie. 

My parents work too much. Around 3 or 4 o’clock, I tell them we need to get off the boat and go for a walk. A real walk, where I can get a lot of great sniffs and tire out my paws. After I paw at their laptops 3-4 times, they eventually get the picture so we can all go out for a family walk together. It’s been cold on our walks. Thankfully my mom puts my coat on and lets me snuggle on the couch with a lot of blankets. My parents called me the “puppy burrito,” but all I can think of is burritos.

 Gratitudes. 

Being in Chattanooga this week means we’ll be close to family which we’re really excited to see and spend time with. As I mentioned earlier, being on the loop can be an awesome way to see friends and family, but it can also be hard to see loved ones. The constant need to keep moving and making miles is persistent for loopers doing it in a year. We’re grateful to see friends and family this week since it’s been months since seeing them last.

Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot