Wheeler Dam, Tennessee

Back in '97 Dorothy and I took our boat, Memory Rose, up the Tennessee River during a 5000 mile river trip.  Now, driving north on our motor home adventure of 2010, we had the opportunity to cross one of the dam;  the Wheeler Dam.


  In 97 we had to use their lock system to raise our boat up to the next level on the river at each of these dams.  Now, we can just drive across.

 Viewed from the top, we smiled seeing the many fishing boats just downstream from the dam.  It seemed we passed a couple of thousand of them during our boat trip and it brought back good memories.

Stayed mostly on secondary roads and enjoyed the view and sense of America.

Decisions decisions....which way to go?










Stopped often to stretch our legs and give the little dog a break and in this case........ "Swim Training"!   Ready?  Set?

Later on we stopped on the Chattanooga River on a fine Corps of Engineers campsite.  Again, watching the river traffic put us in a great mood.  We sat outside till well after dark and enjoyed the setting.

This sight is common on the river.  In this case the pusher tug has 8 barges, 4 long/2abreast, moving upstream.
By the way,  the LOCKS are usually 800' long and 110'wide to accommodate these commercial operations plying the rivers.