Great day with great friends. . .

Our friends, Tom and Carol and Sharon, invited us over to their houseboat for dinner last evening. I made some brownies in the morning to take and we also had a bag of chips and a bottle of wine. We were having a cookout and we were looking forward to a great time.

We had about 15 miles to go by water, which takes at least 30 minutes if not longer because we rarely drive as fast as the boat will go. We like to go slower and cruise along enjoying the weather and the scenery. We left Sunset and drove to the state dock, just down from where their houseboat is docked and fueled up. Then we drove on over to the inlet where we found them lounging around on the deck. What a life! The houseboat is very nice. They have had it for 10 years and did a lot of work on it to make it comfortable and it really shows they have put a lot of care into it.

We floated in the water for quite a while enjoying the solitude of the cove where we were docked. The only problem was that Tom had been in the water feeding the fish. Little bluegills. . . now I'm not afraid of fish but it is a little unnerving having these little guys swim up to you in the water and nibble on your toes or tug on your swimsuit. I was a little more than annoyed at them because you never know when their bigger brother will decide to come along. We finally moved a little farther out into the inlet and they didn't follow us.

Tom fired up the grill on the other end of the boat and we got out of the water and sat out there. We saw a snake in the water up toward the shore. He was probably a couple feet long and too far away to observe what kind he was, but he was content to swim along the bank.

We visited during dinner and caught up with what everybody's kids are doing. When we all first met, we would come to the lake and bring our children and we boated all weekend and tubed and dock hopped together. It was great fun.

Things change, though, and kids grow up and move on and have their own families and do their own thing. But we will always remember the fun times we all had at Dale Hollow Lake.

As evening closed in on us, we decided to head back so we could get docked and the boat covered before dark. So we bid our friends goodbye. They were leaving today and we are staying until Sunday. Tomorrow we will pull our boat out and clean it up before putting it back in the storage bay.

Till next time. . .

Dale