Into new waters

Hello all.
We finally left Demopolis on Friday the 20th with two other boats, the "PatsyRay" and "I Love Lucy" at 6 am in thick fog (scared me!). By the time we got to the lock (3 mi) the sun was breaking through, dispelling the fog and starting to warm us up. We traveled with them for 4 days, arriving at Fairhope on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay yesterday. Between Demopolis and Mobile is 216 miles of rural shorelines (we've seen almost no wildlife of any kind!), with no marinas and only one gas dock at MM 118. Anchorages are scarce--especially those with shore access for Dinah (and Jack!), so it was great to travel with 2 experienced boats, one of which had a dog. The water was still up somewhat from Ida nearly 2 weeks ago, but not bad. We had some great anchorages, but no cell or internet during that time. "Highlights" of the anchorages included getting another boat's anchor rope around our props, what we have called "mud gumbo" at the shore where we've tried to take Dinah in, and the comraderie of other boaters.
Unfortunately, Sat, Sun, and Mon were cloudy and damp (it's amazing how cold 58 degrees can be for 6 hrs on the top deck!) but the sun came out when we got here! The windshield we had installed has been wonderful, both for the rain protection and for the wind-shield!
We came through Mobile yesterday past huge tankers, making us look and feel very tiny. They we got into Mobile Bay and followed our companions as well as used our new navigating skills (latitute and longitude and GPS degrees) to get us to Eastern Shore Marina. We will be staying here for most of the week, and are going into the town in a few minutes.
The AGLCA has designated Harbor Hosts at larger marinas--- that is, persons who have usually completed the Loop, who serve as contacts. The local hosts here have invited the Loopers to Thanksgiving dinner at their home on Thursday. :) We look forward to meeting many folks and hearing lots of stories. We've also found out there is a Thanksgiving morning worship service at the UMC here, so I'm going up to reserve the courtesy car so we can attend.
We feel like coming into Mobile Bay and out of the river system is a new chapter in the trip. Hoping not to jinx anything, everything is working fine and we've been pleased with everything about the boat. It's great to hear from many of you, via messages on the blog or direct emails.
I hope to get some more picts included soon.
Enjoying the adventure,
nan and jack