Boating Season Is Here . . .

Boating season is here and so the FUN BEGINS!

The fun began with our 2nd Annual Spring Cruise.  This year most folks trailered their boats down to Hale's Bar Marina and enjoyed a couple of days on Nickajack.  Thank you George for planning our little trips and adventures.  Some began the weekend on Thursday, some on Friday and even a couple on Saturday, but no matter when the journey began, a good time was had by all with only a couple of minor incidents (both of which DebbaritaVille was involved in -  a slight grounding down at Guntersville Marina and a submerged log in the water - OUCH!). 

2 dogs .  .  .  6 boats .  .  .  22 amazing friends .  .  . 

John and I were fortunate enough to start our trip on Wednesday with a nice ride down to Alabama to visit with Dennis and Pat (thank you both for your kindness and hospitality).  Now, as this is the beginning of our boating season, it seemed only appropriate to launch the boat and enjoy some time on the water before settling in for the evening with good friends, good food and good times. 

We were up and at it early on Thursday.  Breakfast at a local favorite, boats launched and Northbound we were.  A beautiful ride up Guntersville and through the lock and dam to Nickajack where we met up with everyone at Hale's Bar Marina.  Three fantastic days on the water including a cruise Saturday up river to Chattanooga.  After last year's night time adventure, the general concensus was to avoid night time boating, so our evenings were spent hanging out at the cabins.  A huge thank you to David for preparing a fabulous Low Country Boil on Friday night - you da man!  As always with this group, food, drink and fun are never lacking.  Tall tales were told, much food and drink consumed and a few surprises thrown in just for fun.

TALL TALES BEING TOLD . . .

MUCH FOOD AND DRINK BEING CONSUMED . . .

AND A FEW SURPRISES JUST FOR FUN . . .

Sunday found us saying our farewells and counting the days until our next gathering (which is now only SIX days away!!!)  We traveled back down river with Dennis and Pat.  A wonderful day on Guntersville topped off with another great evening at the Rainey Ranch. 

And the icing on the cake, so to speak, was finishing this fabulous trip with a visit to see my Niece and her Mom, both of whom I had not seen in 39 years (pics to follow at a later date).  Thank you Christy, Maria and Chris for a fantastic reunion, great food, lots of laughs and a wonderful trip down "memory lane".  Looking forward to getting together again real soon.  Love you guys .

When Life Hands You Lemons, Grab The Tequilla and Salt

The truck catastrophies continue and the truck will be going back to the repair shop for the 3rd time now since the engine rebuild at the end of last year.  The first trip back we were told there was nothing wrong with the engine and that we needed a new clutch fan.  Hmmm, not overheating and fan working properly, so why?  We were told the "inoperable" clutch fan was causing overheating and that was what was causing the over pressurization in the overflow coolant tank.  Well, that was wasted money as we soon found out.  Now, not only are we getting over pressurization, but we are loosing coolant, loosing oil and leaking fuel and there were metal shavings discovered in our oil pan when we had the oil changed.  After a week in the shop, we are informed that the head is cracked (OK, didn't you all just replace that?????) and that it will take about 2 more weeks to get the truck back to us.  Apparently defects in re-manufactured heads are more common than not.  In the meantime, while they are working on it, the mechanic drops a tool down into one of the injectors, so this now has to be replaced too.  Finally got her back after 3 weeks.  Within the first week of having her back, we noticed oil leaking from both sides of the engine and once again exhaust leaking from the turbo charger.  Sooooo, back to the shop when we get home next week . . .  wishing we could take it someplace else, but they insist on doing the warranty work. 

Thus far, we have lost 10 weeks of work and revenue in addition to the $20,000 that the rebuild cost.  Sheesh, I think we could have bought a new truck by now!  If there is a bright side to this, atleast it is all tax deductible.  I know that doesn't even begin to compare to what we have spent, but I always try to find the silver lining in any situation, so .  .  .  WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS, GRAB THE TEQUILLA AND SALT!

Counting Down The Days

Counting down the days until our water activities begin . . . 32 days until the Spring Cruise and 83 days until we hit the water for the Homecoming!  It's a shame that we wish our lives away, but we do live for our Summer fun.  Work hard, play harder, that's my philosophy.

Well, thus far, I'm thinking that darned Ground Hog was wrong!  Spring is most definitely in the air!  The weather is beautiful, the flowers are blooming, the lakes are filling up and my boat is calling my name!  Of course though, I'm not saying that we won't get some freakish weather before it's all over, it's happened before and surely can happen again.

Just a tad bit envious of my friends that have already got their boats wet this year, but I still choose TN over any other place to live.  As is true with anything, you have to take the good with the bad.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful and if it weren't for WORK, I'm quite sure that DebbaritaVille would be wet as well.

Now, let me get back to my daydreaming . . .

Just An Update, Nothing Special

As we get into the full swing of 2012, things are slowly returning to normal (if there truly is such a thing as normal).  The truck continues to be a thief of my wallet, but, such is the price of doing business . . . ya gotta spend money to make money, or so I've been told!  Work is steady and I think the rug is just about back under our feet.  We were able to take some time off to attend the Knoxville Boat Show and to enjoy the company of our friends both at the show and at Wild Wings afterwards.  Knocked out a few of the "to-do" items while we were home, but alas, the list is never ending.  Had the clutch fan replaced on the truck while we were home and still have a few items that need attention, but not immediately.  One step at a time!

Dates for the Spring Cruise have been confirmed for April 27th - 29th.  Looks like we are going to have a larger group than last year - YAY!  As always, looking forward to some R&R on the water with great friends.  Hoping work will continue to be both steady and profitable so that we can enjoy the Summer lake time.  Spring is just around the corner and Summer will be here before we know it :-)

Here's a few pictures of us and the boys . . .

Brotherly love . . .

Chillin' in our new beds :-)

Momma, we been Mole hunting!

The State Park we were staying at in Memphis had an entire underground tunnel system that the moles had burrowed and the boys loved spending the day in their exercise pen digging for them.  They never did catch any, but we had lots of dirty faces and wagging tales.  The moles would fill the holes back up during the night and even confiscated a few of the boys toys that were in the pen.

Valentine's dinner at Naple's Italian in Knoxville, TN

Hoping for fair winds and smooth sailing for the rest of this year.

2011 Comes To An End

WOW!  What an incredible year!  I was amazed to see my last post was in early June (atleast it was when I started writing this particular post).

The 2011 boating season was very good to us.  After the Spring Cruise, we attended the 6th Annual Bryant Boatowner's Homecoming on beautiful Tellico and Ft.Loudon Lakes.  We had nearly 50 boats in attendance (I didn't get an exact count) with more than 50 families participating.  Several of us arrived early and made it a week-long vacation which started on Saturday night at Sequoyah Marina & Resort.  Many thanks to David Britt who prepared a wonderful Low Country Boil for us.  As always, when this crowd gathers, the food was great, the drinks a plenty and good times were shared by all.  The rest of the week was filled with many hours on the water with old friends and new ones too.  Much food was consumed, many gallons of beverages drank, lots of boat modifications and upgrades were discussed, a couple of new boats were purchased, goodbyes were said to friends who have passed on, night-time music and dancing was enjoyed by all (some more than others - table dancing!  Really?)  All of these good friends and memories because one man had a vision of building the best boat in the world . . . thank you Jim Bryant!  A special thanks to the entire Bryant family and their employees who are simply AWESOME! In light of all the good times we had, we were also very humbled on Wednesday evening when we all assisted Joe Bryant, Black Eyed Joe's BBQ and The Lost Sheep Ministries in feeding more than 500 of Knoxville's homeless.  Another inspiring and successful BBO event - Thank you to those who make our Homecoming a HUGE success each year. 

Unfortunately due to many truck issues, we missed much of the remainder of our boating season.  We were saddened that we were not able to join our friends at Dale Hollow in August and just as sad that our next boat outting was not until the middle of October when we all gathered for our Fall Cruise.  Friends from near and far, great boats, good food and beautiful weather made for a wonderful end to our boating season.

I have other posts regarding our trucking mishaps for this year and I hate to say, but it was (and still is) and ongoing thing throughout 2011 and into 2012.  But, the repairs as expensive as they are, are still cheaper than a new truck payment.  Our truck dilema continued with us putting the truck in the shop on November 29 with a blown engine.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know the details - $20,000 . . . 6 weeks . . . and unimaginable lost revenue and we got back to work on January 4.  We've had a couple of issues, but I must say KUDOS to Clarke Diesel of Memphis, TN for quickly and efficiently handling our troubles.

August 2011 brought us a dedicated run from Memphis, TN to the West Coast weekly.  This was definitely a blessing for us considering the amout of down time we had encountered.  So, we called Memphis home until mid-January.  Knowing we were going to be there for several months, we brought over our pick-up and truck camper and settled into T.O.Fuller State Park.  Thank you John and Robert (camp hosts) for making our stay a true pleasure. 

I must say, MEMPHIS FOLK KNOW HOW TO COOK!  Anytime we are in a new town, we like to try some local flavor.  Marlowe's BBQ had fantastic ribs and oh my goodness at the fried green tomatoes and deep fried dinner rolls.  We discovered an up and coming part of Memphis called Cooper Young District.  Simply wonderful food.  Tsunami's has melt-in-your-mouth Sea Bass and a delicious Tuna Steak.  Sweet Grass and Next Door were superb as well and we dined here on several ocassions sampling something different with each visit.  If you know me, you know I LUV CUBAN food.  Never thought I would find any worthy Cuban cuisine north of Tampa, FL, however, we were fortunate to have come across LosCompadres (a Mexican restaurant) that is owned by a Cuban family.  The menu is part Mexican and part Cuban - two thumbs up for a well blended cultural experience.  .

Moving into 2012 and getting back to work in January, we were disappointed to learn that our dedicated was coming to an end.  Back to reality and working the load board.  Business has been good thus far and we've not had any down time.  Busy . . . Busy . . . Busy . . . And busy is good! 

Home for a few days.  Enjoyed a wonderful day with friends Saturday, Super Bowl and relaxing on Sunday and we'll see what Monday brings :-)  The truck will be in the shop for a couple of days for a coolant leak, fortunately under warranty!  And hopefully Clarke Diesel of Knoxville will be as efficient as their Memphis sister.  Always so much to do and so little time to do it.

All in all, 2011 was okay.  Troubles we may have, but we are blessed and so very fortunate and that I am truly thankful for.

John "Walkabout" Sisson and Bryant Boats

Bryant Boats, Sweetwater, TN has debuted their newest creation . . . the 233X

John, you would have been very proud of your brain child, the 233x!  You can look down from Heaven and know that Bryant Boats did an awesome job of fulfilling your DREAM!  The 233x is one SWEET boat!

Knoxville Boat Show

GREAT day, GREAT friends, GREAT boats . . . Spent Saturday afternoon at the Knoxville Boat Show with friends, followed by dinner at Wild Wings Cafe' and we rounded out the evening relaxing at Chuck & Joan's house.  Thank you Chuck & Joan for hosting a wonderful evening.

33 happy customers (a/k/a Bryantheads) and one happy President of Bryant Boats

You are all amazing!  LUV you guys!  Boating season is just around the corner and plans are in the making for another fantastic year of water activities.  In the mean time, it's events such as the boat shows and impromptu gatherings that get us through the Winter.  Spring will be here before we know it.

Our Spring Cruise is tenatively scheduled for April 27, 28 & 29.  Firming up lodging arrangements this week and will post details shortly on http://www.bryantboatowners.com/.  Thank you George for all your help in planning our first outting.

TWENTY ONE YEARS

Twenty One years ago today, I married the love of my life, my best friend, my soul mate <3  Happy Anniversary John <3  Looking forward to another 21+ years together <3

We married after having only known each other for 6 months, but we knew it was destiny.  In July of 1990, I was spending the weekend out on one of the little islands in Tampa Bay, celebrating my Brother-In-Laws Birthday.  I had sailed out on Salt Wind with my sister, BIL and some friends.  The weather was beautiful and we all set up our tents and camping gear getting ready for a fantastic weekend.  Spent a wonderful evening around the bonfire with family and friends.  Off to my tent I go (which was one of those ancient old green canvas ones with the roll flap windows).  Snuggled down with a good book and slumber came quickly after an exhausting day.  I was very rudely awakened by a horrific down pour of rain accompanied by thunder, lightening and crazy winds.  I exited the tent to close those pesky little flaps and to my amazement, the wind lifted the tent off the ground and blew it down the beach.  Needless to say, sleep was out of the question.  As Florida storms go, this one came and went quickly.  I retrieved my lawn chair and spent a restless night on the hot and humid beach.

The next afternoon as more guests arrived, I spotted a handsome fellow approaching on a nice boat with a cozy cuddy cabin - I say to myself that is where I'm sleeping tonight :-)  My sister introduced us and we hit it off immediately.  We spent a wonderful weekend together and YES, I slept on his boat!  He gave me a ride back to my apartment and me being the lady that I am, I invited him in for a drink.  I was going to the shower and he asked what I wanted him to fix for dinner.  I curtly replied that I had not invited him to stay for dinner.  I got in the shower and he left, only to return shortly with dinner fixings.  We had dinner and drinks and he never left.  So, as they say, "the rest is history"!

It's been a great 21 years.  We have shared good times and bad, but through it all, our love endures.

The night we met in July, 1990

Our 19th Anniversary at a comedy club in Louisville, KY

The Truck Horrors Of 2011

As you probably know, John and I are truckers and we own our own truck and trailer.  2011 was not a good year for neither the truck nor our wallets.  In addition to the breakdown in May out in Wyoming, we had many more issues throughout the year - tires, turbo charger, radiator, hoses, belts, brakes and the list goes on with a GRAND FINALE on November 29 .  .  .  the engine seized up requiring a rebuild!  On the bright side, we are running a dedicated run out of Memphis, TN and that is where she decided to croak, so we were not stranded.

Got the truck back on the 4th of January and are back to work.  2012 is looking better and we are hoping for the dedicated run to become a long-term contract.

May your new year be HAPPY, PROSPEROUS and FILLED WITH DREAMS COME TRUE!

Lost Sheep Ministries - Feeding the Homeless in Knoxville

To protect the identity of anyone at this event, I have chosen not to post any pictures.

First, I want to say a HUGE "Thank You" to Joe Bryant of Black Eyed Joe's BBQ (and Bryant Boats) and Maxine of Lost Sheep Ministries for allowing myself and my fellow BBOers to experience such an event.  I was in total awe at the number of volunteers it takes to pull this off each month.  On the last Wednesday of each month, Joe and Maxine coordinate feeding more than 500 of Knoxville's homeless.  In addition to feeding them, volunteers put together bags for each of them with drinks, snacks and other goodies.  A clothing bank also attends to provide clothing.   A little live music (performed by one of the homeless) and some testimonials round out the evening.  In spite of their circumstances, all left with a full belly and a smile.  Rain or shine, sleet or snow, even tornadoes will not keep Joe, Maxine and the volunteers from their most gracious act of kindness.  This is another rather late post as we participated in this during our Bryant Boatowner's Homecoming in June 2011.




A humbling experience for sure.