Brrrrr!!!!

We are now in warm, sunny Columbus, Mississippi!!! Not!!! Last night was 10 degrees F and the water pipes on the boat froze so we had to unfreeze them with my hair dryer.  Yesterday morning I went to the Marina laundry room and ran two machine loads of wash whilst I took a shower. When I left the shower to return to the laundry room I saw water pouring out from under the laundry room door. When I opened the door, water poured out. The pipes were exposed under the laundry room floor and had frozen. What a mess. I had to go and tell the manager of the marina, who was most understanding and not at all angry with me. I offered to help clean up the floor but he said he would do it.
Our trip down to Columbus was uneventful but very cold.

This is me all wrapped up for going through the locks. My neighbour, Michele gave me the hat for Christmas and boy, was that well used that day.
We passed through 5 locks in one day which was a record for us. Frequently on the river (The TennTomBigbee Waterway) we saw these strange looking side walls to the river.

 

They are called baffles and were built to contain the flow of the water into the river. This was the first river on which we had seen such a construction.
We passed a couple of osprey nests - one on the lights at the lock and the other on top of a very thin tree. I wonder how difficult it was to place the first stick/twig on the top of the tree without it falling off.

As I mentioned earlier we are in Columbus, Mississippi at the moment. It is an old town with many old antebellum homes. We drove around them yesterday in the frigid weather with the heater in the car turned up high.

This one dating back to 1833 had an interesting entrance way. It had steps either side of the front door making an arch covered in some type of vine and revealing another entrance down below. Gary thought this was quite unique.

This house was where Tennessee Williams was born. I wonder if it was this colour when he was born.
Well, that sums up today's blog. Tomorrow, we are off to Orlando, Florida to cheer David on in his marathon. I looked up the temps in Florida and saw that Orlando was 46 degrees today. However, for the day of David's race (Sunday) the temperature is supposed to be near 80. It seems like I shall have to pack both shorts and jeans for the trip. We have rented a very nice home in a golfing community. It has its own pool and will sleep 8. David found it for us and wanted a place with a hot tub for soaking his aching muscles after the race. It does not have a hot tub but it does have a jacuzzi. It looks very nice and includes linens and cooking utensils.
So, keep warm everybody. If you have elderly neighbours, check on them to make sure they are keeping warm enough. Keep pets inside until the big chill is over.