Winter Storm Fern hit this area January 23-27. The icestorm did a tremendous amount of damage. Sunday afternoon when we were maybe 10 miles from Lakeshore, we were stopped by a flagman because traffic was down to one lane, on a 2 lane state highway. As we drove through the area we saw guys in 4 bucket trucks cutting back damaged trees. There was a lot of associated equipment cleaning up downed branches. 180,000 people in Mississippi were without power, 100,000 in Tennessee. After the worst of the storm had passed Mississippi "mobilized" 135 snowplows to remove abandoned cars off Interstates 55 & 22. Brian said they were without power, from the utility company, for over a week. They are on a public water system and didn't always have water. On January 31 the high/low was 27/14 and on February 1 it was 36/16. Lots of folks had frozen pipes.
Monday - We dropped the coach off at Lakeshore at 7:10 AM, with a list of things that needed fixed. We then headed to Savannah, TN, about 35 miles north of Lakeshore.
We had a good breakfast at the Dae Break Cafe.
After breakfast we drove around town a little, what a nice town, population 7-8K. Kathy then dropped me off at the Tennessee River Museum and she looked around Savannah some more. The museum was interesting. but not great. After she picked me up we found a nice shady spot on a side street and she read while I took a nap.
We went to a Long John Silvers for lunch, it was very good. After lunch we drove to Pickwick Lock and Dam, it was on the way back to Lakeshore. I got the lawn chairs out and we had a great afternoon watching the fishermen and the birds.
This was the first time a vessel went through the locks while I was there. This is the tug Jerry Tinkey pushing barges in to the lock. (the lock is 110'x1,000', the lock drops/raises vessels 55')
This is the water being discharged from the lock. It is at least 4' high. A siren goes off to warn boaters to get out of the area.
The barges that were lowered. The tug went back in the lock, was raised back up, pushed more barges into the lock and was then lowered again. This process to at least 2 hours.
We packed up and were on the bridge above the dam when the tug and barges finally headed downstream.
If interested you can read more about our previous Pickwick visits at:
https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/11/days-5-6-november-15-16-pickwick-dam.html
https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/days-117-118-friday-saturday-march-29.html
Lakeshore had closed by the time we got back. Brian had moved our coach back out on the "pad", hooked up the electric and had the AC running. As we looked around it looked like they had fixed all the items on our list in one day.
Tuesday - At 7 AM I checked the water leak area and found that my drain pan had collected maybe an ounce of water overnight. I went over and told Brian that it was still leaking a little. He said that they would replace some fittings. We drove down to J P Coleman State Park, just a few miles away and spent the morning looking at the Tennessee River, watching fisherman head out, reading and maybe a little napping. The main part of the park, including the campground and Lodge, are closed because of the ice storm damage. As I walked around a little I stopped by the office and talked to several ladies. They said that they have no idea when the Lodge, which has lots of motel rooms, will reopen. The pipes in many of the room froze and burst.
Around 11:30 we drove down to Iuka and had a good lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Kathy said hers was better than any Mexican meal she had while we were in Texas. Mine was good. We drove around Iuka a little, no notable changes. We drove by a "yard sale/flea market" and stopped so that Kathy could check to see if they had some coffee cups she might want. We broke several this winter. No luck. Then it was back to Coleman for more river watching. About 3:30 Brian texted us and said the coach was ready. We picked it up, went to his little campground next door to dump our gray water tank and then came back and parked on the "pad". If the leak repairs look good in the morning we will leave for Missouri.
Weather has been AWESOME!!!
God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.