Tuesday, October 17 (cont.) - The Last Journey to the Gulf (Mobile Bay)! :)

We wake up to our beautiful, but skinny anchorage!  "Eagle Heart's" anchor, as well as ours, kept us in place all night.  I'm still not quite sure how "Slow Roll" snuck by us at the crack of dawn this morning!

 Captain Dave gets ready to help our fellow loopers untie.

 First ,"Eagle Heart" on our starboard, 

 and then "Rambunctious" on our port.

As we follow our fellow loopers, we begin to notice small signs of civilization:

 like "a big-ass crane", as Captain Dave puts it 😉,

(it even has an electromagnet as a pickup tool),

 a huge factory,

 and a loading area for freighters (check out the size of "Rambunctious" 

to the barges and loading area)!

The channel begins to straighten,

 and slowly the vegetation begins to change.  We see more everglade-like landscape,

 and even palm tree like bushes (💗🌴!),

 while there are still a few moss covered trees here and there.

 As homes begin to reappear, they seem to be more of the standard.

A little closer to Mobile, and we see our first lift bridge in a really long time!

 They take pride in this bridge; it is in such wonderful shape!

 Our navigation screen changes big-time from that straight channel to many curvy rivers.  Also, the dark green indicates that we are now entering everglades!👏

 We continue to view the change in the landscape.

 This must be a great spot to live, as we see two very large nests close to one another.

 Obviously this person agrees with the birds!

The vegetation continues to change and the trees are becoming very sparse; we're getting closer!😃

 The tow traffic begins to increase.

 And here we are; MOBILE, ALABAMA!

 This is a VERY busy shipping port with all kinds of different vessels!

 Many freighters,

 from all over the world,

 

 tugboats,

freighters in dry dock,

some of them being worked on (like this one with a helicopter pad on top of the bridge😲),

 freighters being loaded,

 water taxis, 

 and even a shipyard building Navy Ships!!!

 This one has a tunnel hull!

Even with all of the shipping vessels, there are some beautiful buildings in the downtown area. 

 This is Mobile's Convention Center where boaters can dock for free; very convenient, 

but there is no electricity and remember, it's a very busy area!

 Soon the vessels subside, and all we see is water; we are now heading into the 

Gulf of Mexico waters via Mobile Bay - YAHOO!!!

 Once out on the Bay, we see a shrimp boat,

 and just when we think all we're going to see is water, 

 many more freighters show up on the horizon!

We have just completed Dave's "bucket list"; to cruise from Prescott to the Gulf of Mexico! 

A champagne toast is in order for this special occasion.  The local seagulls decided to celebrate with us, as they were flying all around, and so when Dave popped the cork,
it hit one of the seagulls; oops!😏  Poor bird, didn't even know what hit him!🤣

 As well as a celebration dinner at "The Kitchen on George" with our fellow looper friends!

Cheers!!!