Canal zone

We are at the Canal Corps of Engineers campground (map), adjacent to the canal between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, impoundments of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers respectively. We've stayed here before, and as then we are again in the "group" area, which consists of eight 50-amp sites arranged around a large parking lot, with a picnic pavilion and a dock on lake Barkley.

We're only 30 miles or so from Paducah, where we started the day yesterday, but I wanted to stop someplace for a couple of days to get a few things done, and we knew this was a pleasant stop, and would have power for the two hours or so of 90+ temperatures we've been seeing each afternoon. It's also a short scooter ride here into the town of Grand Rivers, where there are a couple of restaurants and a grocery store, should we need one.

Mostly what I need to get done is to finish moving over to this new computer before the deadline for returning it expires. Wal-Mart gives 15 days, no questions asked, and I wanted to get some real usage time in for all my daily applications before making a decision. Getting to the point where all those applications are working has been a lot of effort, but I am mostly moved over now and things seem to be working fine.

I've been keeping notes on my process, as well as notes on what works well and what doesn't in the "netbook" format. I am leaning towards keeping this computer, and I might write a pair of articles here on the blog on setting up a new XP laptop from scratch, and on configuring one of these netbooks to minimize the frustrations they often present. Of course, I still have plenty of work ahead of me to prep my old Gateway for sale on eBay.

Even for a geek like me, there is only so long in a day that one can stare at a computer screen (although I am typing this outside in beautiful weather, with a view of the lake, which makes things a bit more pleasant). So this afternoon we headed across the canal on the scooters, and rode the Kentucky Lake Scenic Drive, stopped at the Land Between The Lakes welcome center, and did a quick loop through the Hillman's Ferry campground, constructed by the Tennessee Valley Authority but now operated by the Forest Service.

We also rode into Grand Rivers to scope out dinner options, and rode around the Green Turtle Bay Resort. We were hoping the restaurant there might be a dinner option (it's not), but instead ran into a boat show going on at their marina. We spent 45 minutes or so going through boats, and even saw a couple that would make nice starter boats for us at surprisingly low prices. The market has dropped quite a bit in the last year.

In a few minutes, we will head back out to dinner. Tomorrow, we'll decide if we want to pay for another night or two, or move along.