Bob & Judy, I'm sure you will get lots of comments on your questions. However after spending 4 of the 6 summers we lived aboard cruising on the inland rivers (Tenn-Tom, Tennessee, Black Warrior, and Cumberland) we feel pretty knowledgeable on this subject. While it can get hot in the summer we always enjoyed the summer & fall on the rivers. While it can get hot on the rivers it never got any hotter than the two summers we spent on the east coast between S.C & the Chesapeake. And the beauty of the rivers in the summer is that you can swim and enjoy all that fresh water!!! We always headed up the rivers in early June because we liked cruising the FL/AL Gulf Coast in April & May. That was one reason and the other was because if it had been a wet spring this gave the Tenn-Tom a chance to settle down and not have such strong currents. We then headed back down the rivers in mid to late October with plans to arrive in Mobile sometime after mid November. For those that have spent summers in the river system they know just how enjoyable & special that time is. It's very laid back, you don't have to worry about weather, and the people you meet in AL, MS, TN, & KY are some of the best in the world! There are wonderful anchorages, and cheap marinas if that is your style. It's amazing how fast 4 months on the rivers can go, most who cruise the rivers wish it could go on another few months. After living and cruising full time on Life's2short for over five years, the river system, bar-none, holds our most cherished memories!!! Those who have not cruised the rivers just don't understand how great that fresh water and laid back atmosphere is, it's truly wonderful! When we did the Black Warrior River we did it in late October and the colors were beautiful and the weather was wonderful, warm sunny days and cool nights! We ended up spending two weeks on the B.W. and wished we took it even slower than that. As for cruise books........My suggestion would be the copies of the Fred Myer's "Nitty-Gritty" series on the Tenn-Tom, Tennessee, and Cumberland. Even though some of the information will be outdated this series is still the best bet, in my opinion, for the inland rivers. We had a Quimby's guide the first year on the rivers but we never opened it. The other great book, though hard to find and outdated, is what river cruisers call "The Green Book". This publication is written by the Rumsey family and it has TONS of interesting reading and some great history & stories. Please note that the Runsey "Green Book" only deals with the entire 450 miles of the Tenn-Tom and also the Black Warrior River. I will caution you that a number of anchorages Rumsey talks about on the Tenn-Tom no longer exist because that book was published in 1995. And since 1995 there have been many floods on the Tenn-Tom that have closed off or silted in some of the listed anchoarges. The best bet for up-to-date information & planning on anchorages and marinas for the entire inland river system is Active Captain, don't leave home without it. We had an AT&T data card the entire time we were on board Life's2Short and other than a few places on the lower Tenn-Tom we always were able to use Active Captain to check information and to input our anchorages and marina feedback. As for paper charts we always used the USACE charts and while not real detailed they worked just fine. We have swallowed the anchor and are now "Dirt-Dwellers" but still have theses cruise guides and charts, complete with notes and listed anchorages. If you want to talk about using these books let me know and I'm sure we can work something out. If you want to read & see more about the river system take a look at our blog for the summer/fall of 2006/2007/2009/2011. _http://btlifes2short.blogspot.com/_ (http://btlifes2short.blogspot.com/) Please note that in the summer 2006 we spent 5 weeks in Demopolis getting a transmission replaced after being on the boat for only 60 hours, thus you won't have as much river information until later in the summer & fall. I'm getting excited all over again just writing about life on the river systems, man do I miss those daze!! ;-) Todd & Brenda Lanning X-Life's2Short owners