Sweet Home Alabama

After our wonderfully relaxing stay at Cheaha State park, we departed on Sunday 8 June and drove 100 miles West and 20 miles North to our next location, Hidden Cove RV park near Arley, AL.  The RV park is located on the shore of Lewis Smith Lake which ,we understand, has 500miles of shoreline and the cleanest water of any lake in Alabama.  Suffice it to say we will not be seeing the entire lake.


Hidden Cove RV Park is a member park of the Thousand Trails club which we belong to and as such we are staying here for 2weeks for $6.  What a deal. 

  It rained fairly regularly for the first 4 days we were here so we didn't do to much sightseeing initially.  Eventually the weather improved and we got out more to see the area.  Going back to the clean water, it is so clear we could stand at the edge of the pool pictured below and see bluegill and catfish swimming by.



 

One of the things that is interesting is we see mushrooms (maybe toadstools) everywhere here.  This one is one of the most unique.  We tried doing some research to see what kind it was but couldn't find anything like it.  The colors in the picture are not tampered with.

On Saturday we talked to a guy who was fishing out on the boat dock above and he told us about the dam and the river below the dam so we decided we needed to drive down and see it.  We pack a quick picnic lunch and headed to the dam which is about 20 miles from our campground.  As it turns out Alabama Power company has a Hydroelectric plant at the dam so there is no access to the dam itself but there is limited access to the river below.

We learned that when they are passing water and producing electricity that a warning horn goes off to tell everyone downstream to get out of the river.  As it turns out the water rises about 15 feet in depth.  The picture below shows one of the river access points under water.  Normally the river bank extends about 10 to 15 feet from the end of the stairway.

There are currently only 2 access points to the river but we read they are going to add 5 additional points in the future.  The trails themselves to the river are also interesting.  We really liked the feeder stream in the picture below.

The trail alongside this feeder creek was covered in Blackberry bushes.  They were pretty but a little tart.

We also took the time while we were out to go and look at the National Forest campgrounds to see if we might want to stay there next.  As it turns out the 2 campground in the area are verrrrry nice.  We stopped and talked with the campground hosts and this led to that and they offered us a job as campground host at Corinth Recreational area campground.  After considering our options we have decided to take the jobs and will be staying in Alabama a while longer.  More on this in our next post.  For now we will leave you with a picture of our new home in Alabama.






Cheaha State Park Alabama

On Sunday, 25 May, we got underway again for a short drive to Cheaha State Park near Oxford/Anniston Alabama.  In our travels so far we have seen many State Parks but by far Cheaha is more like a resort than any.  The 'claim to fame' for Cheaha is that it boasts the highest point in Alabama at 2419 feet.  There is a definite remoteness to the park, even though you are only 18 miles from Oxford, AL, from a electronic communication perspective you might as well be in remote Alaska.  No signal is the rule.  So our week was incommunicado except when we ventured to town.  We would pack a picnic lunch and spend a couple hours at the city park in Oxford so we could check email, make phone calls and just enjoy the area.

 The park was built by the CCC and a few of the cabins built during that period are still being used, while the Alabama Park service has added to that original build over the years.

Restaurant at Cheaha

rental cabin

rental chalet

Hotel

View of Cheaha Lake from Hotel

  We really enjoyed seeing and photographing the different types of wild flowers we saw.

Aster

Flowering Oak bush




Butterfly weed



We also enjoyed seeing deer on most days.

While it didn't rain very much on us at Cheaha, there was a morning fog on most days that added to the remote feeling of the place.





We have enjoyed our stay here at Cheaha.  It was a very serene week with few distractions from the beauty and peace of the area.



Wind Creek State Park by accident

Our next adventure was to leave Kolomoki Mounds behind and travel about 4 hours Northwest to Cheaha State Park in Alabama.  Not surprisingly, we didn't make it all the way to Cheaha.  Instead, as we were traveling near Alexander City, AL we saw a State Park sign for Wind Creek State Park and after a snap decision and a hard application of the brakes we turned off to Wind Creek.  Cheaha would have to wait.  Again, our stay was short but well worth the time.  It turns out that Wind Creek is very popular boating destination at Lake Martin.  They have approximately 350 RV sites and about half were full.  It was nice to see so many people out enjoying the area.

 

As we were setting up the motorhome, Stephanie stepped in a fire ant hill and promptly got bit about 15 times before she could get them off of her.  We didn't have any benedryl so it was off to Alexander City to find a drug store.  We got some spray and she was fine after that.

  On Saturday, we took a drive to find some yard sales and look for DVD's.  We stumbled across Children's Harbor which had a thrift store open.  Children's Harbor is for sick children and they families to come to and enjoy the outdoors and get a break from their hospitals.

Children's Harbor Chapel

Dock at Children's Harbor



 While the next picture might seem weird, We thought it was very pretty, especially the rock.  We have not seen any rock at all in months.

This is just the landscaped roadside at the town limit for Alexander City. 

Our next stop will be Cheaha State Park, the highest point in Alabama.

So Long Florida, Hello Georgia

On Monday after Memorial Day we were finally ready to get back on the road.  We left behind the alligators, shark teeth, beautiful nature trails and new friends and struck out to the North.  Once we got going we decided it was time to leave Florida entirely.  We kept heading North and eventually decided on a location in Southwestern corner of Georgia.  We arrived at Kolomoki  Mounds State Park near Blakely Georgia and our new home for 4 nights.

As it turned out, the camp ground was empty and we were able to pick from all the sites.  It really didn't matter which site we took as they were all fantastic.

Kolomoki was home to native American tribe from about 600AD to 800AD and was used as both an area of commerce as well as ceremonial and burial area.  The largest mounds, some 60 feet high and covering almost a football field were used for ceremony exclusively.  The smaller mounds started approximately 8 fett high and covering approximately a 15 foot circle were burial sites.  With each successive generation the burial mound were added to and ended up approximately 15 feet high and covering a 30 foot circle.  We didn't get any pictures of the mounds but they were fairly impressive and the area is very beautiful.

There was a short trail through the forest going over to the picnic area which we really enjoyed walking.

On Wednesday we decided to drive to Blakely for a few groceries and just see the area outside the park.  While traveling down the highway we spotted this old fixer upper which we just had to stop and see.

While we didn't stay long at Kolomoki, it will remain in our minds as one of the most peaceful, beautiful areas we have ever seen.