Alabama

Saturday 3rd December 2022

After a 243 mile drive along some very nice smaller roads we arrived at Wind Creek State Park, Alabama. Twice we were so high up in the mountains we were in the middle of what we thought was fog but then realized it was low cloud. Mountain roads, steep descent and minimal visibility, yup Ros was squealing again though not too loudly. Must be getting used to it!

https://www.alapark.com/parks/wind-creek-state-park

A great site, C195 with full hook ups and a very long concrete pad. The premium sites have a similar feel  to Tim's Ford we are surrounded by a lake and it is beautiful. 

 Lake Martin is a man-made lake with a hydro-electric dam completed in 1929 and operated by Alabama Power. The lake has over 40,000 acres of clear, deep, clean water and more than 700 miles of shoreline.

Sunday 4th December

Picked up a few things at Walmart which is 6 miles outside the park then watched England play in the round of 16 in the World Cup. They won!

Later we had a nice walk around the campsite. The park is huge with parts for day users - you pay to enter the park and enjoy the lake. There are areas on the side of the lake with picnic tables and BBQ grills, can imagine these areas being very popular in the Summer with families arriving at the crack of dawn to snag the best places. There is a snack bar and ice cream hut which were unfortunately closed for the season. A pier for fishing with fish cleaning stations and a big zip lining area.

Lake was so still there was a perfect reflection

Wind Creek Silo

Zip lining high up in the pine trees, closed for the Winter.

Some of the sites near us have their own boat jetty

Second week at Tim's Ford, Tennessee

 A quiet work week, writing this blog, going on walks with Morgan and a big storm on Tuesday that went on well into the night.

Tuesday before the storm

Tuesday afternoon storm on the way.

Guys constructing a new dock at the lake

Time to Travel-ks.de

The very cool vehicle is a camper! They are from Europe and have a great website detailing the building and travels. They pulled in late Friday evening and were gone early Saturday just using the campsite for a quick pitstop on their route.

https://timetotravel-ks.de/

We packed up on Saturday morning and left Tennessee. Have loved staying at the State Parks, I feel they are better for me over private campgrounds as they are set in wilderness areas with hikes I can access easily without having to drive to them and I like the feeling of remoteness they have even if there is a town a few miles away. This time of the year they are very quiet which we like but we haven't been able to chat to anyone, it would be nice to get to know some fellow rv'ers and get some tips on future campsites.

Long weekend of hikes, football and bad weather.

 Friday 25th November 

John was off work Thursday 24th through Monday 28th, it was nice having the few days to explore. Friday we did an easy trail next to the campsite.

Random things you see in the middle of the woods

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On Saturday we drove to a natural bridge in Sewanee, There was not a hike here, just got out of the car, walked a minute to the bridge and walked along the top of it, was pretty scary, glad we had the place to ourselves so we could take our time.

Hello? Any bears in there?

Top of the bridge

We then drove to The Cross in Sewanee. The 60 foot tall cross is on the campus of The University of the South and was erected in 1922 to honor students who have served in world wars. 

View from The Cross across Franklin County valley.

 We hiked to Bridal Veil Falls from The Cross which was a moderate 4 mile hike with a few steep sections. The Falls were once again not falling!

Wonder if there is a hole in it?

After a great hike we drove to a nearby part of town to look around and buy cake. One thing that gets me through a hike is the thought of cake at the end! There were some cute stores including a mercantile that was full of nick-knacks - though pretty expensive.

We returned to the campsite to see quite a few people packing up to leave though the tickets on their sites said they were booked up to Sunday: they were getting out before the bad weather arrived. We checked the weather and saw there was some rain and winds arriving later in the evening and oh did those winds arrive! It may have been gorgeous having a site on the very edge of the lake but we were extremely exposed to the wind that you could hear in the distance as it barreled down the lake then wacked us full force. This was the first winds we experienced and was quite scary.

Sunday was a quiet day of football and grocery shopping.

Monday we drove to the park visitor center and saw more rescued birds of prey. I can't decide if it is nice that they were rescued to then spend years in a small enclosure.

Not great pics as they had double wire fences.

We then hiked the Old Spann House trail which began at the visitor center parking lot. A nice 4 mile hike through the woods to the edge of the lake then circled back. We enjoyed  having a snack in the sun and quiet half way around.