We headed out of Cheaha under cloudy skies. Our first order of business was a gas fill up (a real score at $2.64.9 a gallon). A 65 gallon fill up makes every penny per gallon count. Next we did grocery shopping.
Then, on to DeSoto State park in northeastern Alabama. Driving north from Cheaha, we traveled through more Alabama rural country--curvy roads, lined with forests and farms. We were surprised at the sheer volume of litter we saw in the ditches along these roads: cups, bottles, plastic bags, papers etc. (You get a really good view of that sitting this high off the road.) The weird thing is that these were rural roads with very little traffic. It leads us to believe that no one has picked up litter on these roads in a very long time. Another feature of our drive was the large roadside areas blanketed with kudzu. We could see the lumpy forms of trees and bushes under the uniform kudzu blanket that sometimes reached 20-30 feet high. The kudzu ultimately kills the vegetation it covers.
Our campsite at DeSoto State Park is wonderful. Sites here are widely spaced, very private, and have all utilities (water, sewer, electric) and cable TV as well. We've never been in a state park that offered cable TV before. Unfortunately, like Cheaha and Florence Marina State Parks, there is no cell or data connectivity here. But it is blissfully quiet. One minor quibble is that our site is covered in a fine gravel that, when wet, sticks to everything. So it tracks everywhere, and is difficult to keep out of the RV, even though we've tried. Our site is located right next to an access
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| Trail access via spur directly behind our site |
point to a trail we decided to take, and that leads to 2 small waterfalls. It rained hard last evening after we set up, and last night, so we expected the falls and creeks to be running. As it was, the trail was very wet, and water ran freely down the center of the trail in places. We stepped through and around creeks. At one point, Ray lost his footing on some wet leaves on wet rocks, lost his balance, and landed on his butt.
About 2/3 of the way along the trail, it started to rain. Because of the dense forest cover, it didn't affect us too much. We were back at the RV by early afternoon. After lunch, Ray decided to add some air to our RV tires, a somewhat more involved process than on our car (for a number of reasons). After that, we headed down to a boardwalk built into the forest. Just as we arrived, it started to pour. We took out our umbrellas and took a peaceful, pleasant stroll in the pouring rain. We stopped for a bit to sit by ourselves under a gazebo in the quiet of the forest and listen to the rain on the trees.
More photos here:
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