White Oak & Eufaula, AL – Final destination on this trip

Since my last entry we have left Kentucky and are driving to Eufaula, AL. We left at 5:30 AM this morning (Thursday, 4/30) so we would get through Nashville before the rush hour traffic got really bad. We hit a small back-up where I-24 joins I-65 (during rush hours the interstates in Nashville are a real cluster) but otherwise breezed through. We are currently just outside of Birmingham, AL. We stopped twice, once early on after we hit a branch leaving the campground and had to make sure we had not broken the satellite or TV antenna (Bruce had to climb on top of the motorhome for that inspection in the drizzling rain) and then for about 30 minutes at the Alabama welcome area for a quick cereal breakfast and Hazel walk. I-65 south out of Nashville is a new road for us- one not yet driven in all of our travels. We drove through the Tennessee mountains to just outside Huntsville, AL. Since we whizzed by we will have to return some other time to explore the space related area. Once in AL, the ruggedness of the mountains has given way to more rolling hills with beautiful farms, although I know Birmingham is famous for its mountainous views. Then we are on to Montgomery, where we will exit to travel southeast to the AL/GA line to the White Oak Campground just south of Eufaula, AL on the Chattahoochee River. We are about half way into today’s trip and should reach the campground mid-afternoons.

Since I am just sitting here being a perfect passenger, I thought I might being you up to date on our KY activities. Although we had contemplated leaving the Kentucky area early, we decided to stay yesterday and so some auto touring. There are 2 towns that were displaced when Barkley & Kentucky Dams were developed – Kuttawa and Eddyville. We drove though the relocated Kuttawa every day- not much to see, but had not explored Eddyville. The camp hosts told us about a small homemade doughnut place in Eddyville, so we left early in the morning and went in search of Miss Edna’s Doughnuts (yes, we did have to try them). We drove around Eddyville, found a laundromat, went on to Fredonia (on the Trail of Tears) and found another junk yard. Since I was not willing to sit in the car again while he shopped for junk, I did the laundry and listened to the rest of a book on my MP3. Those 2 hours ended up win-win for both of us (if ever doing laundry is a win for anyone). In our post-laundry explorations we stumbled on the Kentucky State Penitentiary – a contract in architectural style. I did not have my camera when we first saw it so had to return later in the afternoon for these pictures. It probably was not waterfront property before Barkley Dam was flooded- but it is now, and sits on some very prime property. We spent the rest of the afternoon just lazing about, reading and dozing. It ended up being a good day to stay at the campsite and get ready for today’s trip.

We got off the interstate just south of Montgomery and took 2 lane roads over to Eufaula. At that time of the day, the traffic wasn’t bad, so the drive was nice. Arrived at White Oak Campground (another picture perfect Corp of engineers park) and pulled into one of the first come sites on the river. I couldn’t ask for anything better. If you have a boat- you might want more of a beach, but because it is still to early to swim, and we don’t pull a boat- one of the sites directly on the Chattahoochee River is our perfect cup of tea. The wind blows to keep you cool, you have this wonder view of the water, and again, your neighbors are not in your back yard.

Our friends Herman & Ann had already been camping at one of the reserveable spots on the creek (they have a very nice pontoon boat and fish quite a bit so beach front is a necessity). We had a lovely dinner with them after setting up camp. We intend to stay about 8 nights. I have included a picture of our campsite and also the view from the front door of the camper (and the window by the chair I like to frequent) . White Oak is a very large campground- with plenty of up and down hill walking, so we took Hazel around the park several times today. That was the bulk of my exercise since it was a drive day although I am watching what and how much I eat also.