DAY #193
Another early start, and another long day on the road (at least for me it seems long). I’m going to miss this place. The area is so beautiful in it’s views and majestic trees. Visiting the FDR complex turned out to be a very moving experience. The area had given me some very solid vibes, and the campground has been everything one could ask for. I’m so glad and thankful that I had the opportunity to visit and spend some time here.
Leaving was uneventful save for one incident. I had stopped to throw away some trash and I decided to just stop on the road since going into the lot (with the trailer) where the dumpster was located would have been more of a hassle. My thinking was, what the heck, it’s 9:00 am and there’s no one else around the campground, and since it’s going to take less than two minutes to do this, I”ll just take the easy route and stop on the road.
No sooner had I got out of the drivers side and opened the passenger side to collect the trash bags when along comes a truck behind me. In addition to the truck, along comes some guy on a bike who proceeds to make the comment ‘nice place to stop.’ Damn it I thought, I could have stopped and sat in the truck blocking the road for an hour and no one would come behind me, but no, stop the truck for a couple of minutes to throw the trash away and these bugs come out of nowhere, it drives me FREAKIN CRAZY. I know that I need to learn to just let it go. As long as I act in consideration to others, I’ve done my part and if they have an issue, than it’s on them and not me. Hey, I’m still learning and it’s a stumbling path right now at best, but I’ll keep trying until I get it.
Afterwards, I’m at the dump site just down the road emptying the black & grey tanks when the guy on the bike rides by me. He makes the comment about no one being there until you stop, to which I responded (and I know I took the wrong tact on this) why did you say ‘nice place to stop’? He said what? To which I asked him again (admittedly somewhat challenging) why he said that. He just waved me off and rode away. Lesson to be learned: Just let it go.
The drive to the next destination; Joe Wheeler State Park outside Rogersville, AL went well. The scenery was immensely enjoyable throughout Georgia, what with it’s winding and twisty roads going up and down hills, although it is more involved and therefore more fatiguing being behind the wheel.
Coming into Alabama and especially the Decatur, AL, area, the landscape slowly began to transition. While still hilly and tree covered it felt more industrial and more developed. Decatur especially with it’s large complexes and chemical operations. I think being on the Tennessee River had a lot to do with that. For me, I was getting a less rural and more urban vibe.
I made it to the campground or so I thought. I found a campground where the app said there should be one, but it was not the one where I had made my reservations for. This one was located just after crossing one of the dams created by the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). fortunately there was a very nice women (not sure if she was a campsite host, kind of seemed like it) who directed me to the correct campground which was about ten miles away.
Found the right place and checked in. The site was nice, it was tucked in to the side of a hill with lots of old growth trees, and a pleasant view of the river. The sites were pretty much on par with other campgrounds as far as space went. I was satisfied with what was going to be home for the next eight days.
Verizon service was decent, and while there were a number of OTA stations, the reception on the majority of them would fade in and out. Hey, I’ll just have to rough it (what a light weight).
Yea, I think this is going to work out quite well.
The Journey. 