Relaxing with a little history

Last weekend was the last outing of our local Winnebago Club before the summer hiatus. Before attending the rally, we stopped at the Gulf State Park for a relaxing evening near the water in Gulf Shores, AL. This a great park where you have the option of nearby beaches, tourist attractions or enjoying the hiking trails and other facilities of the park.  We focused mostly on the relaxing aspects of the park.

 In the morning before heading to the rally in Robertsdale, Al we made our first visit to Fort Morgan, located at the entrance to Mobile Bay.  It played an important role in the Civil War battle for control of Mobile Bay and the city of Mobile.  The Union victory here in 1864 gave the northern states a much needed boost in spirits and helped propel President Lincoln to reelection. The fighting at the fort and on the waters of the bay was fierce.  A tour of the fort and museum provides a good overview of the battle and life at the fort during this period.  If you are interested in the Civil War, this is definitely worthwhile.  Another interesting fact was that pets are allowed to wander the grounds, so Halley had her first open museum tour.

After some comments on the last blog, I think I should clarify that we are not taking the RV to Alaska-this time.  We are going with friends on a land and cruise tour.  We are hoping this will give us a great overview of the state.   

A stop in Montgomery

Our last stop on this trip was Montgomery, Alabama.  We have been by here many times without much interest in stopping.  Several blogs I follow have mentioned some of the interesting things to see in the area, so we decided to make a quick stop on our way home. 

We stayed at the campground on Maxwell Air Force Base. There is an outdoor aircraft display located between some of the old style officer housing units and the center for international training.  While not large, it has some interesting items and is a very nice area to walk around.

We did not have much time to spend exploring the area, so we headed downtown first thing Saturday morning just to get a quick idea of the city.  We are still a bit concerned about finding a place to park the motorhome in cities, but decided to hope for the best.  As it turned out this was a not a problem at all.  We drove around  downtown  to get an idea of both the capital area and the business sections.  We checked out the Capital building and surrounding structures along with the First White House of the Confederacy.  We were able to park in front of the Capital and the White House and were practically the only vehicle around for part of the time.

We will have to come back when there is more time to explore the whole area.  Right now, we are focused on our next trip that will begin soon to Alaska.  This is very exciting for us, as we have had this adventure on the list for a long time.

In the clouds

After leaving our friends' home in Tennessee, we headed to one of the largest state parks in Georgia in the far northwest region on Lookout Mountain.  CloudlandCanyon State Park is aptly named for the sights you will see.  It is a fairly steep climb to the park from the western approach and you find yourselves in a heavily wooded environment.  We stayed in the newer campground section which also happens to be farthest from the falls and grand view of the canyon. 

 

You can hike from this campground around the southern end of the canyon and across a bridge to reach the interpretive center and the main viewing area of the falls and canyon.  This is a strenuous hike under most conditions and since it had rained heavily the morning of our arrival,  we found the rocky trail near the edge of the canyon a bit too exciting for our taste.   We opted to drive around to the visitor center to enjoy the views. 

The views were terrific and we enjoyed a couple of hours of taking in the beauty the park offered.

Returning to the campground, we enjoyed the quiet of a midweek arrival and hiked around the area and had our first campfire in many months.  We also encountered our first ever automated firewood dispenser.  The park staff only made a few faces when I asked how it was working out.

I highly recommend this park for the views, hiking and peaceful surroundings.