Wednesday, May 07, 2008

We left Lake Point Resort State Park Alabama at 8:20 am (GA time) this morning. Before leaving we went for a walk. Birds fluttered about and sang beautiful songs. There were a few wild flowers along the trail... an almost red thistle among them. Blackberries were blooming and forming... some had already turned bright red. When walking on the trail by the water's edge we saw an alligator a few feet off the shoreline. A young couple we passed on the trail were excited that they got to see an alligator.. they were from up North and probably had never seen one before. As we neared our campsite we saw six deer crossing the road. It was a beautiful way to start the day.

Highway 82 doesn't have the easiest signs to find. Coming from Eufaula there are at least three highway 82 signs hidden by tree limbs. When we got around Montgomery Alabama there was a lot of traffic. Highway 82 zigzags several different ways and it was difficult to hunt for the highway signs and watch traffic. We almost missed the turn to Prattville Alabama. I managed to see the sign just in time to turn. Past Prattville the traffic let up. Around Tuscaloosa Alabama the traffic was very bad with one traffic light after another. It seemed like forever going through there. Once past there traffic was light again.

We stopped at Billingsley Alabama for gas and paid $4.08 a gallon.

Ham sandwiches, tater salad and Baked Tostitos were the menu when we stopped at the rest area at Maplesville Alabama. It was a nice shady place and there was a breeze. We thought that the picnic tables were built for David's and Tish's heights :-)

We arrived at Dewayne Hayes Campground at Columbus Mississippi at about 3:00 pm (GA time). It took a bit to check in.... their computer system doesn't work very well and we tend to talk too much :-) We are in campsite # 86 by the water. A nice pull thru site.

As soon as we got set up we took a shower in hopes of feeling like humans again :-) It did help.
Frank and I both had problems today with a shrub/tree that has white blossoms. With just one shrub/tree there is just a light perfume, but when there are hundreds of shrubs/trees the odor is overwhelming. There are thousands and thousands of them between Eufaula Alabama and Columbus Mississippi. We hope that they will cease to exist in the next leg of our trip. We both have headaches and at times the perfume was so much that it took my breath away to the point of me becoming hoarse.


We traveled 271 miles today.