Cheaha (SP) 9/26/22 - 9/30/22 (#14) - Part 1

This is part 1 of our 14th camping trip. We had reservations at 4 different parks (AL, TN, MS, AL) for a total of 14 days camping. Our longest trip yet. Unfortunately our best friend, Nelly got sick a couple of weeks before the trip. As we watched her decline we thought we would be able to make it to at least this 1st stop w/her & then planned on cancelling the remaining 3 parks, go home & spend the time with her that she had left. But, she lost ground VERY fast & knew she wasn't in any shape to enjoy the trip. We made the hard decision to not have her suffer. We had her put down on Monday, September 19th, 2022. 

We begrudgingly decided to go ahead with the trip. Needless to say, it was not as enjoyable as we wanted it to be but thought that going 'on' with life was the best decision for us.

Cheaha SP in Delta, AL had been on our list for quite a while. Finally got reservations at a FHU site #33 for 4 nights. It was about 5 hours from the farm.

The site was a pull through in the Upper (less crowded) CG which backed up to a wooded area. 

This park is at Alabama's highest peak (2400'). Very cool temps at night but warmed up to the upper 70s/low 80s during the day. Beautiful weather, actually. It was very windy all 4 days, which made it feel a bit cool all day. It calmed down enough at night to have a campfire but that was about it. 

We had neighbors come in the 2nd day. A group of 5 or 6 guys that were obviously going to be going to Talladega Motor Speedway for a race the upcoming weekend. They brought enough firewood, food & beer to last a few weeks. They kept a fire going all . day . & . all . night . long. They weren't that obnoxious but did get a little loud as the evenings progressed. You can only imagine why. They probably had to make an extra beer run during their stay. Their ages spanned from about 25 - 60 so their taste in music varied but wasn't bad or very loud.

Before we left, we had been watching what direction hurricane Ian was headed. It looked like it was going to hit S FL & skirt the coast of Jax but we still wanted to keep up with what it was doing. But, we had NO local TV or cell service at the campsite. We had to drive down to the park office (about 1.5 miles) to check emails or make calls to see if everyone was ok from the hurricane. Everything & everyone was safe which eased our anxiety.

Here are a couple of pics of the campsite:

Notice the new addition:

We had burned a lot of fuel on the way there & was down to a 1/4 tank. Our custom is to ride around the area but didn't feel comfortable doing that w/o a full tank. So, we drove into Oxford (20 mi) to refuel & drove the area for some pretty scenery. We also took one small hike (1.5m) to Bald Rock lookout. My small camera ran out of memory so no pics but it was a beautiful view. We just weren't up to hiking & exploring as much w/o Nell.

We went to the lookout tower & walked the stairs to the top. No pics from there since the windows were grainy.

Statue of CCC worker

The last night we drove down to the Vista Cliffside (used to be a restaurant but only open for special events now) to watch the beautiful sunset.

So did a lot of other people. Some were from the CG, others from the hotel on site & others there for day use.

We missed Nelly terribly but both of us agreed that this wouldn't have been one of her favorite campsites. We did meet a very nice couple from Clearwater, FL (Don & Kim) with 2 very sweet pups - Lady & Bruno, both rescues.

Meeting pups kind of became the theme of this trip.....