Day 19

 Day 19-Sunday, May 9

 Happy birthday Joni and happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, I hope you felt appreciated today.

 

After a relaxing start to our day at the campsite at DeSoto State Park,  we drove to DeSoto Falls which was the first hydro electric dam in Alabama.  DeSoto Falls is a 104-foot waterfall located on the West Fork of the Little River.  The canyon created by the falls is lined with blossoming Mountain Laurel trees, which we call rhododendrons.

Leaving the falls we drove to the nearby artsy mountain hamlet of Mentone, population 300+.  This area is only a one hour drive southwest of Chattanooga, and it has become a vacation destination for the wealthy with many beautiful homes perched along the 1700 foot ridge.  Knowing it was Mother’s Day,   In March Joni made a lunch reservation for us at the Wildflower Café, and that was a good thing since the placed was packed.  We loved the restaurant in terms of both the food, the décor, and the friendly staff.

From Mentone we drove south along the Little River Canyon National Preserve, which is a United States National Preserve located on top of Lookout Mountain near DeSoto State Park. Created by an Act of Congress in 1992, the 15,288-acre preserve protects what is sometimes said to be the nation's longest mountaintop river, the Little River.  The preserve is a haven for fisherman, hikers, mountain bikers, hunters, and horse back riding.   

We drove into Fort Payne to buy some groceries for dinner and take advantage of the stronger cell service that was non-existent in the state park.  

almost as cool as the "Chew Mail Pouch" barns!

The pride of Fort Payne

a 20 minute delay!

cute little fella...another reason to not sleep in a tent!

As we left Fort Payne, it started to rain, unfortunately that was two hours earlier than predicted and a lot of our gear at our campsite was going to get wet.  Amazingly when we arrived at our campsite our neighboring campground neighbors from Florida  had removed our clothes from the clothesline, folded up our chairs and table and protected all of our gear.  That’s Southern hospitality at it’s best.

 

We hunkered down in our van for the rest of the evening as the rain poured down and thunder and lightening kept us on edge.   So glad we were not tent camping!