Oct 3, 2024 Selma to Montgomery, AL, Providence Canyon, Rood Creek COE

 Thursday, October 3

Pretty sunrise as we rise early.  We stop in Meridian, Mississippi which is a bit of a rabbit warren of streets.  We find gas and hit a McDonalds for breakfast before moving onto Alabama 80E where there is very little traffic.  Signs announce "Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama" with a reference to song by Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974).   Not to be outdone, in Georgia they use "Welcome, We're Glad Georgia's on Your Mind" referring to an old song, most notably performed by Ray Charles in 1960.

This area of the state is pretty rural and seems pretty poor.  The homes and barns in some areas are just grey wood with paint long gone and most homes seem to be small, single story.  Then you come across an area of beautiful homes - reminiscent of Tara in Gone With The Wind. 

When the cotton is picked it is made into large bales and wrapped in colorful plastic till picked up to go to the gin.

 Many people depend on the land - lumbering, cotton, catfish ponds, hay fields,  crawfish farms ("fattest tails in town!"), a paper plant and some rice fields too.

We arrive in Selma and recognize the Edmund Pettis Bridge where several marches for Voting Rights took place in March of 1965.  The first resulted in "Bloody Sunday" with police beating and injuring marchers.  Two days later, Martin Luther King came to lead another march, but turned back, obeying a court order in order to avoid more violence.  The third march started March 21 and  included protection from 1,000 military police and 2,000 Army troops.  It grew to almost 25,000 supporters as they arrived in the capital of Montgomery.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act a few months later.

We stop at the Selma to Montgomery National Historical Trail Lowndes Interpretive Center which is a museum operated by the National Parks.  A very informative film tells how this is perhaps the beginning of a new strategy of non-violent direct action in the Civil Rights struggle.  Only 2.1% of blacks were registered to vote in Alabama at the time, with all sorts of obstacles put in their way.

We plan to stay at  Rood Creek Landing Recreational Area campground, run by the Corp of Engineers.  Lots of back roads to get there, passing more lumber trucks, farms and wooded areas.  Narrow roads and even a single lane bridge!  

Most of the political signs we've seen have been for Trump, but in rural Alabama there were a few areas for Democrats - few specifically for Kamala Harris, but just urging "Vote Democratic".  

 At Rood Creek there are 7-10 nice sites along the Chattahoochee River and only one is occupied, so we feel comfortable continuing on to nearby Providence Canyon State Park before returning here to settle down for the night.

This railroad bridge caught our attention.

Last mile to the campground is dirt but not bad.

Here's the site we choose.

The Georgia State Parks charge a $5 entry fee per car, so at Providence Canyon we go ahead and buy a yearly pass - only $25 for seniors - because we plan to visit many more.

We decide to do a 3 mile loop trail which is lots of rather steep ups and downs through woods  But we don't see much of the canyon until the last third. (We'd recommend taking the loop in the opposite direction from the Visitor's Center and only doing the first third.)

Never expected to see scenery like this in Georgia!

There are some other trails that go to the base of the canyons but it was pretty muddy there and we opted not to do those.  Nice breeze and lots of shade.  Pretty selection of colors!

Back to Rood Creek, we find a nice site and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.  We have jambalaya for dinner (leftovers brought from home) and watch an alligator lazily cruising the river.  Can hear lots of birds but it is difficult seeing them as they seem to stay in the trees.  A few mosquitos after the sun sets, so we go back inside.  It is pretty warm and humid here by the water, so we use the screens in the windows and run the overhead fan as well as some small hand held ones till things cool down. 

Quiet night and when we leave next morning there are a few more sites taken, but no one close by.