Miller's Ferry Campground, Nov 2015

     I’m up early this morning (Nov 20, 2015), a crisp 52 degrees with a slight breeze out of the northwest. We arrived at Miller’s Ferry Campground yesterday afternoon about 3pm. The trip took a little more driving time that I had planned (about an hour longer), but that’s okay. Utilizing I-65 north to Evergreen then U.S. 84 west (mostly two-lane) to U.S. 43 north (four-lane) to AL 5 (two lane), we had good roads the entire trip. No traffic or road construction issues. Out planned fuel stop in Thomasville, Alabama worked out great. We pulled into the Walmart lot and re-fueled at the Murphy Gas station.

     The Thomasville Walmart is not a super-center but not a Neighborhood Grocery either.  It is the size in-between. Although the parking lot was extremely big and only about ¼ occupied, there were numerous signs posted on parking light pole fixtures stating no overnight parking of trucks or campers. Just as I have read in some other posts, don’t depend on all Walmart locations as an overnight boon-docking spot (aka dry camping-no hook-ups only battery power). It is best to check first with the store manager before setting-up and then be courteous where you park and remember to re-stock/purchase while you are there. By the time we made it to Thomasville we needed to re-fuel with only a ¼ of a tank left and the country we were about to cover, another 30 miles to the northeast, would be void of trusted refuel locations.

     Even though there was no traffic light to get back out onto U.S. 43 north, a four-lane highway, the Lord was with us and a clear path opened for us to make the left turn crossing all four lanes at once. The last leg of our journey we traveled AL 5 a recently repaved secondary road. The road was wider than the usual secondary roads but had no passing lanes. Eventually, we got behind a small car driving 35-40mph in the posted 55mph zone. We were on a two-lane road up and down hills and around curves with the car driving slow and drifting across the center no passing line. I could not see the driver’s head so I assumed it was an older person as I had experienced this same situation numerous times when working in south Florida. The longer we followed the car the more the driver continued to drift across the center line, sometimes ½ the car width, once almost striking an oncoming vehicle head on. In my former line of work this would have been a traffic stop to investigate possible impairment. But on this day I wisely chose to back off about 15 car lengths to possibly avoid any crash that might occur until this driver could find his/her way home.

     Calling the police was not an option. One, there was no cell service. And two, who are you going to call? I didn’t see a single police car all day. Not an Alabama Trooper (too few and mostly assigned to the Interstate highways), not a county Sheriff, nor a police officer (who would have had no jurisdiction in this no mans land).  After about 20 minutes, the elderly gentleman wearing his English driving hat exited down a two-rut dirt road, and I thanked Jesus for both his exodus and our safe departure from this precarious situation. We were delayed for some unknown reason, but I’m confident the Lord worked it all for our benefit. We arrived, as I said a little later than anticipated, but with enough daylight to get set-up. We were immediately contacted by the campground host and issued our vehicle pass as well as the campsite pass to hang on the site marker. All is well.

     Now a little information about the campground, Miller’s Ferry. This is a U.S. Government, Corp of Engineer (COE) facility. It is our first time camping in a COE park. We visited this campground in July 2015 during a recon trip and liked it. As a U.S. Government facility, we made our reservations on-line back in August at Recreation.gov. Last week I pre-registered on-line. Because Buddy meets the criteria of over 65 years of age, he qualifies for the U.S. Government Senior Passport (formerly called the Golden Age Pass). This pass which cost $10, a one-time fee, allows us to enter most all Federal areas free and camp for ½ price. For example our nightly fee here at Miller’s Ferry is $11 a night. The Senior Passport is available for purchase from any National Park office (we purchased Buddy’s at Ft Pickens) and covers National Parks, National forests, COE facilities, and U.S. Fish & Wildlife facilities. At Miller’s Ferry, the 42 campsites have electric and water, no sewer hook-up; but they have a dump station within the park. Laundry facilities are also available.

     According to the facility brochure, the park is located on the scenic Dannelly Reservoir, covering about 27 square miles and over 500 miles of shoreline. The Alabama River goes through this lake. Boating, fishing, hunting, and hiking are popular activities. A boat ramp, fish cleaning stations, and fishing dock as well as a number of shoreline fishing spots are offered. Across the road (AL 28) from the park entrance is another COE facility, day use only and designed with grass covered fingers out into the lake for shoreline fishing (I’ll try to get a photo of this and post later). Small mouth bass, crappie (speckled perch), bluegill and catfish are among the fish species targeted. Ducks are prevalent along the lake, and duck hunting is permitted. On a special note, on two separate occasions this morning I have heard, but not seen, Sandhill Cranes. I did not know they ventured this far north.

Here is a photo of Dannelly Reservoir.

     For the campers with kids, there is a huge playground, on about a 4 acre grassy area. Also, during the summer a designated swimming area on the lake is available.

Here are a couple of photos of our campsite. We are right on the Dannelly Reservoir lakeshore.

     Well, that is all for now.