Camping Weekend

L to R: Dave S. Tim O., Me., and Mike L.

Little River canyon

The Watering hole

I recently had the pleasure of going to Desoto State Park in Alabama (2 hrs from Atlanta) for a weekend of camping with 5 friends--I haven't camped out since I was a teen, and it was a wonderful re-introduction to the experience of sleeping under the stars (albeit in a tent)--the weather, though warm, was cooperative (we had rain 1 night)--The park was clean and not overrun by visitors--we spent an afternoon at this fantastic watering hole with a nice waterfall--it was a treat swimming in the cool water and soaking up the sun with a few other hardy souls who made the treacherous trek down--otherwise we hiked and did a scenic tour through little river canyon national reserve, stopping at all the points along the way (we came across wild turkeys at the edge of the road--cool)--going into town on Saturday night to eat out, we found that all the restaurants closed early--we ended up at Western Sizzlin'--a chain I thought had long ceased to be in business--but there it was, and the buffet was, well, filling, to say the least--our campground was within the state park and we had access to electricity and water, etc.--they had excellent bathroon/shower facilities as well--we pitched our tents on two adjoining lots and had happy hour every afternoon and evening--when it became sticky and hot in the late afternoon, we piled into the car and headed to the public pool run by the park--A great weekend, though I did come back with four spider bites, and my tent-mate had two--totally worth it--

Check out Desoto next time you want to try camping-- http://www.alapark.com/ --also Little River Canyon--it is absolutely gorgeous--