Isaac Creek: Our First COE Campground Is a Gem

Monday, 11 March
Isaac Creek COE Campground — Franklin, Alabama
Temps: Lo 39F (Forecasted) / Hi 64F (4C / 18C)

Our lakefront campsite (#39) at the Isaac Creek COE (Corps of Engineers) campground is the kind of place that keeps us outside … a lot.

Even with gentle breezes cooling down the daytime temps, which have been reaching as high as 76F (24C), we’ve been bundling up and finding excuses to be outside … working on chores or relaxing in our screen shelter.

Today, however, a front moving in from the west came with some furious — but short-lived — winds, and lots of rain.  A perfect day to stay cozy in the Phaeton, work on photos, and write a blog post.

A sudden wind gust wreaks havoc with the screen shelter, so on his way
back from the the bathhouse Mui stops to strengthen the tie-downs.

If today is Monday, what happened to the days since we left the Montgomery area?  Well, let’s find out.

Thursday, 7 March

We left Maxwell AFB mid-morning.  Rather than drive on I-65S, we convinced the GPS to route us through AL-21S to AL-41S to CR-17.  Slower and curvier in some places, but easily doable with the coach.  Three hours after leaving the Montgomery area, we were in our campsite — the one we had reserved.

113 miles (180 km) from Maxwell AFB to Isaac Creek COE Campground via Alabama state
roads instead of the freeway; the inset shows our travels to-date.

When we decided to come to Isaac Creek, none of the ‘reserve-able’ lakefront sites were available.  So, after studying the online map, we booked site 18, a water/electric pull-through on the inside loop … with a creek-view.  Our plan was to give up our reserved site and slip into one of the “first come” lakefront sites on arrival.  That didn’t happen — at least not immediately.  A misunderstanding at check-in led us to believe that those “primo” sites were all taken.  So, we went to our reserved site and settled in — sort of.

Site 18 is a great one located on the back loop;
overlooking the creek through the trees, it has a huge living space.

After a quick bite to sate our grumbling tummies, we went for a walk around the campground.  That’s when the misunderstanding became apparent.  While all of the “reserve-able” waterfront sites were indeed full, several of the others were still vacant.  After consulting with the contractor on duty, we made quick work of packing up and moving to site 39.  While we would have been perfectly happy in site 18, there’s nothing like being right on the water.  And what a bargain at $20/night!

Although #39 is a back-in site, we have a long hose and an extension cord for the electric hook-up; thus we pull-in head-first to enjoy the view to the fullest.

Looking left, we have a view of the Claiborne Lock and Dam in the distance;
to our right, Claiborne Lake continues around the bend to where Isaac Creek flows into it.

With the afternoon temperature rising to 65F (18C), we made quick work of setting up our screen shelter and pulling out our camp chairs.  Before long, we were enjoying our quiet site, the only sounds coming from squirrels rustling dry leaves and birds chirping as they flitted from one tree branch to another.  The perfect setting for a sundowner!

Isn’t this why we retired?

Mother nature puts on quite the sundowner show for us!

Friday, March 8

We woke up to a new day and a surprise!

What happened to our view?

Thick fog had blanketed our waterfront view!  Not to worry; by 7:00a, Mother Nature was pulling back the curtain, giving us a slow preview of the day to come.  Not wanting to miss a minute of the slow-mo action, we took our bowls of oatmeal to the cockpit and had our breakfast with a view.

Misty … ethereal … what a view!

39 seconds of misty scenery from Site 39.

The morning temp took its time to warm up from the 36F (2C) we had woken up to.  No problem; I used the time to process photos from our visit to the Montgomery Zoo (post here), all the while enjoying the view from the side window.  By mid-morning, I was in the screen shelter, reading my book; and Mui was doing maintenance on the trikes.  By noon, I was still reading my book; Mui was giving the coach a once-over with some showroom wax.

If you look closely, you can even see what I am reading … of course, you have
to read the title of the book in reverse!

Doing chores here is a pleasure!

The afternoon was a lazy one … and no, we didn’t feel one bit guilty about not doing anything!  Mui grilled the rest of the shrimp we’d bought and frozen before we left Pensacola, and we enjoyed sundowners and an al fresco meal as the last warming rays of the sun slowly disappeared.

Saturday, 9 March

We woke up to a misty scene again, but nothing like what it was the day before.  Still, I sat in the co-pilot seat, nursing my tea until the temperature warmed up enough that I could sit and read in the screen shelter.  Sure, I had to bundle up a bit, but it was worth it.

A little less mist; a lot more trees … a double the pleasure scene.

On our way to the campground on Thursday, we had noticed flyers along the road advertising a festival at the River Museum today.  After Mui finished giving the toad a spa treatment, we hopped on the trikes and went to check it out.

I have to say that we were disappointed in what we found; it’s a good thing that the woman who was responsible for collecting the admission decided not to charge us the $5/person fee, or we would have been thoroughly p.o’d.

First of all, it turns out that the museum was closed for renovation (on a positive note, the Corps of Engineers at least has funds for a renovation, so that’s a good thing).  Second, with the exception of one “heritage booth,” the people manning the various tents seemed more interested in talking to each other than they were in providing any explanations to the few visitors who were ambling around.  We might have done better had we visited on Friday when there were programs put on specifically for school kids.

This heritage re-enactor shows us how a pie is baked in a Dutch oven; too bad this pie
was already spoken for … it might have otherwise come home with us.

Another afternoon relaxing and reading in the screen shelter; and sundowners followed by a grilled chicken dinner wrapped up the day.

Sunday, 10 March

There was no sign of any mist this morning.  The day dawned bright; the scenery tinted pink by the colorful skies to our east.  Oh, oh … we know what red skies in the morning signify, don’t we?

Love the scenery reflected back to us by the calm waters of Claiborne Lake; no hint of
any movement, though that will change when the lock at the dam downriver is opened.

We were out in the screen shelter early, making hay while the sun shined ... so to speak.  It was, in fact, a peek-a-boo day, with the sun hiding behind patches of clouds more often than not.  Still, there was plenty of sunshine to enjoy.

A pair of cardinals (the female is on the branch in the background) come to visit us ...

… as do a squirrel and a warbler (I think) mockingbird.
[Thanks to Judy and Page for the id]

Mid-morning, we headed off for a walk to Claiborne Lock and Dam.  We started out by following the paved road out of the campground, but were soon following the debris-littered grass along the edge of the lake.  The debris looked like it might have been left behind when the lake crested its banks at some point.  We’ve had a couple of big storms come through Alabama in recent months as well, so it’s also possible some of the debris was dropped here by strong winds.

according to an article I found on the web, the Claiborne Lock and Dam was built in the 1960’s to
“help barges ascend the river.”  Now that commercial barge traffic is practically non-existent,
the lock operates only a few times a week, and that’s to allow passage for recreational boaters.

If that’s a gauge of how high the water has risen in the past, I’m glad
Claiborne Lake is not misbehaving while we’re here.
(No, Mui’s not 65 feet (20m) tall; the measurement is from the river bed up.)

Our pace was slow … partly because it was rather warm and humid; and partly because the birdlife offered reason to stop and take photos.  Not all of our feathered friends cooperated.  Most — like the robins — were skittish, but not so …

… the crested cormorants that were perched on the light and camera poles at the dam.

Sitting on barbed wire, this Loggerhead Shrike posed nicely for me.
[thanks go to MBZ for the id]

Another quiet afternoon … another sundowner … another al fresco meal.  Ahh … life is good!

And that brings me back to our rain-soaked Monday.  Cooped up indoors most of the day, we entertained ourselves by watching the blue jays making brief forays to gather bits and pieces from our site whenever there was a short break in the rain.

When the sun finally came out late afternoon, it was our cue to go for a walk to stretch our legs.  We concluded our day by sitting on one of the lakefront benches to watch the brilliant sun make its way behind the treeline across the lake.  Unfortunately, a brisk breeze drove us inside well before the sun set.

Oh well … the temperature is supposed to warm up again for the rest of the week and hopefully we’ll get to enjoy a couple more sundowners before we have to leave this idyllic place.