Day 9 – December 5th

During our slumber in the woods behind the cemetery last night, Ryan and I were visited three time by a deer.

It’s hard to explain how it felt to be next to a wild animal, but I liked it. It’s scary and exciting and it opens up this portal of mystery. My dreams instantly became very vivid and FULL of animals: monkeys, donkeys, and deer. Weird! One of my favorite nights for dreaming that I can remember.

We woke up before sunrise and started getting read for the day. Our goal was to make it into Camden, a sub 3,000 person town (the biggest we have seen in a couple days) before 2:30pm to catch a ferry that could take us across the Alabama River to Chilatchee Creek Campground.

Easy peasy. We rode into town around 11am and spent a few hours talking to locals and buying groceries for dinner and tomorrow. It was weird being somewhere so slow paced, like the things were running at half speed compared to what we are used to in San Diego.

The ferry ride was beautiful and the boat was very nice! We also had a surprise encounter with the Gee’s Bend Quilting Society, a hidden gym of Alabama folk art that wove itself into the landscape and architecture.

Tonight we feasted on chili, spinach, mashed potatoes, and chocolate covered pretzels around our fire. DELICIOUS!! Another night of showers and laundry before hiding away in our tent tomorrow with rain on the forecast.

Route info for interested readers:

Highway 10 all the way bébé. If you’re planning to enter Chilatchee creek from the ferry like us, veer left after crossing the river. The right (google maps suggested route) takes you to dirt roads that don’t go through. We found out the hard way! However that was also the most beautiful part of the day in my opinion so… Worth it!