During that entire time not once did I feel the need to put on my sunglases. Also, not once did we see any accidents on the road, thanks in part to the fact we drove exactly 0-miles on the Interstates today.
We left the Sumter National Forest in SC a day early to arrive in the Oconee National Forest in GA on a late Sunday afternoon. They don't accept reservations at any of the campgrounds in the Oconee National Forest and there are only five sites with electric/water hookups for RVers in the Lake Sinclaire Recreation Area where we are headed. On the other hand, the tenters have 33 sites to choose from, but none with utilities.
When we arrived only one of the five RV sites were occupied (#5), so we had the other four to choose from. Sites #1 & #2 weren't very suitable to larger trailers like ours, so we were down to just Sites #3 & #4. Since the water hookup didn't work on Site #3 we chose Site #4 to be our home for the next two nights.
We are in this area because tomorrow we have a sightseeing activity to explore down in Macon, GA. It's a National Historical Park now, formerly a National Monument, and a bill is already in Congress to make it our next National Park.
Today we are headed to Macon, GA to explore the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park.
The park's museum displays evidence of 17,000 years of human habitation.
In the 1840s and 1870s railroad lines destroyed several of the mounds in the park when a new track was laid right through the park. Also looters were known to remove artifacts like pottery and arrowheads from the now exposed mounds.
In 1936 the Ocmulgee Mounds National Monument was established by President Franklin Roosevelt to protect it from further destruction. In 2019 the park was redesignated a National Historical Park to give it even greater protections from abuse.
Today we were able to explore the inside of the Earth Lodge Mound and climb up to the top of the Great Temple Mound from which downtown Macon was visible.
OCMULGEE MOUNDS
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
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Each corner of the Visitor Center lobby was dedicated to a different period in history.
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The Earth Lodge mound was visible from the steps of the Visitor Center.
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Only on the morning of the spring and fall equinox would the sun shine...
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... directly into this long and low entrance...
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...to illuminate the fire pit and raised bed where the chief would hold ceremonies.
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The center of the Earth Lodge's roof was open to let the smoke escape.
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Here's me leaving the Earth Lodge and trying desperately not to bump my head.
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A short distance away was the Great Temple Mound which we could climb to the top.
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We were told there are 58 stairs to the top, but nobody mentioned the long uphill ramp.
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From the top you could easily see the Funeral Mound that the railroad partially destroyed.
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From the top you could also see all the way back to the Earth Lodge and Visitor Center.
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From the Funeral Mound we looked back towards the Great Temple Mound.
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Have you ever seen a telephone pole with "goosebumps"?
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The railroad bridge in the park was oddly constructed entirely out of bricks.
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It was just the right size to let ROVER pass through!
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Railroad bridges of the late 1800s were made of stone, wood, and iron however, this bridge is made of brick. In 1979, the overpass was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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As luck would have it there was a Walmart 10-miles from the campground where we could park with ROVER and THE POD while I whipped up this blogpost using the fast cell service usually found in town.
Even luckier, there was a Waffle House at the edge of the Walmart parking lot.
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