The Vulture Steals the Show

Sunday, April 3rd – F.D. Roosevelt State Park, South Carolina to Cheaha State Park, Alabama – Day 54 

 The kids went back to see their friends first thing in the morning. They hung out in Josh and Rachel’s trailer and managed to get leftover KFC (which I was extremely jealous of) and treats. We were both packing up our respective vehicles to beat check out time. Amos and Tallulah joined John, Aisling and Charlotte, under Gen’s supervision, to complete their junior ranger books. We then went all together to get sworn in and say our goodbyes. 

 Rachel had given us three free adults tickets to Callaway Gardens. We were told it was beautiful and had lots of activities so we went. It was a quick five-minute drive up the road. The nature reserve was beautiful; azaleas of all different colours were in bloom all over the property. We took a scenic drive through ponds, forest and along a golf course to the nature centre. Inside the kids decorated a bird house, saw a tarantula, and pet a large cockroach. We also examined a scorpion under black light. Apparently, all scorpions turn fluorescent green under black light. If you ever go to a desert at night, shine a black light and you can always spot a scorpion. 

 Callaway Gardens had a weekend dedicated to birds of prey and we went to a show. You sat on a bench and the birds flew directly above your head from a perch at the back of the audience to a perch at the front. The show featured a red-tailed hawk, a great horned owl and a vulture. The woman running the show was incredibly informative. The owl was my favourite to see fly; it was really powerful and beautiful in flight. But the best was the vulture. We learned a lot about the vulture including: its stomach acid is between 0 and 1 so no bacteria or viruses survive; what goes in dirty, comes out clean protecting local water sources and therefore, humans and other creatures from disease, the vulture will vomit up to six feet if scared so stay away, it urinates on it’s feet and around a dead animal it plans to eat and the urine, like the stomach acid, is acidic and prevents bacteria and viruses from going into the environment. Fascinating. 

 Once finished, we ate a quick meal in the parking lot and proceeded to the butterfly exhibit. We walked through a room and saw a lot of different butterflies and a variety of plants. It seemed like a bad time to go since most butterflies were sitting on plants. We saw a bunch of turtles hanging around which was cool. 

 Lastly, we went to the man made beach on the property for the kids to take a quick swim before we started a fairly reasonable 3 hour drive to neighbouring Alabama. We stopped at the Ol’ Buffet for fried chicken on our way. Most of the drive was dull until we entered the mountainous region around Cheaha State Park, the highest point in Alabama. At that point, the curvy, up and down, mountainous road required a bit more attention. Finally, we reach the top of the mountain and settled into our camp.