Camping with Friends and New Equipment

Camping with Friends

We loved camping with friends at Whitetail Ridge in LaGrange, Georgia.  It is a U.S. Corp of Engineers campsite and with our Senior Pass, only $12 per night.  You can’t beat that for economical travel!

The trip was with three other couples who had larger RVs with bathrooms.  The other couples were in a very nice area with lots of shade and a nice breeze from the lake.

When we booked our site many weeks prior, I wanted to be near the restroom,  so I booked us in a different area.  We have since bought a porta potty, but did not have one when the site was booked. Our site was on a slew with much less shade and breeze, and more bugs.  It was nice, but a little hot and buggy.  We spent a good bit of time in our friend’s area and I decided that I would not want restroom proximity to drive future site selections.

Eating and Camping with Friends

We had a great time with our friends!   One friend, Peggy, is a great planner.  We had a potluck one night and hot dogs and hamburgers on another.  We also had wine and cheese one afternoon and an ice cream party with every topping imaginable another afternoon.  I highly recommend camping with friends–they keep you entertained and well-fed.

We had a couple of nice meals in the local area with dinner at Country’s Barbeque and lunch at Fried Tomato Buffet.

Wild Animal Safari

Most of our group took in a local attraction,  Wild Animal Safari. It was exhilarating–cool and a little scary.  You can take your own car (I would not recommend) or rent one of theirs.   The animals come right up to your car and eat out of your hands.  They have giraffes, zebras, raindeer,  pigs,  and water buffalo.  It was cool to see the animals so close, but a little disconcerting to have their heads partially in your vehicle and we were told that some of them bite!  We were exhausted after the hour or so that the tour lasted, likely because of the adrenaline the tour awakened.

The Safari ticket also includes a small zoo with a lion, bear, monkeys, and many small animals and birds, including some beautiful peacocks.  It was fun as well.

New Equipment

This was our first trip with our new PahaQue 10x 10 side tent.  The tent is essentially a room that is attached to our Little Guy and can be a screen room or a fully-private tent. It was a nice addition to our campsite and relatively easy to set-up.  We liked it, but would only want to use it for two or more days at a site. When we do some serious travel versus camping, we would not want to set up the tent.

Since our last trip, we have identified a solution for carrying our bikes.  We obtained a dual hitch that enables us to add a Thule bike rack.  It worked great, but was a bit of a pain to get the bikes on and off with the camper attached.  Fortunately, I have my “big guy” to make that happen. We enjoyed being able to ride our bikes in the park.

Overall, we had a great time and look forward to more trips with our friends.

Lessons learned:

• Don’t let restroom location determine where you camp because it is better to be close to friends, if possible.
• Ask for help from experienced campers.  A friend put together the pieces of our water connection, so there were no leaks for the first time ever.  Thanks Patrick!

Looking forward to more adventures.   Check us out on our main page, Retirement and teardrop camping!