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Camping in Northern Georgia

Fun times with wonderful friends Memorial Day weekend at James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park in Summerville, Georgia.

Camping in Georgia

This was not our first time camping in Georgia. As we live in neighboring Alabama, it is easy to made the trip to a Georgia campground. Even so, it was a great weekend! We had site #4, which had plenty of shade and was near the bathhouse. The park was well-maintained and the bathhouse was kept very clean. The hosts for the park have been there for eleven years and seem to work very hard to keep it clean and attractive. They have many repeat guests.

Rain was expected off and on for most of our time at the campground, so we utilized only our privacy tent for changing clothes. We set-up quickly and were ready to go, which was nice.

Relaxing and camping in Georgia — Big Guy relaxing

The first night, we grilled steaks with our friends and turned in rather early. The temperature was cool in the evening and we slept very well with only our fan and the windows open.

Camping and Hiking in Georgia

On Saturday, we took a ranger-led tour to the Marble Mine, one of the park’s main attractions. It had gotten warm by that time and the heat plus the steep incline to get to the mine made it quite challenging. We saw a very large rat snake along the way that remained very still for about ten minutes. We estimate that he would be about six feet long if stretched out. Needless to say, we were very careful where we stepped after seeing him! He is not venomous, but still scary to me.

The hike was steep at the end, but we made it to the top. The waterfall with its crystal-clear water was worth the effort. It was quite beautiful and the water ice-cold. We were so hot by then, we would have liked to wade in it.

Hiking while camping in Georgia — We made it!

Games and Rain

The afternoon was spent playing Mexican Train Dominos and then dinner at The Crushed Tomato in Summerville, which features pizza, calzones, and several flavors of ice cream for dessert. We highly recommend this place! Our pizzas were excellent with perhaps the best crust I have had in the U.S. Also, it was quite inexpensive.

Saturday night brought torrential rains in the middle of the night. We had our fan vent opened widely and it rained in some on the middle of our bed. I have left it partially open before in the rain without it coming in, but it did not work in this case. We woke to a slightly damp middle of the bed and a very wet campsite, so the Rainy Day Plan was evoked for breakfast. When we returned, the sun was shining and our campsite was beginning to dry out.

Paradise Garden

In the afternoon, we visited a local attraction, Paradise Garden. It is a collection of folk art by Howard Finster, who has been called the Andy Warhol of the South. Mr. Finster passed away in 2001, but has achieved quite a bit of acclaim for his work. His art is displayed at the Smithsonian. He also designed album covers for groups such as R.E.M. We were very surprised by the number of people visiting the gardens. As you can see below, his art is very eclectic.

We rounded out the day with games of Rook and Mexican Train Dominoes. We grilled hamburgers for dinner at the campground. This was our last night, so we took down most of our gear before going to bed because my Big Guy likes to leave early going home. This is a long-standing habit of his. Not my favorite, but he does a lot to make me happy.

A few lessons learned:

Rain will come in the fan vent if open and it rains hard enough. A small opening works fine though.
Peggy should always come because I get to play lots of games when she is around. 😃
Put chairs in the car if it might rain. I knew this, but did not take the time.
A minimal campsite can be great if you are in the shade. We don’t really need a tent if it is just the two of us.

This camping trip in Georgia was awesome. We are looking forward to our next trip to Arkansas and Lake Catherine in Hot Springs! Check out our States Visited, a Campsite Resource to see where else we have traveled.

Camping–Just the Two of Us

Just the Two of Us

Our first camping trip was with seasoned campers, and after it, we felt ready to try it alone. Even though it was getting a little cold for camping, we wanted one more trip for 2016. We only had three days, so could not go far. We decided to try Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I called to make the reservation and they were able to provide a camping spot on the water and near a bathhouse. Arriving just before dark, we set up quickly. We brought along an EZ 10X10 tent and stored our table and food bins under it as there was a very slight chance of rain.

That First Night

No cooking was required that first night because we stopped along the way. We did not do anything special, just listened to music and talked till sleepy. Sleeping was wonderful in the LG. We have learned that it is important to keep the cabin ventilated, so we kept the fan vent on the top open. It was not cold at all under the covers, even though the temperature went down to the mid-forties!

A Windy Camping Day

We awoke the next morning to the wind howling and when I checked, winds were at 19-20 MPH. We quickly took down the EZ tent as we were afraid it would blow away and perhaps do some serious damage. It is quite heavy and though we had it staked, it did not seem adequate. We were down to just our LG on our campsite. It was a few days before Thanksgiving and the campground was filled with many large RVs. Next to them, our little spot looked barely populated.

A Beautiful View

We had a fantastic view! We were there for two full days and three nights and each day was filled with abundant sunshine and deep blue skies. Again, we had chosen a time with a cold front. While we were there, it became colder and after we left, it became warmer. At least no rain though! Below are some photos taken from our campsite.

Camping at Gulf State Park — View from Site 245

Excellent Raw Oysters

The first day, we had a very simple breakfast of instant oatmeal and then went exploring the area. The park is very nice and there are many trails and sites to see. We had lunch at the Oyster House in Gulf Shores. I have always been a fan of raw oysters, but these were perhaps the best I have ever had. Two factors, I think, contributed to this: the cold weather and the nearness to the source. These had to be very fresh and they were large.

More About the Park

A nice pier and beach access is provided by the park. There is also an outdoor swimming pool. This will be a good place to take grandchildren later. We visited the pier and walked on the beach. A few seagulls posed for some photos. If you are into fishing, this seems to be a good place to go as well, however, according to some fishermen we met, they were not biting on the day we were there.

We went shopping in Gulf Shores that evening and saw the movie, Hacksaw Ridge. It was a great movie! When we arrived back at the campsite it was getting quite cold, so we pulled out our new electric blanket.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

It was very cold outside when we awoke the next morning. I believe it went into the mid-thirties the night before. The idea of preparing any kind of breakfast in that cold was very unappealing, so we went out for breakfast at Another Broken Egg in Orange Beach. It was a first for us and we really enjoyed it. By the time we returned to the campsite, it was much warmer and the winds were calmer. We went to a small Sunday service at the Education Center with some people we had met the day before. After that, we rented bikes. There are many trails in the park and we had a great time! Much of the trails were paved and shaded with beautiful trees and Spanish moss.

Camping and enjoying bike trail at a Gulf State Park — Enjoying the View

Gulf States Park Biking and Hiking Trail

Evenings Camping at the Park

We planned to cook some spicy sausage on the grill that night and went to the nearby Walmart for charcoal. However, we were lured by Auntie Annie’s pretzels located within Walmart, and that killed our appetite. Consequently, there was practically no cooking on this trip. We sat outside for a couple of hours with our new electric blanket over us. It was not enough! However, for sleeping inside the LG, it did a great job. All three nights at Gulf State were great sleeping for us–no cold and no discomfort.

Our Puppy Wakeup Call

We awoke the final morning to a Lab puppy whimpering just outside our door. He had gotten loose and wanted in our LG. Greg could not get out because of this. Eventually, he crawled over me to get out on my side to avoid the puppy jumping into our cabin. The puppy was very friendly and followed Greg to the bathhouse. Greg found a tag with a phone number on him and called the owner, who was frantic to find him and came to get him right away. He was very grateful and had been looking for him since daylight.

On Gulf State’s Bike Trail

Camping Lessons Learned

1) Buy high-quality water hoses and fittings. Our cheap hose leaked and we had to find a hardware store to be able to hook up to the water without leaks.

2) Alligators are not a likely to come into your camp if you are near a lake in November. This may seem silly, but the website stated to beware of alligators and I was a little concerned about getting up in the middle of the night with an alligator nearby. A ranger told me that it is very rare for them to get out of the water and they are not very active when it is cold.

3) It’s not so bad to not have a toilet in your camper if you are near a bathhouse.

4) Lastly, and more importantly, we can go away camping for several days and totally enjoy each other’s company. Our first trip was with friends, which was great fun and helped to keep us entertained. We now know that it can be great fun for just the two of us as well!

What’s Next?

We are looking forward to 2017 and more camping adventures. Heck out our page, States Visited, a Campsite Resource to follow our camping trips.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

First Camping Trip

We were so excited to be going on our first camping trip in our new teardrop. Our friends, who were experienced campers, made it easier and so much fun!

First Camping Trip

Our first camping trip was more than a month after we bought our Little Guy (LG). While we were waiting, we acquired camping accessories. Our son has done a lot of tent camping and he gave us some gear, including a ceramic heater. So, we thought we were good to go. However, the day before our trip, it occurred to me that if we wanted to use the cable service at the campground, we might want to get a coax cable. I called a friend to ask how that worked along with several more very basic questions about protocols at campgrounds. She probably thought some of my questions were silly, but remember, we are very, very inexperienced in camping.

The Campground

Our first camping trip was to DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama. We were with four other couples and a single camper. They were all experienced campers and very helpful. We learned right away that we had neglected to bring a water hose, but a friend loaned us one. As we were staying for a couple of days at the site, we took a tent to expand our living space. It went up rather quickly and we were set. Below is a photo of our campsite. It was mid-October and the weather had turned much colder, with lows in the mid-thirties the weekend of our trip. We set up the tent with a table, our gear, and that glorious heater. It did an amazing job in making the tent very comfortable.

There were no other teardrops at the campground on this first camping trip. All were motor homes or full-sized travel trailers except for one pop-up camper. Our friends all had very nice accommodations. There were three motor homes and two good-sized travel trailers. I must say, after going around to check out all their campsites, I had a little camper envy. All had full baths, closets, headroom and space for entertaining. While they all were lovely, I still am glad that we have our Little Guy because of the many reasons outlined in my first blog. We just have to make some adjustments.

How Did the Big Guy Fit into Tiny Trailer?

I am going to show you something I could not find while we were shopping and considering our LG. We searched all over the Internet for comments or pictures showing anyone tall in a teardrop. My husband, Greg, is 6’3″ and the photo below shows him in our LG.

First camping trip in our new teardrop — My big guy in our teardrop

We used all of the LG’s functionality except the air conditioner on our trip. We stored the makings for hot dogs in our ice chest, cooked them on the stove, and washed the dishes in the sink. All performed beautifully! The cable television came in well and my husband watched part of the Auburn game. It was very comfortable. We had a couple of those pillows shaped like the back of a chair to lean upon, which made it more comfortable for just hanging out.

Watching the game on first camping trip — Watching the game

First Camping Trip, Cooking and Eating

Our first night, we had a potluck at a double campsite of our friends. We ate outside on the picnic tables. This was a site with two motor homes. They had cute lighting outside and the football game going in the background. It was very festive and lots of fun! I brought Mexican cornbread made at home, so there was no cooking for us.

Our first cooking at our campsite was for breakfast. We had the same thing both mornings: English muffins with egg, sausage, and cheese. The sausage was cooked in a skillet on the stove and the eggs in the microwave. We purchased an inexpensive two-slice toaster for our camper; it and the coffee maker were on the counter. It got crowded in a hurry. Next time, I think a small table set up near would be a good strategy for the toaster and coffee maker. We cooked our hot dogs the second night and we met at the same campsite as the night before to eat together. However, there were fewer of us because some had gone into Mentone, a nearby town for dinner. We ate inside one of the large motor homes and it had all the comforts of home.

You can see the galley in the photo above. It has an electric ice chest, two-burner stove, microwave, sink and some limited counter space. We cooked at the galley and had our breakfast and coffee in our tent. It was so nice to have a place to sit and eat that was warm. The tent was also a good place to change clothes and to store our dishes and food.

The Other Teardrop Issue

Other than being able to be comfortable in the LG, my big concern was its lack of a toilet. This was my first real-world reality check with that issue. We were about 400 feet from the bathhouse and the path was through a wooded area with three forks in the path. I made the trek during daylight a couple of times. It was easy to see the way to get there day and night because the bath house was big and well lit. However, even in daylight, I took a wrong turn once on the trip back. I am not generally an incompetent person, but have a terrible sense of direction.

Knowing I would have to get up in the middle of the night, I prepared as best I could. I had my flip flops on a shelf at the foot of the bed and a flashlight in the corner of the head of the bed. No problem getting there. It was cold, but not miserable. Also, I was moving, which helps me stay warm. I tried to pay attention on the trip back–but again–wrong turn! I came out in an area where all were big campers. Fortunately, I recognized campers belonging to our friends so I knew which way to turn. I made it back to the LG with no further issues.

If this is Likely Again

However, this got me to thinking about future camping trips. I have looked at some campsites on line that are quite large and are not laid out in a predictable manner. A few wrong turns could create exhausting wandering. That would not make me happy! I think I might have something that will help with that. There is an app called “Find My Car”. For me, it could be, “Find my Bed”. I would not need it in all circumstances, but if we stay in a larger, more complex campsite, I think I will use the app.

I know that there are options with portable toilets and those will be considerations as well, but I plan to take the bath house option most of the time.

Going Forward

Our first camping trip was truly amazing! We also expect to take a couple of short trips in the November-December timeframe and will be taking a long trip in February, which I know is going to be an adventure. So far, this has been great fun! If you would like to follow our progress, this is a link to our main page.

We welcome your comments.

Donna and Greg (aka Big Guy)