Our original plan was to stay home during July and August, typically the hottest months of summer. That turned out to be a good idea as we survived a week of 100+ degree temperatures during June. Then the temperatures moderated a little and we started talking about how we needed another Rosie trip. (Rosie is the name of our Airstream trailer.) It didn’t take long to convince ourselves that a week or two in the woods was just the ticket for us.
Of course, the problem with “spur-of-moment” camping is always getting reservations on short notice. Some of our camping friends like to brag about how they pick a compass direction, head out and always find great spots in incredible parks on-the-fly. While that sounds great for them, we are more comfortable with knowing we have a place to park at the end of the day.
As our conversations about going out on a camping adventure progressed from “here’s an idea” to “let’s do it,” we went online and called to check for an opening at some choice campgrounds near us. We struck out at the state parks and Corps of Engineers parks we tried, but booked a site on the water at Fort Gordon's Pointes West Army Resort in Georgia. Once again, a military FamCamp provided us with an opportunity to have another Rosie adventure.
Our RV GPS, Google Maps, Apple Maps and the navigation system in our truck all agreed that we needed to go on the Atlanta bypass for about 20 miles. We should have known better than to willingly drive around Atlanta.
We tried to time it so we would be on Atlanta's Interstate highways during low traffic periods only to discover there are no “low traffic” times there. What should have been a four hour trip suddenly turned into six. We were thankful we arrived at the Pointes West before their office closed at 5 p.m. so that our credentials to camp in military FamCamps could be verified.
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| Sign at entrance of Pointes West Army Resort FamCamp |
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| The guard house at the entrance to the campground |
Most of the sites in this campground were on the lake and had great views. You may use your own canoes, kayaks and boats on the lake or you can rent them from the office. It rained most afternoons while we were in this park meaning we skipped renting boats.
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| Rosie's site on the water |
We didn’t skip riding our bikes. This was a great park for bike rides. We were able to go on five mile bike rides most mornings and afternoons between the rain showers.
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| The roads were great for riding bikes |
Our bike rides took us past two notable amenities in the campground. The first was a great playground for children. That was good because we noticed a bumper crop of kids in the park.
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| Playground for children |
The second feature we rode past everyday could be described as a playground for adults. I doubt I would have called it a playground while I was in the service. The park had a Confidence Course, but I wasn’t tempted to impress anyone with my “confidence” there.
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| Playground for adults |
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| Second confidence course in this campground |
We also saw deer, rabbits, a fox, woodpeckers (possibly pileated) and several armadillos while on our bikes. Then there were the geese. They were everywhere! It was cute for a day or two then we noticed goose droppings were along the paths those birds took. It seems that geese are more enjoyable from a distance.
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| A fox watches us pass by on our bikes |
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| The deer frequently visited our camping loop |
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| Rosie in our campsite |
We noticed an army of ants invaded Rosie while camping in this park. We quickly switched to our anti-ant offensive and worked hard to un-invite them.
Our expectations were high coming into this park based on its online reviews. We were not disappointed. We look forward to returning to Pointes West. This was a huge facility and deserved the label “resort” by military campground standards.
Here are some specifics about this campground:
- There were multiple loops in the campground
- Our site was a back in
- Our site could be classified as "full sun" as there were many trees in this park, but not around our site
- Most sites were closer together than what you find at a COE campground, but not as tight as most KOAs
- The road in our camping loop was paved with asphalt. The roads in the other loops were gravel
- Our site was paved with dirt and gravel. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie
- Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
- Our site had a water connection
- Our site had a sewer connection
- There were trash cans in front of every site. Campground hosts emptied those trash cans several times while we camped there
- There were bathhouses in the RV campground loops. Tent loops had portable “potties.”
- The park did not provide WiFi service except at the lodge
- AT&T provided 1 bar of 4G voice and data service over our campsite
- We were able to watch a FOX affiliate from Greenville, South Carolina using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Bounce, Charge, Circle, Cozi, Escape and Grit
- There were restaurants and shopping about 15 minutes from the campground
- This was a pet friendly park
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| Selfie taken in the campground |
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| Sunset from our camping loop |
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| The "beach" area on the lake |
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