R. Shaefer Heard COE Campground - West Point, Georgia (September 2025)

What happened? Why has it been 15 months since our last Rosie adventure? (Our Airstream trailer answers to the name Rosie.)

There was a clue in one of our last postings from more than a year ago. I briefly mentioned a bicycle accident at a campground last June. I wasn’t aware of how that statement would affect our camping plans for the remainder of the year. 

Yes, I injured my back in that bike accident. It turned out to be a compression fracture in my spine and it was very painful. That accident abruptly ended our camping season and we had to cancel our camping reservations in four different campgrounds so that I could have back surgery. 

While in the process of those medical treatments, my physician found a few more medical “surprises.” My fragile physical and emotional mental states were introduced to the “C” word. If there is a positive spin to this, the cancer was found early and the treatments  have been successful. There were other medical issues and we are dealing with them. 

Rosie, our Airstream trailer, in storage for more than a year

Then there is Rosie. Rosie sat idle for more than a year while I was being treated by an army of doctors. We knew that health reasons kept us home during prime camping season, but we were not prepared for how much we missed our Rosie adventures. We were not ready to give up camping in our Airstream trailer. 

After several encouraging medical appointments, we started looking at the calendar to see if we could squeeze in a potential Rosie trip. Our target date was after Labor Day because we knew the number of families camping would dip then.  To be practical, we wanted to find a campsite no more than 100 miles away. That way we could be home in a flash if I had a problem. 

There were several campground candidates, but we were able to reserve 10 days in R. Shaefer Heard Corp of Engineers Campground near LaGrange, Georgia. We camped in this park several times before and always enjoyed being there. 

The sign at R. Shaefer Heard COE Campground

We noticed a problem while loading Rosie. We filled the fresh water tank and turned on the pump to make sure it worked. Becky noticed that the shower head was leaking water even when it was off. 

From past experience, I knew the shower water cartridge needed to be replaced. I had to go to three stores before I found the correct cartridge and that put us behind schedule. We decided to replace the cartridge at the campground. 

Rosie in our site at R Shaefer Heard COE Campground

We found our site and setup before sunset. Yes, it was great to be back camping in Rosie. 

We always enjoyed riding our bikes in this and most campgrounds we visited. After my accident last year, the bikes were left home. We still enjoyed walking around this campground. In fact, I think we wore our dog out taking so many walks. 

We decided to work on replacing the shower cartridge our first day in the park. We quickly realized we were in over our heads and drove up to talk to the camp hosts. They recommended a couple of Mobile RV Repair people, but both were on vacation and couldn’t help. We finally found a service that could help us in three days, but he wanted $300 just to show up. Repairs were in addition to that fee. 

Changing Rosie's shower cartridge

We decided to tackle the shower problem again and were able to successfully fix it. I think the camp host was surprised and impressed that we did it. By the way, the camp hosts were very friendly and helpful during our time there. 

We did have a unique problem while camping at R Shaefer Heard COE Campground. Wasps were very insistent on building nests by one window and in the ball-hitch receiver area of Rosie. I don’t think any of our neighbors had that problem. We now carry wasp spray along with ant insecticide. 

Rosie's site in R Shaefer Heard COE Campground

We have to rate this adventure as a success. The ten days flew by and we started talking about going out again in a few weeks. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in. It had a moderate access slope, but the parking pad for Rosie was level 
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and the actual RV pad was concrete. Out site was level and we did not need to use any leveling tools
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service. The entire campground lost power for two hours one day
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in this park 
• There were several trash dumpsters in this campground. The one closest to our site was a long walk away
• There were multiple heated bathhouses in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch CBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were ION, Laff and an all crime channel we were not paranoid enough to watch. 
• There were restaurants and shopping within 10 miles of the campground 
• This was a pet friendly park 

Just prior to sunset

Suzy posing for this photo

A family of deer visited our site daily

Rosie from the bathhouse path

Suzy on a walk

Sunset

Cypress tree with knees

Becky's watercolor interpretation of Cypress tree with knees

Sitting at the picnic table outside Rosie

Sunset at the campground

Breakfast at a nearby restaurant

Sunset

Another sunset

Poole Knobs COE Campground - Nashville, Tennessee (June 2024)

It is easy to see when a campground was well thought out and designed to enhance your camping experience. Many Corps of Engineers (COE) easily fit the “ Well Designed” label, but not all. 

Poole Knobs COE Campground had us scratching our heads as to its design. People from the region love this campground and it is full every weekend during camping season. Still, Poole Knobs campground defied typical design principles and left us wondering if the designer ever visited any campgrounds. 

For example, our site was across the road from the water front.  It could also be described as the “hilly” side of the street. How hilly was our site? According to the Compass app on our iPhones, our site was 20 feet higher than the road. Our site was a pull-through and the entrance had a six degree slope. The exit had a scary 14 degree slope. Add to this mix that the entire site was loose gravel and you have a fair picture of our site. 

Yes, that was a steep hill going into our site

Our site wasn’t unique. We saw a handful of sites that were as steep or worse.

How were the restrooms/bathhouses? Again, we need to talk about the park's design. There were three restrooms in this park. Interestingly, all three were not close to any RV camping sites and were uphill walks from the camping loop. There was a scary 20 degree slope on gravel to one restroom. The camp host suggested we simply drive to the restrooms. Since the road in the camping loop was one-way, that meant you had drive around the entire campground to get to the main restroom. On the positive side, the restrooms were clean and maintained. 

We had to take it easy at this campground because of my back issues. That was OK because this was a great park for hikes. 

We watched as the campground mostly cleared out on Sunday morning. As we drove around the camping loop headed to the restroom, we wondered if a better campsite was open for the remainder of our time there. The camp host gave us a choice of two sites. We choose a somewhat flat site across the street from our first site. 

New site across the street from the old one

We had not planned to switch sites during our visit, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. We quickly hitched-up Rosie, our Airstream trailer, and prepared for the move. We talked about a strategy of using Rosie's breaks to halt a slide on the gravel slope if needed. It was time to test the theory. 

Becky went down to the road to stop any traffic. We used radios to communicate that the road was clear. I very slowly started down the hill and the truck started to slide on the gravel surprisingly fast. I was able to manually apply Rosie's breaks to stop the slide. That happened twice. I turned wide onto the road as I left our old site to avoid the ditch. We were glad that we safely exited our first site. 

This was another park with an amazing amount of bird activity. It was fun to use our Merlin Bird App from Cornell University to identify the many bird calls. 

There was also no shortage of mosquitoes in this park. We had to remember to dress appropriately to fight off the mosquitoes. 

After thinking about the problems with the design of this park, it is fair to ask why is it a popular park with locals?  First, they know which side of the street to reserve. In fact, they know the best sites and would never be caught on the wrong side of the street. Second, we noticed that most people stay in this park less than a week. Most RV holding tanks can store a weeks worth of waste. Third, the park was wonderfully cool from all of the shade trees. If we return to this park, we will follow the lead of the locals and choose a better site. 

The lake

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• We found one loop in this campground
• Both of our sites were a pull-throughs
• Both of our sites had shade
• While there are some closely spaced sites in this park, both of out sites had some space on both sides
• Both of our sites were paved with dirt and loose gravel. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie in both sites
• Our sites had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our sites had water connections
• Our sites did not have sewer connections
• There was a dump station in this park. It was a challenge to pull your sewage tote to it
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground
• There was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX and NBC using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Catchy, Charge, Comet, Court-TV, Cozi, Dabl, Get, Grit, H&I, ION, LAFF, MeTV, MeTV+, MeTV Toons, MY-TV, Movies, Outlaw, Retro and Start
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

The old site showing the 14 degree gravel slope

Selfie in this park

Tree covered roads in this park

Daily visitor

Rosie in our new site

Eastbank COE Campground - Bainbridge, Georgia (March 2024)

The start of a new camping season is always exciting as we look forward to having new adventures in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. It also means that we were successful in making camping reservations for the coming year.

Speaking of reservations, the process of getting into campgrounds has changed since the COVID pandemic. Prior to the COVID days, we felt confident that we could find a site in one of our favorite state and federal campgrounds. Not so today. It takes time and effort to find a place to camp near one of our favorite locations. 

The next big shock comes after booking a campsite. It is amazing how much camping fees have risen the past several years. Even military FamCamps have increased their rates into the ridiculous zone. 

Still, we are grateful to be at the start of a new camping season and that we have some reservations. It is wonderful spending time in Rosie. 

Getting Rosie ready for this trip was different from last year when we stored Rosie in a warehouse with a 30 amp power connection. We parked Rosie in that warehouse for more than ten years and had a solid working relationship with the property's owner. Then he sold the property and retired. 

The new owners drastically increased the storage fee and started parking RVs and cars in the warehouse on a first come, first serve system. We noticed that trailers and motor homes that had shared a space alongside Rosie for years were going elsewhere. It didn’t take long for us to sever ties with that storage facility and move Rosie to the RV storage lot on a nearby military base. We were thankful that we had access to military bases.

Rosie parked in RV storage on a military base

One of the good things about the new facility is that there are armed MPs at the gate and only authorized people are allowed on the base. They don’t mess around! We feel Rosie is very safe in this storage lot. 

The negative is that Rosie is now stored outdoors and we have to be careful about winterizing and we cannot turn the air conditioner on while loading for a trip. 

The low temperature inside Rosie was 16.3 degrees F while stored on an Air Force base.

Prepping for a new camping season meant checking on some of Rosie's general maintenance items. Tires were at the top of that list. We learned the tire maintenance lesson nearly a decade ago when our first Rosie suffered a blowout in Arkansas. RV tires carry significant weight and wear out faster than the tires on your tow vehicle. Rosie’s tires were five years old and we knew they needed to be replaced. It was alarming, but not surprising, how much tire costs have increased since the last time we replaced Rosie's tires. 

The weather forecast played a role in planning for this trip. It predicted that rain was going to fall all day along our route. It isn’t fun to hitch-up and travel in the rain. We called the campground and were able to arrive a day earlier than planned. That meant we lost a day to prepare for our trip and had to scramble to get everything ready on time. We were glad when that we had good weather while traveling. 

We saw three Airstream trailers within 30 minutes as we drove south pulling Rosie to Eastbank COE Campground. They were heading north and we quickly realized that the Airstream Club's Cajun Caravan ended the night before and we were probably seeing people from that caravan heading home. We were on that caravan last year and we knew those Airstreamers had a great time on the Cajun Caravan. 

Sign at the entrance to the campground

Check-in station at Eastbank COE Campground

The site we reserved for the week was occupied, so we went to another for the day. Luckily, it was one of the few pull-thru sites in the park. 

Our first site in this campground was a pull-thru

We immediately saw a problem with Rosie. There was an army of ants inside her. We put out the ant bait traps and that cured the problem. 

We did not have problems with the water, meaning our winterization of Rosie was successful and we didn’t have any damage from freezing temperatures during winter. 

Our site on the lake was available early the next morning. We both remarked that it was a very nice site. The camp hosts helped us move. 

Rosie's site was on the water

Rosie parked in our site

We did find a problem with Rosie's shower. The hot water wasn’t working. A quick consultation with YouTube diagnosed the culprit. We bought and installed a new shower water cartridge to fix that issue. 

This campground was less than a mile to a dam. There was a paved path to it. We were amazed at the number and variety of birds heard along that walk. 

The lake was created by this dam

The campground was also less than a mile from the Florida and Georgia state lines and the Eastern/Central time zones. That confused our GPS and phones. 

Standing on the Florida/Georgia State Line. Georgia was the Eastern time zone and Florida was in the Central. Our iPhone spent the week very confused about the current time.

Of course there was a reason why I selected this specific campground. It was about 30 miles from where my maternal great and great great grandparents were buried and I wanted to visit those graves. We were able to find and photograph them. 

Church cemetery where some great grandparents are buried

There was a big lightning storm one night while we were there. We opened the window shades and enjoyed the storm. It was very cozy inside Rosie.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were three loops in the campground
• Our site for the first night was a pull-through. Our site for the rest of the week was a back in and located next to the lake
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Our site had a little shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with concrete and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a slight side-to-side lean in Rosie
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in this park. It was easy to pull our sewage tote to it.
• The trash dumpster was between the three camping loops
• There were two bathhouses in the campground. Strangely, both bathhouses were in the same camping loop
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, H&I, LAFF, ME-TV and Outlaw
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Bridge near the campground

View of the dam from Rosie

Selfie

Walkway between two of the camping loops in Eastbank COE Campground

Yes, that is Gabby the alligator in the inlet near Rosie 

Sunset

R. Shaefer Heard COE Campground - West Point, Georgia (November 2023)

One of our goals is to never arrive at home after a Rosie adventure late in the day. (Rosie is the name of our Airstream trailer.) Since we cannot store Rosie at home, we have to empty and clean Rosie before taking it back to the storage facility.

Rosie parked while we were checking in

Having said that, this is the second time we camped there because it allowed us to reach home early the next morning, which is a shame because this should be a destination type park. It has great bike trails and many waterfront sites. 

Similar to the previous campground we stayed in, the lake levels here were very low. Some fingers of the lake were mostly dry. Our site backed up to the lake, but the water was about 50 feet farther away than normal. 

Rosie parked at our camping site

The temperature dropped below freezing two nights while we were in this campground. It was good that some fellow Airstreamers shared “cold weather protocols” with us a while back while camping during November in Ohio. Rosie’s heat pumps were able to keep us warm until the outside temperature reached about 35 degrees. When the heat pumps gave up, the furnace kicked in and kept everything cozy. 

Morning "haze" on the lake seen from Rosie's window

Morning sun shining on the lake

It is always interesting how most campgrounds change over the weekend. The campground appeared to be about half full during the week. Things changed Friday afternoon as the “weekenders” started showing up. According to the camp hosts, there were only three empty sites over the weekend and they were no-shows. Suddenly, our loop was noisy and smoky as all weekenders seemed to want a fire. As quickly as they arrived, the weekenders left Sunday morning and our loop returned to being a quiet place to camp. By Sunday evening, our loop was half full with new adventure seekers. 

View from Rosie's rear window

Sunset over the lake

We were the only people riding bicycles around the park during the week. As expected, the e-bikers were riding around during the weekend. For the first time, we had to dodge e-scooters. 

We saw several deer in the park before the weekenders showed up. We also saw a bald eagle fly over Rosie one afternoon. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in. It had a steep access slope, but the parking pad for Rosie was level 
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and 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 did not have a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in this park 
• There were several trash dumpsters in this campground. The one closest to our site was a long walk away
• There were multiple heated bathhouses in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Circle, Comet, Dabl, H&I, ION, LAFF, ME-TV and Rewind 
• There were restaurants and shopping within 10 miles of the campground 
• This was a pet friendly park 

Water was low in the lake

Rosie in the campground

Suzy waiting to go on a walk

Part of the dry lakebed

Our site was on the lake

Inside Rosie